This was taken on one of the best mornings of my senior year of high school. The major project for our physics class was to build a boat entirely out of non-waxed cardboard (not even remotely waterproof) and Elmer's glue (deplorably water-soluble), which would sail two people for at least a half hour on a lake before dissolving to cardboardy mush and sinking them to a watery doom.
This was the super-sweet boat that my classmate, Jennifer, and I built. (Cool tangent: Jennifer's grandma was Otis Sealy, who was kind of like an honorary grandma of mine when I was really young, and who was also the first recorded survivor of the 1990's Hantavirus epidemic.) This boat took about 50 hours, 5 gallons of glue, and 45 cardboard boxes (some of which were those amazing 8-ply boxes they ship new coffins in -- creepy source, but sturdy boxes). It floated a half hour without even sloughing its outer layer. It paddled like a dream. Then, because all good things must come to a composted end, it was retired to a recycle bin shortly after this picture was taken. (I wonder if REI would be interested in the design plans for a "green materials watercraft"...?)
Strangely, just as memorable as the really great boats from that day (which I remember because it was amazing to see what could be made from mere boxes) are the really awful boats from that day. I think my favorite was the team that built their boat the night before the event and deliberately left the bottom thin. After they put it in the water, they stayed just offshore in the ~3 foot deep water, kicked a hole through the boat bottom, and stood there for a half hour holding their boat up around them so that it would look like it was floating. To this day, I can't decide whether they deserved points deducted for being cheating scoundrels, or bonus points added for devious creativity.
What's your verdict?
And in the bigger, more profound sense, what kind of boat builder are you?
Oh my heck does that picture bring back memories. I got to thinking about me and Arty bailing water 2 minutes into our float. Wish I had a picture of us. I'll have to check the yearbook or call Janice. Of course Arty insisted we paddle to the middle of the (lake/pond: smaller than a lake, but bigger than a pond) just for the excitement.
ReplyDeleteA fun walk down memory lane. Thanks Sarah!