Suttons Bay Floatilla

We welcome Zane Schwaiger, author of amabellen.blogpost.com for this guest post on the Suttons Bay Floatilla. Kudos to her for bringing this local event to us even with her two kiddos in tow! It’s not an easy task (and definitely not a clean one) to occupy kids while photographing an event.

A huge mass of kayaks and canoes were out in Suttons Bay today, floating together as “one large raft” in an attempt to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. It was quite a sight—even from the shore. My daughters and I watched kids, parents, grandparents, and friends in all combinations paddle out to join an enthusiastic swarm of boats. Around 1:00, a resounding cheer came from the group as all paddles were raised and an aerial photographer passed overhead.

The buzzing question of the afternoon was, of course, how many boats were out there? I asked the officials of the Suttons Bay Floatilla after the event, and they said to check back for the official count on their website this Wednesday. Among the conflicting opinions I heard were: “Well over 1,500” and “At least 1,800.” The current world record is 1,902 kayaks and canoes held together only by hands on Fourth Lake in the New York Adirondacks. At this time, we are still held in suspense wondering if our little northern town surpassed that number and will make Guinness Book of World Record fame. . .