Forget circumnavigations and ocean crossings; the most hotly contested field in the paddling record books is based around floating in a gourd. On October 9, 2023, Steve Kueny of Missouri set a new record for the “longest journey by pumpkin.” Kueny completed the 39-mile voyage down the Missouri in his 1,293-pound gourd named Huckle Berry.
Steve Kueny Paddles To A New Record For “Longest Journey In A Pumpkin”
Kueny launched from Kansas City on a Monday at 7:30 a.m. and paddled the pumpkin 11 hours down the Missouri River. In the end, Kueny traveled 39 miles. A distance besting the previous record set just last year by another Missouri man, Duane Hansen, who paddled his 846-pound pumpkin 37.5 miles down the Missouri. Prior to Hansen, Rick Swenson made a 25-mile trip on the North Dakota and Minnesota border just in 2016.
Kueny was joined on the water for the record-setting pumpkin paddle by the Paddle KC Paddling Club. For those curious how Kueny kept the pumpkin from tipping on the trip, a couple of sandbags were placed within the carved-out pumpkin to increase stability in his bobbing and nearly round paddle craft. Kueny also took another smart step in deciding how best to prepare Huckle Berry for the river journey.
“We test floated it before we carved it so we would know which end wanted to be up. Once we figured that out, we marked it, made the hole at the center,” Kueny told NPR affiliate KCUR-FM.
Perhaps even more impressive than paddling a half-ton pumpkin 39 miles is the fact that Kueny grew Huckle Berry himself. And according to USA Today, Kueny just started growing pumpkins in 2020 as a pandemic hobby. For only growing pumpkins a few years, Kueny certainly has a knack for gourd farming.
For now, Kueny and Huckle Berry hold the title for the longest journey traveled in a pumpkin. But with the pace of the records being set, it’s just a matter of time before another pumpkin paddler breaks the 40-mile barrier.
Feature Image: Warson Media / KOLR10 & Fox49 YouTube
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://paddlingmag.com/videos/missouri-paddler-breaks-record-for-longest-journey-by-pumpkin-video/&media=https://paddlingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pumpkin.jpg&description=Steve Kueny set a new record for the "longest journey in a pumpkin" when he paddled his 1,293-pound gourd, Huckle Berry, down the Missouri.){kind=link}