TEN FAMILIES ENTER BOATS IN JULY 4TH FAIR
Who said you can't build a boat with two pieces of 4 foot by 8 foot plywood, four 8 foot long 2 x 4's, a pound of nails, and four tubes of caulking - and some paint. Well, ten families on Frye Island accepted the challenge and showed that you COULD do just that. You could build the boat. And then transport it to Recreation Beach (by carrying, by car-top, by wheelbarrow, or by truck) for the Frye Island Children's Fair July 4th. You could have it judged and enter it in a race with the other teams' boats.
At least half of those ten boats had never been in the water before. Either the caulking and paint didn't have time to dry - or some teams could not start building their boats until a day or two before the contest - no time to test them in the water - or they were afraid the caulking would not hold and their boats would be water-logged. But - miracle of miracles - not a one of those boats sank! One boat was stuck in the sand and one boat tipped over and was quickly uprighted. Every one of the ten made it to the buoy, around it, and back to the beach to the finish line.
Every team was a winner. Judges gave these awards to the participating families:
Charrette Family Unique Concept
Comley Family Unique Fantail
Dabritz - Burgess Family Sleekness
Faulk - Monroe Family Most Decorative
Gardini Family Largest Capacity
Kobayashi - Deming Family Most Amazing
Mazzola Family Most Patriotic and Best Painting
Ross Family Sturdiest Construction
Sullivan Family Most Historic (Chris Craft) and Fastest
Toomey Family Island Authentic
The GARDINI family says their boat could be called a cattle barge or a LST landing craft. It was surely a BIG boat. They painted it a beautiful blue color and decorated it with smiling sun flowers. Grandpa Dumas, with 83 years of living experience behind him, put in his two cents worth, too. They took the entire week to build it and say they do not live close enough to the ocean to have ship-building in their blood. Relieved they were when the boat did not sink!!!! The family said the most fun for them was working together, laughing, joking and deciding who was going to ride in the boat for the race.
The TOOMEY family made a spectacular ferry boat - certainly had a striking resemblance to a ferry boat we on Frye Island all know and depend on. It's already done duty as a jump off raft for kids at Beach 5. Wait til it's equipped with its motor the parents have promised Andrew. Andrew says his Dad was the best helper in making their boat, a three day project for them. Painting was the most fun and what was the hardest??? keeping glue off the fingers.
The FAULK-MONROE family boat, a dingy, was designed by Paul Lyons and was constructed in eight hours. We asked the family what they liked best about their boat. "It floats", they said. Most fun for them was painting. And the hardest thing they had to do was bending the plywood. "We all had a great time, even though we came in last in the race", was their comment.
Inspiration for the KOBAYASHI - DEMING boat was Philippine fishing boats. Helen Deming grew up in the Philippines where she and her family made boats to sell to fishermen. She was disappointed that the stabilizing wings could not be made of bamboo, as they were in the Philippines! The family named their boat "Might Sink III" and were relieved that it did not sink on its maiden voyage into Sebago waters. Boat builders on the team ranged in age from 3 to 88. Everyone did some hammering and painting, but they agreed that Dad( Uncle Naoto) was the best helper on the team. Cutting and fitting the narrow bottom of the boat to the slanting sides presented the most problems. They are all set to enter the contest another year. Can't wait for the design!
The CHARRETTE family's catamaran was made in a short eight hour time frame, as an unexpected medical emergency gave them a very late start. They deserve a great deal of credit for digging in and completing the project. They wanted to make something original and were especially pleased that it was different from any of the other boats. When asked who the best helpers on the team were, they agreed that Ted and Steve were, but Fred and Jackson did a great job racing.
The COMELY family wrote this about their boat, the one with the great illustrations painted on it. "Ryan and Madison Comley spent two days building and one day painting their boat. The best part of this endeavor was having fun and working with Granny and Papa. Granny's family owned a boat with a fantail so that was the inspiration for the design. Papa needed lots of encouragment to cut and fit each piece. We really didn't know what it would look like until we finished. Ryan and Madison measured, nailed and glued every seam, including their fingers. They felt that getting the point in the front just right would help the boat cut through the waves during the race. We got real nervous when Judge Al Schmidt showed up at the door to make sure we were abiding by the rules. He didn't give us a ticket, so I guess we were in compliance. It was a lot of fun but I don't know if we could put Papa through this again next year. However, we will always remember the week we spent building our boat.
The ROSS family named their boat Droop's Sloop and they say they made it to last a long time with primer and many coats of paint. Here's their story: "We had a great time making our boat. Like most everyone else, we split the 2 x 4's first off. It was really the only way to guarantee enough wood to make a boat big enough for two people. The planning was time-consuming with figuring dimensions on napkins during lunches, evenings and mentally, during car rides. Once the basic concept was in place, building our boat took another 14 hours, not including painting time. It was certainly a challenge making a sea-worthy vessel with the materials provided, but everyone did it. The races were exciting and all the participants were justifiably proud. We can't wait to see what next year's competition brings! "
The DABRITZ - BURGESS family team's greatest challenge
was the limited materials allowed - and the most fun to do was bending
the wood. A wooden boat journal provided their inspiration for the boat,
which they call a nutshell pram. It took 20 hours to build. What they
like best about it is how fast it is. Russell Dabritz,the 12 year old on
the team, was away at
Junior Olympics training camp the week of July 4trh, so they had to make
their boat a week early. We'll be watching Russell in his gymnastic
career, as well as his boat building one. The family plans to enter
future contest.
The result of the MAZZOLA family's handiwork was that artfully decorated boat representing the stars and stripes.They write: "We thought that this project was a great idea for the family to work on together. It was a lot of fun trying to decide and plan what type of boat we were going to build, based on the materials we were given to work with. We were inspired to build our patriotic boat around the 4th of July theme. It took us about 2 1/2 days, including painting, to complete our boat. It was also a lot of fun to see everyone elses boat and to participate in the race. Lookiing forward to next year's challenge! "
Mark SULLIVAN, Jr. writes: " I built the boat which looks like an old Chris Craft boat with my Dad. My family owns a 1949 Chris Craft and that inspired my Dad and me to build it. My Dad and I did almost all the work, but my sister Natalia and my Mom also helped to paint the red flag. It was a fun project and I would do it again. We enjoyed it so much that my Dad bought me an electric trolling motor after the contest was over and we took our boat out for a ride on the lake. We went from beach #7 all the way to our Lot #288. Thank you for the fun project." Congratulations to the Sullivan team for winning the race! Great boat!!!
We are indebted to many who helped to make this a successful project. Hancock and Red Mill Lumber companies supplied all the building materials, free of charge. Judges were Al Schmidt, Ruth Ann Bourque and John Schutz. Paul Bourque was harbor master. The Gardini family loaned their beach for parking the boats. Bob LaDow was photographer and Betsy Deming Kobayashi, the caligrapher for the award certificates. The committee in charge consisted of Ruth Ann Bourque, Lee Dolloff, Mary Deming and Al Schmidt.
Here are a few photos of the awards process.
