Volume 5 Issue 8
March 1999

LEADER IDEAS III

Rain Gutter Regatta

I saw a great RR (Raingutter Regatta) at my nephew's pack last summer while visiting. The kids made their boats out of recycled materials. Plastic soda bottles with some sand for ballast could be the hull, a pencil for mast, tin pie plate (mini-ones) for the sail...the winner was a plastic transmission fluid bottle (flat rather than cylindrical) ballasted with plaster of Paris, capped and with a mast/sail combo as above. It was really fast! Didn't even need a rudder. The creativity was inspiring, and the cost was nothing. Only parameters for the boats was that they had to fit in the gutter. (draft of no more than 1.5 inches).

A second idea (not as good) was from my day camp (pirate theme). We had the boys cut a hull from styrofoam meat trays (donated to us from the local grocer), a straw for mast, sail cut from typing paper, rudder from card stock (file folders),. You ended up with a flat hulled boat (raft?) that could make it to the finish line, but the sails did not put up with more than 1 or 2 dunkings. But the kids had a great time and could take the boats home. Good 40 minute activity.

Lorie McGraw llmcgraw@worldnet.att.net
Webelos Leader and more in Columbia, SC
Etowah Creek District, Indian Waters Council
http://home.att.net/~llmcgraw/etowah/ecd-indx.htm
"If a bigger hammer doesn't work, your problem is electrical." --Dad

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