This October, Gary Kristensen grew his own boat—a giant pumpkin. Kristensen then went on to paddle 46 miles on the Columbia River securing the Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat paddling in his pumpkin named “The Punky Loafster”.
“I’ve been growing pumpkins since 2011 and I’ve been paddling pumpkins in the local pumpkin regatta since 2013,” Kristensen said.
The Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat paddling
On the morning of October 12, Kristensen embarked on his pumpkin odyssey with the goal of breaking the then current Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat paddling. The then-current record was 39.17 miles held by Steve Kueny on the Missouri River set on October 8th, 2023.
Breaking the longest paddle in a pumpkin record has been on Kristensen’s mind for a while.
“There was a lady in our giant pumpkin growing club who set the record many years ago, somewhere around 16 miles I believe,” said Kristensen. “I’ve always thought it’d be kind of cool to do that. I had an extra pumpkin in my yard this year that looked like it would be good for a long journey, so it felt like the right time to go for it.”
Armed with a sturdy looking pumpkin, a double-bladed paddle, safety equipment and a support team including an old friend in a pontoon, Kristensen decided to make his attempt on October 12, 2024.
Challenges of pumpkin boat paddling: from high winds to high tides
Kristensen’s adventure had a rocky start. Initially, he struggled to average two miles per hour and was then forced off the water temporarily by high winds.
“We were supposed to have a 15-mile-per-hour tailwind, what ended up happening was a 35-mile-per-hour tailwind. The waves were crazy big. We ended up having to stop only three hours and 45 minutes into the trip to wait out the waves on the beach. Water had been coming over the side of the pumpkin, almost sank it.”
Landing to wait out the wind was one challenge; once Kristensen’s paddle resumed, landing in the dark to rest proved another. Rather than land, Kristensen opted to paddle his pumpkin boat for almost 17 hours straight, his friend in a pontoon nearby to keep him company and for additional safety in the dark.
“Pumpkins are fragile. If you hit a rock it could be game over. I didn’t want to risk damaging the pumpkin so that leg was 16 hours and 45 minutes,” Kristensen explained.
As soon as they could see well enough to safely land the pumpkin on a sandy beach Kristensen laid down on the pontoon boat to try and sleep. Kristensen slept for only about an hour, waking to find that the tide had gone out and his pumpkin boat was now high and dry.
“We spent like three hours trying to dig the pumpkin off the beach, where it was stuck, and finally got it back in the water to start paddling again,” Kristensen explained.
Ultimately, Kristensen would paddle a total of 26 hours to go 45.96 miles by way of paddling a pumpkin, securing the world record.
Paddling a pumpkin boat versus a traditional kayak
Paddling a pumpkin boat for 46 miles is no walk in the park. To prepare for the trip Kristensen trained by kayaking every weekend and running every day. While kayaking, he would put pool noodles around the kayak for additional resistance, but according to Kristensen it is still not anything like paddling a pumpkin.
“The pumpkin goes nowhere,” Kristensen explained. “It feels like when you pull the paddle back nothing happens.”
Kristensen’s pumpkin started out at 1224 pounds before he carved it; after carving, the pumpkin boat still weighed 950 pounds. For reference, the typical kayak weighs anywhere from 35-70 pounds.
Inside the pumpkin boat, Kristensen simply put down a yoga mat and alternated between sitting and kneeling throughout the duration of his paddle.
What makes a good pumpkin to paddle?
All of which begs the question—what exactly makes a good pumpkin to paddle?
“The more it looks like a kayak and is naturally shaped like a kayak, the better,” Kristensen explained.
According to Kristensen, the pumpkins that make the best boats are pointy on both ends, symmetrical and have smooth skin. Kristensen grows his giant pumpkins on a piece of plywood with foam on top rather than dirt to help keep the bottom flat for a more stable ride.
In addition, it also helps if the stem and the blossom of the pumpkin are level, meaning the ribs of the pumpkin would run parallel to the beam of the pumpkin boat, and the pumpkin is pointy on both ends, almost like a bow and stern.
An all-around paddling adventure
“It started out to break the record but at the end it was just a cool adventure,” Kristensen said.
In his potentially record-breaking pumpkin journey, Kristensen also reconnected with an old friend from high school, who drove the pontoon that trailed Kristensen for the journey and proved instrumental as a support team member.
“We had put lights on the boat and the wires started catching on fire. A seat and a lifejacket caught on fire and he took care of that and fixed it,” Kristensen explained. “He was also the one that ended up doing most of the digging to get the pumpkin unstuck.”
Kristensen is not done with the Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat paddling. Next autumn, he plans to go farther, longer, and hopefully break his own record.
