Sitting in a bathtub, surrounded by bubbles, you can make almost anything into a small ship: An empty shampoo bottle, a soap dish, the cap from your favorite creme rinse.
We may all be aspiring seafarers, in short, and devising new ways to float our impromptu boats can easily fuel our water-loving whimsies.
But could you build a watertight vessel out of cardboard — make that the corrugated kind — and some imaginatively placed duct tape? The sort of sailing ship that could make all the way across a sizable swimming pool?
With two people sitting inside it?
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The odyssey might be on the soggier side, and your boat may not have all its ducks, or rather duct tape pieces, in a row by the time you cross the Annenberg Community Beach House pool, but you and your shipmate will likely have a few laughs, or least memory-making moments, along the way.
For the Cardboard Yacht Regatta, an offbeat aquatic showdown at the Santa Monica landmark, is all about the memories, and merry moments, and, yes, the notion of a possible victory, too.
The annual event, long a staple of late August, will be popping up in the pretty pool just ahead of summer's start in 2022.
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That date?
It's Saturday, June 18, but you'll need to enter online by June 16. And, prior to that, we'll wager, you and your best boat-building bud will be busily constructing your cardboard craft.
There are several things to know before digging in the drawer for some duct tape: All boats are "human-powered," there must be two people in a boat, and an array of awards will be presented, including "Most Spirited."
And, indeed, "Most Likely to Sink."
It's twenty dollars for a team to register, it's open to participants ages 5 and up, and there are some other important rules to review ahead of signing up.
The adorable August event is adding joy to the middle of June, and we're ready to shout "land ahoy!" or something else that feels right.
Ready to sail a cardboard yacht at the beach-close destination? Aye aye, captain: Start your adventure here.
