By Vladimir Brezina
Sometimes all you can do is laugh—
The last moments of one of the entries in last summer’s Cardboard Kayak Race, in which participants had to construct a kayak from cardboard and tape and then paddle it a short distance. This one turned out to be a folding kayak!
A contribution to Ailsa’s photo challenge, Laughter.
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
 | CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
 | Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
 | Marilyn Albright on The First Leg! |
| CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on Looks Like They Made It! |
 | Pit on Looks Like They Made It! |
| Johna Till Johnson on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
 | Larry Jensen on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| Johna Till Johnson on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
 | Frank Winters on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
| Johna Till Johnson on Halfway There! |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
| Johna Till Johnson on And They’re Off! |
Wind Against Current 
This is absolutely adorable
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Note the name of their boat: “Titanic” :-)
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The 2015 City of Water Day & the Cardboard Kayak Race will be on July 18th. Register in April with your group to participate in the fun.
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Thanks for posting this information, Louis. We’ll be there if we possibly can!
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Lovely as paper boats!
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And as fragile…
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indeed =]
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That looks like a lot of fun!
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It was! Although among the elite cardboard-kayak builders and paddlers, the competition was fierce :-)
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Sometimes, it’s the best thing to do! :)
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Sometimes, it’s the only thing to do—before swimming for your life ;-)
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Sounds like such great fun!
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It was, for all involved—especially those of us taking photos from shore :-)
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It did not hurt that the temperature on July 12, 2014 was 85deg and the water was great. We estimated about 1,000 on lookers. But this was only our second year. Each year it multiplies like rabbits.
To look at the 2014 City of Water Day website: http://www.cityofwaterday.org/
To look at just one (of many) YouTube postings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m87t3QDNvcg
I will take the op to tell you all that if you register with one of the Boathouses and paddle/row with them to Governors Island you can camp overnight on the Island. BUT you MUST register.
Thanks. Louis
http://www.waterfrontalliance.org
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..and a good time was had by all! He looks like he was having such a good time. Love it!
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At any rate, he was still smiling—although no longer laughing—in the next photo—
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thanku this message
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You are welcome!
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Not being a swimmer, I’d be crying, but still, funny. 😄
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The green rescue kayaks—with Johna in one of them, as shown in the photo a couple of comments above—were very efficient :-)
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OMG! This must been really fun for both of you! :-D Good one!!
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It was! Thanks so much!! :-)
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Seeing both of you laugh made us laugh. Thumps up for trying this thrill and thanks again for sharing it here. :-)
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That wasn’t us in the folding cardboard kayak! (I’d like to think we would have done a better job ;-) ) I was taking photos from shore, and Johna was in one of the green rescue kayaks (as seen in the photo in the comments above).
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Oh ok.. :-D Didn’t read the other comments. But it was funny and hats off to the cameraman! ;-)
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Thank you! :-)
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Don have idea how long did the boat last before sinking? But the laughter has made their day….. :-))
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I recall that their boat lasted two or three minutes. But that was still much better than some—a couple of boats sank right at the dock, as soon as they were put in the water :-)
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Love the concept, love the picture! Mentally drafting my kayak design now…
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The design is tricky. You only have cardboard and tape. Most people think of cardboard kayaks as cardboard held together by tape, but a better way to think of them is as tape backed by cardboard. It’s the tape that gives strength, if applied in the right way. The team that won, for the second year in a row, was from the Stevens Institute of Technology. They know something about tension and compression… :-)
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Aha. I am forewarned and forearmed. And would probably still lose, I suspect!
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I canlt believe it floats – very cool -0 and nice joy
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Most didn’t float for long… :-)
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well you really captured the laughter and fun in this nice action shot… :)
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I love it!
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P.S. – I missed the post last summer and just now saw it – fabulous, just fabulous!
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So glad you liked both posts—thanks!!
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This has to be a wonderfully fun event to watch and participate in. Love it and brings a smile to my face.
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It was a lot of fun. We’ll try to go again this year. Thanks so much, Bella! :-)
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This looks like so much fun.
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Indeed it was!!
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must be fun taking pictures of these events :)
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Even more fun participating, I suspect, but you can’t do both…
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Absolutely fantastic photo! Love it all.
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Thanks!!
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LOL Did you enter?
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Well, we couldn’t enter, as I wanted to take pictures from shore. But maybe this year… :-)
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Go for it. Would love to see it!
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What fun! Such a happy young couple. Reminds me of Kate & William.
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By being in the same boat, they are not necessarily a couple, of course… :-)
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