Fun at Sea - The Great Ship Building Challenge

The fabulous Sundowner Princess

One of the activities that many passengers take part in is the ‘Ship Building’ challenge ... the objective is to use recycled materials and items available on the ship to construct a sea worthy vessel which can transport six cans of beers from one end of the pool to the other and return them safely to the start.

Look at the detail on this ship - all made from recycled material

John and his wife Jenny, members of the crazy cruisers group, took up the challenge and completed two amazing vessels. On the first leg from Sydney to Dover, they constructed the Sundowner Princess ... an almost scale model of the Dawn Princess .... complete with helipad, pools, and life rafts ... a magnificent ship. Most other vessels were variations of rafts, with the cans stowed precariously on top - some disappearing over the end and into the pool before the end of the challenge run.

U2 - the amazing submarine carries six cans of beer inside the hull

For the second leg, John decided to think outside the square and they constructed U2, a submarine which floated just under the waterline, with the cans safely stowed inside. The main structure was created from the cardboard cylinder that comes inside of a carpet roll and duct tape. John spent hours perfecting the weight ratio and balance, so that it wouldn’t sink or take on water ... apparently many hours of after dark testing went into the preparation .. and bags of Tahiti sand provided the additional balast.

Braving the elements to support a friend!!

Today, the day of judging was very cold (icy NZ winds) on deck ... we wanted to show our support for John and his hard work ... so we braved the conditions and looked ridiculous standing around the pool rugged up in blankets ... all the water craft preformed creditably in crossing the pool with the cargo so it was down to audience applause to select the winner. I think every member of the crazy cruisers group was there cause John received tumultous applause and was declared the winner ... not before time cause we rushed back inside for a warm hot chocolate.

Well done, John and Jenny - you deserved to win for all the time you put in.

Cheers