Riverboat Gamblers Builders Hope Their Crafts Will Stay Afloat For Race
They came, they launched and most of them floated.
The first annual Huck Finn River Race Saturday drew a small armada of canoes, kayaks and handmade boats to the Spokane River.
About six Post Falls residents were bold enough to ride contraptions built out of plastic foam, plywood and innertubes down the mile-long course.
“This is a death-trap,” said Paul Crowe as he and fellow engineer Kent Keyser tried to mount their craft.
The scow was an unstable rectangle of plywood with a plastic-foam keel. The two Post Falls men wore themselves out trying to balance atop the craft, which kept toppling them into Black Bay.
“That’s what happens when you get a couple of engineers together,” said Sue Crowe, laughing from shore at the soaking-wet pair. “They had all sorts of ideas and this is what they finally came up with. I’m afraid a wave from one boat is going to do them in.”
The two-man crew tried everything, even riding the junk upside down. Some quick surgery with a pocketknife finally made the raft ridable.
Kit Hoffer and her crew spent two weeks building a craft that won the $100 prize for creativity. The plastic-foam pontoons and wood deck came equipped with an outhouse and fluttering skull-andcrossbones flag.
A life-size fake dog adorned the bow. With help from a small pump, the canine would lift its rear leg and send out a stream of water.
Hoffer said her race strategy was to get to the finish line.
Other homemade boats included a log raft, a surfboard-sized piece of wood with plastic foam stuck to the bottom and one with four innertubes lashed to a metal frame.
“I’m either going to win or come in last,” said Mike Wassmuth, the only entry in the innertube category.
The race, part of Post Falls Days, was from Black Bay to the Spokane Street Bridge. The vessels were all human powered, with no motors allowed.
Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies monitored the course and all participants were required to wear life vests. Alcohol also was prohibited.
“Everyone has to be safe. That’s our No. 1 rule,” said organizer Jim Meyer.
In all, about 15 boats entered the friendly competition. First place winners included Dennis Ott and Chuck Tremblay for the Huck Finn raft, and Ian Wood for the canoes and kayaks, and Wassmuth in the innertube category.
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