We were very anxious (Emily Ambroise, Chantel Haigh, Benjamin Drouillard and Douglas Poulstrup) as we drove to the Rec. Center to begin the construction of our cardboard boat. There were butterflies in our stomachs pulling up into the parking lot. As we walked into the building we saw many other schools, all ready and dressed up to represent their school. Some wore school jerseys and others wore hula outfits. We took out our pirate costumes and wore them for a portion of the morning. Of course, one of our teammates forgot their bandana and had to wear a scarf on their head.
Once all the schools arrived, the representatives discussed the rules of the boat race and construction. For example, when using the contact cement do not stick your fingers together and to prevent this from happening, wear your rubber gloves. Several minutes after the obvious safety rules were finished being discussed, we began the construction! Teams scrambled to their stations and began.
Each team had their own pre-made plan to follow in the construction of the boat. We knew not to make the sides of the boat too high so that we can reach the water and not to make paddles because they turn to mush quickly (We knew these things courtesy of Mr. Andreason.) Ben Drouillard did most of the cutting of the cardboard, making a point not to use the safety exacto-knife (of course). Douglas Poulstrup stepped all over our cardboard and ruined our buoyancy which we thought created a disadvantage. Then we looked at the other teams’ cardboard and realized that we were doing pretty well in comparison. As we grew closer to the completion of our cardboard boat, we grew more confident, seeing so many people making extremely high walls and paddles. Our boat was looking good. Unfortunately, our teacher’s boat wasn’t looking too grand.
As we walked to the pool with our finished boat, we cheered our team cheer (Lightning’s strong! Lightning’s fast! Lighting’s gonna kick your behind!) At the pool, we witnessed the first cardboard boat race heat. Two out of the three boats immediately sank or flipped, therefore turning to mush. The third boat finished the race but was unable to participate in the weight competition. Many of the heats ended with great Titanic sinkings, but some boats made it across and participated in the weight competition. Our boat was next.
