Pirate Punting 2009

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cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Pirate Punting 2009

Post by cantab » Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:24 pm

Today was Pirate Punting, YARRRRRRRRR! Essentially a big waterfight on the River Cam in Cambridge.

The rules were supposed to be OHK, 30 second respawn, and the winner being the first team to the finish - with people being banned from punting when dead. But none of that really happened. It degenerated into a soakfest pretty quickly, with the river being used to provide unlimited, but potentially gun breaking, not to mention biohazardous, water. (Seriously. Someone I know got hospitalised because of Cam water. But this didn't seem to stop us. Well no-one swallowed it mind. And I'm a rower, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with )

The craft were as follows:

2 punts
1 inflatable turtle
1 inflatable giant swan
1 'battleship'. This was my contribution. It comprised of an airbed, with a deck made from shelving, some plastic pillars, and a pair of sheets draped over it and safety pinned to provide armour against incoming fire. Propulsion was a propeller attached to a cordless drill.

The battleship was launched, and then dragged along the river to where the bank was lower so I could get in. And...I lasted about twenty seconds, before the thing capsized! I ended up in the Cam, a lot of people were laughing, and my CPS 1200 started drifting away and had to be pulled in with a punt pole.

I gave up on the superstructure and just used it as a raft. But since my drill had gone to the deep, I wasn't able to propel myself and fire at the same time. So I gave up on that and got in a punt like a sensible person.

We did, however, find the raft useful as a shield. Two people could easily hide behind it.

I ended up in the Cam something like 5 times today. Not the only person to fall in but probably the most often.

I shot a lot of people a lot of times. Including the Umpire. And also got shot at - worst was probably a Flash Flood to the side of the face. That and people emptying the reservoirs from a bridge as I was passing under it.

Weapons around: CPSes 1000, 1200, 1500, 2100, and 3000. A couple Flash Floods. A Tiger Shark. Quite a lot of Storms, the 750 I think. Someone got stuck with my Pulsemaster that had lost its cap. I used the 2100 most of the time, seeing as how I didn't want to wreck the 1200 with Cam water. The pump for the lilo - that got full of water when it ended up in the Cam, and I emptied it by aiming the nozzle at people while pumping. Oh, and foam swords.

Water bombs were brought by someone, and were a notable failure. They were thrown a lot, and usually failed to explode, when they didn't completely miss, ending up bobbing along in the river until someone attempted to retrieve them for another attempt.

Then I had to dash off at around half 2. My gran and her partner were up for the day, and we were going to see a play at 3 (Little Shop Of Horrors.). With me still soaked...

Was a good time. Though it would have been better if it had actually been SUNNY.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: Pirate Punting 2009

Post by Silence » Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:10 am

Sounds like it was a blast! I'm a little surprised a cordless drill was enough to power your dinghy.

How far off was the finish line? How many people played? Do they (or did they) all do crew in college? How big were the turtle and the swan, and could people get in them?

I'd kill to see pictures of the event. And of your battleship, before and after it sunk. Any luck?

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cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Pirate Punting 2009

Post by cantab » Sat Jun 20, 2009 12:19 pm

The drill never got tried. There was a strong chance it would have done about 1mph for 5 minutes. But it was all I had. The only things I bought were some bolts and duct tape, everything else was junk I already have.

Not sure what the course length was, it gets hard to judge distances on the river.

About a dozen people.

The boats were punts, not rowing boats. I think a couple of other people may have been boaties (what we call rowers), but not many.

The other two inflatables were quite large. We had 3 people on the swan at one point, and its owner told me it taken 5. I don't think there was every more than one of the turtle.

There is a prelaunch photo of me putting the finishing touches on the craft. I don't have it yet. There are probably photos of it capsized. But I doubt anyone got the actual moment of it tipping over. Digital cameras suck at taking quick shots...
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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Specter
Posts: 474
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 4:57 pm

Re: Pirate Punting 2009

Post by Specter » Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:22 pm

cantab wrote: Digital cameras suck at taking quick shots...
Unless it's a DSLR and you shoot in sports mode which takes about 4 pictures per second :p

i <3 my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

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cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Pirate Punting 2009

Post by cantab » Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:44 pm

Well yeah...but I don't think anyone had a DSLR. And would YOU take yours to a water fight on a river?
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

User avatar
Specter
Posts: 474
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 4:57 pm

Re: Pirate Punting 2009

Post by Specter » Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:06 am

only if i was on the bank takng pictures haha.

when i was in disney world (in florida) they had camera men taking pics in the water parks (like literally in the water) for their photopass thinger.
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

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