Four-time reigning West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta champion Gary Kristensen is taking on bigger waters this month in an attempt to smash the standing world record for the longest journey by pumpkin boat.
But Kristensen, who grows his own giant gourds, has no intention of letting the record attempt interfere with claiming a fifth Regatta crown this year.
He’s growing one pumpkin for the Guinness World Record row and another for the Regatta.
Weather permitting, he’ll put in just west of the Bonneville Dam on Oct. 12, and row his homegrown boat, Punky Loafster, more than 38 miles down the Columbia River, passing under the Interstate Bridge in Portland near the end of his route, to claim the title.
If he succeeds, he’ll need copious documentation to prove the win.
Last year, Missouri man Steve Kueny paddled a 1,208-pound pumpkin from Kansas City, Kansas, to Napoleon, Missouri, to establish the current record of 38.4 miles. His continuous 11-hour voyage down the Missouri River bested a record set on the same waterway the previous year.
Kristensen’s hoping his gourd weighs in lighter, at closer to 1,000 pounds. The boat takes its name from the breadlike appearance it took on when he attempted to coax it into a kayak shape with a homemade lumber frame. Instead, the pumpkin muffined over the sides of the mold.
“Punky Loafster is a bigger pumpkin. For a long voyage like that, I need more room for my legs to move around and stretch,” he said. “I need a bigger pumpkin in case ship traffic almost capsizes me. Even though it’s going to be harder to row something that big, I think the bigger pumpkin is the smarter.”
He keeps his Regatta boats a little smaller. The sweet spot is about 800 pounds. Anything above 1,000 becomes difficult to row.
But unlike the Regatta, he’s going for stamina over speed on the Columbia. He’s spent the past month running, strength-training, and paddling the river to build endurance.
The Columbia presents a few challenges Kristensen’s predecessors didn’t have to face on the Missouri and many that he’s never encountered on The Lake at The Commons.
Fluctuating tides, changing wind directions and slower moving water could all foil him.
And, he anticipates his trip taking several hours longer than Kueny’s record-setter last year because the Columbia, in some stretches, doesn’t flow as fast as the Missouri.
“I don’t think I’m going to break the record in one day because I don’t have enough current on the Columbia,” he said, explaining that the Missouri moves at about 3 mph consistently. “I can get 3 mph by Bonneville, but when you start getting much past there, it slows down pretty quickly.
He plans to split the journey into two legs over two days, spending the night on a beach with his support crew along the way. Guinness rules don’t require trips to be non-stop, but he must prove that he sets out from the exact spot he stopped.
“I didn’t know that until I got the rules from Guinness. You can stop as long as you have witnesses that sign your logbook when you stop and when you start again, and your GPS stops and starts again in exactly the same spot,” he said. “You have photos of your stop and your start. We’re going to video the whole thing, so that doesn’t really matter too much.”
It’s part of the copious documentation required.
“If you’re going to break the record, you have to submit for evidence,” he said.
Kristensen will be trailed by a pontoon boat carrying his support crew. Along with ensuring he’s safe, they’ll help to document the voyage with a witness log, GPS recordings, time stamps, photos, and video footage. He’ll also be equipped in the pumpkin with a camera that snaps a photo every 30 seconds.
His attempt is years in the making. Or at least years in the planning. He’s had his eyes on this prize, waiting for the right gourd to take shape in his garden. He has a contender this year in Punky Loafster.
Kristensen began growing giant Pumpkins in 2011 and has rowed in every Regatta since 2013. He grows for color and shape, choosing a bright orange, barrel-shaped variety.
“The very first time I rowed in the Regatta, my pumpkin was not ideally shaped. Every time I paddled, it felt like the thing was about to roll over. The harder I paddled, the more it felt like it was going to roll,” he said. “I’ve learned how to pick the right pumpkin to take to the Regatta.”
He has been training on the Columbia all fall. He spends his weekends kayaking long stretches of the rivers and scouting potential beaches to stop for the night. He needs a space to gently pull the pumpkin ashore or shallow water to anchor it to keep it from floating off in the night.
Carved pumpkins size are nearly impossible to lift without breaking.
He’ll carve the pumpkin in the water just like he does at the Regatta, making sure to keep the gourd’s walls thick enough to keep them from collapsing while he rows.
Kristensen lifts the gourds from his garden onto a flatbed to transport them to water.
His suburban Happy Valley home has enough space for five or six pumpkins to mature. Each plant needs about 1,000 square feet.
Tending the patch, for Kristensen, is every bit as satisfying as winning the Regatta.
“I enjoy every aspect of growing the pumpkin and harvesting it,” he said. “I like the process. I love working in the garden every day. l work from home, so I’m able to take these breaks throughout the day, go out and work in the garden, come back in, and then feel really good.”
The West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta happens this Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Lake of the Commons in Tualatin. For complete details, visit tualatinoregon.gov/pumpkinregatta.
