Shaped like a sailboat and stretching 23 feet long, the unmanned research vehicle, dubbed a saildrone, was a long way from its home in St. Petersburg. Roughly 200 nautical miles from Idalia’s eye on Aug. 29, as an angry sea tossed and toiled, the vehicle began recording video. ...What happens at the surface, where the wind meets water? Saildrone is now working directly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to answer that question.