Raingutter Regatta

Middle Bass Island Yacht Club hold events on weekends and this past weekend was the Raingutter Regatta and Cardboard Boat Race. We decided last year to participate this year and build a cardboard boat. When we told my father about this, he decided that he wanted in on the project.

Dad is/was a Professional Engineer. He ran the natural gas utility back home in NY and he was the PE on staff. So in typical PE fashion, anything worth doing right is worth overdoing! So it began late last year. This build was done in phases culminating in last weekend's event.

PHASE 1 - Initial Design

We have an inflatable 2 person kayak and its overall shape is quite stable and "Sea Worthy". So I proposed that we use that overall shape and design a single seater cardboard boat shaped like our kayak. My dad, my wife and I all agreed on that shape and dad went about sketching and he even built a miniature mock up.

PHASE 2 - Cardboard Collection

We needed to acquire as much cardboard as we thought would be needed to build this kayak and we preferred to find stiff boxes. We also liked those boxes that had decals that covered all or most of the panel sides of the box. Our neighborhood garbage/recycling pickup day is Monday so every now and again when Chris would go for a run around the neighborhood, at the right time, she would come back and tell me to get in the truck and go down certain streets as there is cardboard out at the curb for recycling. We would go get the cardboard and we started to store it in our basement as it is climate controlled and out of the way. In the end we had collected enough cardboard to build 2 kayaks!

The mother load came about 3 months ago when someone got a Blackstone grill and an electric lawn mower. Those boxes were intact, fully covered in decals and out at the curb for the recycling truck. So we got them and commenced the build.

PHASE 3 - The Build

In order to build this kayak, we needed space. So we started to use the bay in our garage that housed the SUV. Each day that my father would come over and work on the cardboard, we would back the SUV out of the garage and put the cardboard in the bay. We have a nook on the other side of the garage and that was where we stored all of the cardboard once we got into the build phase. Dad is not exactly sturdy on his feet so we brought all of the cardboard up out of the basement and put it in the garage to minimize the required movements.

For about 3 months dad would come over and survey the cardboard, lay it out, draw patterns, cut out pieces and eventually start to assemble the boat. Dad is known for using half the roll of packing tape when shipping/sending something in a box. So this build was no different. He approached the build as if he was a naval architect. It has framing and stringers, composite layers and what can loosely be called bulk heads and compartments.

The outer layer of the kayak is the cardboard from the Blackstone and the electric mower. These boxes were the most water resistant. Come to find out they are a whole lot less water resistant than I thought they would be. We will get to that later. There are areas of the hull that have 4 layers of different cardboard sandwiched together using a strong adhesive. He would follow the directions and wet each surface and then let the cement cure for 10mins then press the panels together and let them dry and fully cure. He grabbed just about every heavy thing we have off the shelving in the garage to help hold things in place.

Even while we were gone on our 2 week Summer Trip, he would come over with Mom and they would work in the garage so that it would be completed in time for the event on August 15th. My sister and her husband even participated when they came out to visit.

And so it came to pass that on Tuesday August 11th the build was complete and we now had to watch the weather so that we could properly transport this 10foot long cardboard kayak out to the Marina, load it onto our trawler and then take it out to Middle Bass Island to participate in the event.

PHASE 4 - Transportation

We have a pickup truck with a standard bed. That means 6.5 feet long and then the tailgate deploys and you get a little over 8 feet. We have a bed cap and slider platform so we placed a packing blanket on the slider platform. Since rain was in the area we decided to use the roll of packing plastic wrap and wrap the entire kayak. Once that was completed, we lifted the kayak onto the packing blanket upside down so the "Fin" on the aft bottom of the hull was facing up. We had also placed a long plastic tarp on the packing blanket so that once the kayak was in place we could take the tarp up and over the end that was sticking out of the bed of the truck and wrap the tarp back over the kayak. So that is 2 layers of plastic covering the kayak. My wife was worried about the airflow and the tarp so we took the roll of plastic wrap and wrapped the end that stuck out to hold it all in place and then I used a strap to tie it down to fastening loops inside the truck bed. I then closed the back lid of the bed cap and it all fit and was snug for the 1.5 hour drive on the highway out to the marina.

I am glad that we wrapped it as much as we did because we did drive through rain on our way out to the marina. We had to take both vehicles, the truck and the SUV, since my parents came along for the event at the Yacht Club. They stayed at a hotel in Port Clinton along with Chris's sister and brother-in-law. They came over to the Island on the Miller Ferry service. We dropped my parents off at the hotel and then drove over to the marina and loaded our stuff into the boat. Our interior salon is long enough that we were able to get the cardboard kayak inside on the floor on its side. It was a little in the way but not too bad.

We left our marina and made our 1.5hour cruise over to the Yacht Club marina and our friends Kirsten and John were waiting for us when we arrived and they helped us get docked. We invited them aboard and showed them the kayak. We had our arrival beverage and got settled in the cockpit in our chairs and caught up with them and our summer activities.

PHASE 5 - Race Day!

As it turns out, we were the only cardboard boat to be entered into the event. So it was less of a race and more of an exhibition of our efforts. We spent about an hour on Saturday morning raking the grass off the beach that floats in off the lake. This allowed spectators to come down and have a place to stand or sit and watch the event. My parents are in their 80's and have the walkers that have integrated seats so they could safely make their way from the club house to the water front so they could view us paddling the kayak around the course. They were able to get on the ferry without much fuss and I used the 6 person golf cart from the Yacht Club to drive them from the ferry landing to the yacht club.

Around 1pm we had the "Unveiling" of the kayak. We lifted it and carried it down the entire pier as we were out in slip #51. We had been telling everyone about this thing so there was quite a bit of interest as we walked by. We walked it over to the patio area by the fire ring and unwrapped it and people came over and looked at it and my dad explained a bit about the construction. The hosts of the event took a dinghy out and placed the Buoy Marker that was the outer point of the course and we carried the kayak down to the water front. We gave people time to get their phones ready for pictures and video. Our friends brought out their drone for some great shots from above.

Chris got her life vest on and had her paddle from our real kayak. She got in and off she went paddling out and back. It was fun to watch her paddle this boat made of cardboard. It floated just as I had figured it would and it looked like it was very stable. Once she got back from her go around she gave me the vest and paddle and I got in and paddled around the course. I was able to experience the cardboard boat and it was just as stable as the Inflatable Kayak that we routinely use. I completed the course and offered the opportunity for anyone to take it out for a paddle. We had no takers so everyone applauded and the kayak was lifted out of the water. The guys who lifted it indicated that it was quite a bit heavier than before and there was a stream of water coming out of a couple places. We thought we had water proofed the outer skin but water found a way in.

They carried it back to the benches by the fire ring and laid it on its side. We took pictures with the boat and then dad cut a couple strategic holes in the top of the bow and stern panels and some water came out. All in maybe a gallon or so, but enough to get the inside of the structure wet. It was still rigid but you could feel the panels soften a bit. So we left it outside as long as we felt it would not get rained on, then we asked permission to store it in the Yacht Club garage until next weekend to let it dry and to give us space inside the boat so that we could take everyone back to the mainland. The final ferry run from the island back to the mainland was at 5:15pm which is way too early. We had the event dinner to attend.

In the end we got back to our marina, took everyone back to the hotel and had our celebratory beverage when we got back to the boat.

What a fun day and we were glad that my parents were able to come out in person to experience the fruits of ALL of the labor put into this cardboard boat/kayak.

We went to bed and got a good night's sleep and then packed up, got my parents and drove back home. These types of events are why we have a boat. My dad got me hooked on this whole "boating thing" as a young kid of 8 years old. I am very happy that I can still share these boating experiences with him. Mom comes along but Dad really enjoys being on the boat.

Just Us II, over and out and back to monitoring 16.