I should say, the CARDBOARD boat races!  I wish I had pictures that did the race justice.  United Way in our area hosted these races.  The competitors could use cardboard, Liquid Nails, Duct tape and paint to make their vessels.  Apparently there were no size restrictions because one, designed to look like an antique New Orleans hearse was big enough for eight people, plus one more, who was in a coffin that popped out the back of the hearse! lol

Surprisingly, very few of the boats sank.  I think there are a lot of experienced cardboard boat builders out there.  There were two pastel pink boats that looked like ballerina shoes and the girls and women who paddled them wore adorable ballerina attire complete with tutus.  Unfortunately, one of those boats turned over, but the other continued on strong for second place.

One of the boats that I thought would sink the moment the horn sounded was built in the shape of a Viking ship.  It was stronger than I thought and made it through it’s heat, although it wallowed a lot and was a bit tubby.

Another boat had very high sides and young paddlers.  The kids were using snow shovels as paddles, and lost one.  The Fire Department fished it out of the water and handed it back.  The kids were so short they couldn’t reach the water over the sides of the boat, and I don’t think they made it around the post and back.

There were three boats in the mechanical division.  Those had bicycle pedals and gears that ran propellers.  One of the boats had a malfunction three feet out of the starting gate.  That left a boat pedaled by one woman, and a boat that looked like a pencil with two guys pedaling.  Unfortunately, whoever designed the pencil boat must have been VERY TALL, and the two guys pedaling were average height.  They ended up lying on their backs and pedaling with their feet up in the air.  I’m not sure how they could see where they were going, but they made it through the course and won.

The Fire Department had a cardboard boat.  It was v-shaped and painted hot red.  Unfortunately just after it rounded the post, it dumped three rowers into the drink.  The guys showed true fireman spirit,  flipping onto their backs, grabbing the edge of the boat to bring it along, and kicking their way to the finish line.

At the end of the morning, anything which was still able to float was relaunched in the final race.  It was quite a hoot to see them all madly paddling the course, with a lot getting lower in the water by the minute.  Unfortunately, the firemen went into the drink with a repeat performance, and I think the VIkings got dunked too.

It’s safe to say that a good time was had by all, and I hope to attend next year!