Man fulfils dream by paddling pumpkin boat record 73 km down US river

An American man has finally fulfilled his dream of growing a pumpkin big enough to set sail in.

Gary Kristensen paddled 73.50 km (45.67 miles) along the Columbia River in Washington, USA, to claim the record for longest journey by pumpkin boat (paddling).

The 46-year-old completed his journey over 26 hours from 12 to 13 October aboard his hand-carved vessel “Punky Loafster”.

Gary has grown giant pumpkins since 2011, and in 2013, he carved his first boat-sized pumpkin to compete in the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta, which he’s won for the last four years.

Gary, from Happy Valley, Oregon, said: “This record attempt was a challenge I had long considered, finally deciding to pursue it this year when I grew a pumpkin suitable for the journey.”

“Punky Loafster” was pollinated on 14 July and harvested on 4 October, then officially weighed and measured at Bauman’s Harvest Festival in Gervais, Oregon, on 5 October.

It had a circumference of 429.26 cm (169 in) and weighed 555.2 kg (1,214 lb).

That’s about the weight of an adult dromedary camel or a grand piano.

On 11 October, Gary carved the pumpkin into a boat and mounted a camera to it with a broomstick so he could record his journey.

The final touches were adding the words “it’s real” to each side of the pumpkin so that any stunned passers-by who saw him paddling down the river could have their curiosity satisfied.

His journey, completed over three legs, beat the previous record of 63.04 km (39.17 mi) set in 2023.

Gary launched his pumpkin into the Columbia River from a trailer at Hamilton Island Boat Ramp in the City of North Bonneville, Washington.

To ensure his safety, he was followed by others in kayaks and on a pontoon boat throughout the journey.

But that doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing.

Gary told us: “After a couple hours of paddling, the wind had strengthened to 56 km/h (35 mph) and waves were starting to come over the sides of the pumpkin.

“A safe beach directly across the Columbia from Multnomah Falls was identified for landing the pumpkin.

“Landing was difficult because there was thick vegetation in the water that would not allow the pumpkin to easily float through.”

He made the most of that downtime though.

“On the beach I used an empty soup can to carve out more pumpkin meat hoping to make the pumpkin float better for the rest of the journey,” he said.

“This reduced weight helped the pumpkin float a bit better for waves.”

As he began the second leg of his journey, Gary expected to paddle until he found a safe beach he could camp on overnight.

But once darkness fell, he didn’t feel it was safe to beach his pumpkin boat on the sand as accidentally hitting just one sharp rock could puncture it and end his record attempt.

He explained: “For this reason, I just kept paddling through the night and waited until sunrise for a safe landing spot.

“At 7:03 a.m. the sun was coming up and I found a safe spot to land and rest on Hayden Island.”

After a 5 hr 22 min rest stop, including time to sleep and eat, Gary set off on the third and final leg of his journey, all the way to his finish line of Langsdorf Landing in Vancouver, Washington.

A journalist was waiting to interview him, and Gary’s story was broadcast on news channels in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

He told them at the time: “I’m a little nervous but excited. If I don’t get the record, I had an incredible adventure.”

We’re happy to confirm it was both an incredible adventure and a record-breaking feat.