Hi everyone! It seems I can finally post the results of my school's physics class boat race that took place 5/21/08. Good news, we passed with excellence! A+! We created the largest cardboard and duct tape boat that my school has ever seen. We were definitely the main attraction as every teacher heard about our boat and let their class out to see us race. My group was the last to race. Like they say, “Save the best for last.” We loaded the SHIP U.S.S. Colossal Stossel in the water and started to get into the ship one by one (My friends and I take John Stossel as a hero because we have seen many of his videos in our gov/econ classes). At first, it was a bit tricky but everyone got in o.k. We grabbed our 6-foot long oars and started to paddle towards the other side of the pool. We were racing a two-man boat about five times smaller than our ship. We kept a good pace with the small boat and considering we had never tested our ship or practiced rowing in unison, I think we did very well. Each time the ship swayed to the left and right, the crowd went wild in expectation of it capsizing. It was a close race but towards the final lap, back to where we started, the small boat took the lead and won. Nevertheless, due to our amazing achievement in building such a large cardboard a duct tape boat and successfully reaching the end of the pool and back without taking in any water, we received the applause of the crowd. After the race, a camera crew from the local news station interviewed my group and I. Later in the day during the last period of school, we decided to go again but this time take in as many people as we could just for some good ol’ fun and glory. We again pushed her (the ship) into the water. We eventually loaded her up with 13 crewmembers including a few teachers. Even with 13 people, the boat barely sank into the water. Many of my friends said our boat was “too perfect and too buoyant.” We rowed a few minutes in the pool and we reached the other side of the pool widthwise. The boat paused a moment as we tried to paddle her back towards the center of the pool. As we tried to regain momentum, a good friend of ours, a bible teacher, yelled to my friend in the bow of the boat, “Catch me Adam!” He replied, “Haha Mr. Bryant, sure, I’ll catch you! Haha (He was joking). Mr. Bryant replies, “No Adam, I’m serious! Catch me!” Before any of us could realize it, Mr. Bryant literally leaped 5 feet into the boat and a few of us tried to hold onto him. In a matter of seconds, the boat swiftly capsized to the right. In an instant, I saw the black wall of the ship drop in front of my face. We were thrown into the water while still stuck in the compartments. I had not gasped for air before the boat flipped so I panicked as my lungs burned and I struggled to swim out underneath the boat to reach the surface. All around me I could see my 13 comrades (14 including Mr. Bryant) swim desperately around me to reach the surface. I reached the surface and I could see some of my friends’ heads bob in and out of the water. Quickly after taking a deep breath, I went back into the boat to see if there was anyone left inside. Luckily, the boat floated on the surface and there was a large pocket of air. Two of my friends seemed to be having fun inside the capsized ship. Once they were out, all of us started to swim and pull the boat towards the side of the pull. Let me tell you, it was immensely difficult to move the capsized ship to the pool’s wall. After a long struggle of lifting and pulling, we were able to bring the ship out of the water. Soon after, all of us stayed in the pool and gave a loud “AAAARRRRGGGGG.” We laughed, smiled, and recalled the events but everyone came to say that it was all worth it. Unfortunately, the cardboard carpet tubes that were used for support became soggy and bent. However, the outer shell of the boat was intact due to it being completely layered in gorilla tape, which amounted to forty 35-yard roles. The gorilla tape proved to be watertight and strong. The inside of the keel was almost dry. If the ship had not capsized, the boat would have stayed totally dry. The grand total of duct tape used (90% gorilla tape, 10% other terrible tape by other brands) came to 109 roles!!! We could not have succeeded in building such a massive pirate ship without the best duct tape in the world, Gorilla Tape! From all of us in the Viking Pirate Clan of America, THANK YOU!
109 roles total. (2 are missing) I kept one as a souvenir.
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