Paddlers, Water Balloons, and the Cops
8 May
“Throwing water balloons at Naples canoe race could result in charges.”
The headline piqued our curiosity. The three paragraph Naples Daily News story that followed, HERE, warned that if injuries occurred at this Saturday’s Great Dock Canoe Race as a result of a thrown water balloon, criminal charges could be filed.
The story left, for us anyway, more questions than answers.
Water balloons? Canoe racers? Concern enough for police vigilance? An item in the newspaper? Ciminal charges? Just what kind of aqueous mayhem is happening along Florida’s “Paradise Coast?”
After painstakingly combing the Daily News archives and perusing the Great Dock Canoe Race’s web site, HERE, Canoeing News learned that the 32nd annual event is more celebration than competition — exactly 80% celebration, 20% competition according to THIS accounting, in fact.
Started in 1977 to celebrate the end of the season for the Great Dock restaurant and the unofficial start of summer, the event, according to its media packet, “has evolved into a community festival centering around a sometimes-wacky, sometimes-competitive canoe race.” Each year’s race has a theme, which racers are expected to decorate their boats and costume themselves in the spirit of. The theme for this weekend’s race: Whatever Floats Your Boat.
You can see photo galleries from previous races HERE.
And the water balloons? It seems spectators have taken to dousing race entrants with the water bombs. The Naples police issued their warning in an effort to keep the celebration safe for participants. Likewise, authorities will be aggressively enforcing alcohol related laws at the event.
