Events > April tools

APRIL TOOLS WOODEN BOAT CHALLENGE 2019

And the 2019 winner is: Fireflies!

Garden Bay's Fireflies Ray Miron, Sawyer Cote, Kerry Rand, and Bruno Cote take first place again for the 3rd year in a row.

2019 Winners
Adult Races
1st Place: Fireflies
2nd Place: Gunboat Bay Challenger
3rd Place: SS Wim

Youth Races
1st Place: Iceberg
2nd Place: Titanic
3rd Place: Matt Sucks/Egg 2

2019 Awards

2019 Recap

In spite of gusty winds and a large flying tent (fortunately no one hurt, including the tent!), April Tools 2019 was a lot of fun! The TWIST: our teams had been in a plane crash on the isolated island of Madeira Park. They had to make a boat from materials that washed to shore in order to get back to civilization. In other words, they were Castaways!

And due to their Canadian heritage, they had to leave the beach cleaner than they found it! So all their materials (minus any shavings and offcuts they could fit into a grocery bag) had to be onboard their boat. They had all kinds of stuff to build with, including a piece of driftwood, 2 small trees, an assortment of rough and used wood, 33 feet of  ¾” plastic tubing, a ball of string, some poly sheeting, some random screws and, of course, Wilson!

During the hour spent thinking up a solution to their dilemma, our teams  appeared a bit more troubled than usual, but they came up with plans that morphed into an astonishing variety of styles. And not one boat looked just like our prototype! Some fared better than others, a lack of freeboard being a common issue, but most floated!

Nonetheless, the Fireflies again prevailed, powering out ahead of everyone in both the preliminary heat and final race. The Gunboat Bay Challengers were a strong second and SS Wim came in third after reducing their paddlers from 2 to 1 to prevent the boat from sinking at the starting line. The Broken Paddle Trophy went to Goring in Style and the Spiffy Skiffy Award to Beaver Island Bandits.

The high school races had a strong field of 7 builder/paddlers. Iceberg from the Train in Trades program came across the finish first and we will add Al Cook and Treven Reid’s names to the Trophy! The Fun Race had winners in all categories (see Youth Team results for details!) rewarded with big bags of treats.

Many amazing boats were pounded out by the kid builders and many faces intricately painted. The Rotary and the Living Heritage Society kept everyone well fed.

The volunteers did their usual amazingly seamless job of getting the site up, running, then knocked down with precision. Without them and our wonderful sponsors, April Tools would never happen.

Hopefully next year will be calm and sunny! Come out and see us again on April 25, 2020!

Note: April Tools 2020 and 2021
were cancelled due to Covid.

​What happens on
Event Day:

10 am: the twist and building materials are revealed to the teams. Then they have one hour to plan how they'll build their boat. Hand tools only!

11 am - 2 pm: Boatbuilding action, lots of activities for kids, museum displays, snacks, and more.

2 pm: Youth Races the high school teams run two races: the trophy race and the free-for-all

2:45 pm (approx.): Adult races follow the youth races. It's float, sink, or swim!  Will they even get all the way around the course?  Can anyone beat the multi-champion Fireflies? (aka the Garden Bay Firefighters)  Upsets of all kinds can happen! 

Family Fun 

• Wooden boats are available to row or paddle around the Harbour for free.  
• Burgers and baked goods keep everyone energized
• Lots of fun activities for the little kids, including free mini-boatbuilding!    

Check out our photo galleries from past event years! 

Location

Situated on the shores of spectacular Pender Harbour, Madeira Park is a jewel of the Sunshine Coast.  With only a ferry ride and a scenic one hour drive north, it is easily accessible from both Vancouver and the lower mainland. View our location on Google Maps.

2019 Photo Galleries

Boatbuilding & Activities

​Youth Races

Adult Races

Thank you to our ​2019 sponsors!

formerly

Additional support provided by Sunshine Coast Resort, ​Oak Tree Market, IGA Madeira Park, and Marina Pharmacy.

To sponsor April Tools, 
​​please contact Jackie at 604-883-0539.

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