What was the secret to success in the Cardboard Canoe Races at Wright’s Pond in Medford today?
“It’s the name of the boat. It’s procrastination. It works,” said Fred Chalifoux of Medford, who paddled a cardboard refrigerator box that he’d refashioned into the SS Procrastinating. “A bit of math. A lot of cardboard. A lot of polyurethane. Enthusiasm. It’s a fun activity. A lot of free time. And a lot of duct tape.”
Competitors were challenged to create and paddle two-person canoes they constructed from cardboard and limited other materials in the races hosted by Students of the Fells, a 3-year-old outdoor education program piloted by the Friends of the Fells, and the Medford Recreation Department. Nik Tower, program director for the Students of the Fells, said the event was inspired by cardboard boat races they’d heard about in California.
Retta Smith, who is married to Mr. Chalifoux and paddled their boat with him, joked that the secret to success is “Having someone who knows how to build something.”
The couple won their first heat and were busy patching the soggy bottom of their vessel with tape in preparation for later races. “It floats or it doesn’t,” Chalifoux said. “It’s on borrowed time anyway.”
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