Pirate Punting 2009
Posted: 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.
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.