Cardigan Launches Student-Made Boat on Canaan Street Lake

It’s a little-known fact that prior to his appointment as the tenth head of Cardigan Mountain School, Chris Day P’12,’13 was the captain of the Sophie C, Lake Winnipesaukee’s mailboat that has been delivering letters and packages to its island residence each summer since 1969. During his tenure at Holderness School, where he was a history teacher and dean of faculty, Mr. Day would escape campus during the summers, vacating his classroom podium for a seat at the helm of the World War II-era vessel. So it seemed appropriate this spring that Mr. Day would be called upon to also captain Cardigan’s first Gates boat, built by the seventh graders and launched on Canaan Street Lake on May 21, the last day of classes of the 2024-2025 school year.

The Communications Office began receiving photographs of the boat’s construction three weeks before the end of school. “We’re building a boat!” the email subject line read.

On first inspection, one would have wondered if the boat would ever float. Using stitch and glue construction, the 13-foot boat began to take shape using zip ties to mold and bend plywood. But for the seventh-grade Gates crew, the quarter-inch plywood proved too stiff and the zip ties couldn’t hold the hull together. As the students sealed the stern of the boat with a mixture of sawdust and resin, Gates coaches Tuffer Dow and Chris Kondi found bigger zip ties and bigger spring clamps to pull the bow pieces together. Fingers crossed, the duo relied on equal parts ingenuity and beginners’ luck.

With the hull eventually secured, construction progressed at lightning speed to make the end-of-year deadline. The rest of the seams were sealed, and with the zip ties removed, the holes were filled. Next came a coat of fiberglass and plenty of sanding. Finally, the painting started, first a coat of primer, and finally a gorgeous coat of Cardigan green. On the last day, just hours before the seventh graders carried it from Wallach to the waterfront, the boat received trim on its gunwales.

On launch day, the Cardigan community gathered on the waterfront under cloudy skies, wind blowing directly into the cove from the summit of Mt. Cardigan. Mr. Day’s favorite line from the Cardigan Hymn, “Through storm or weather fair,” took on new meaning. Undeterred, Mr.  Day, dressed in his captain’s uniform, christened the boat, pouring very berry seltzer over its bow.

“We need eight boys––only eight boys––to help push the boat into the water,” Mr. Dow instructed.

In true Cardigan fashion, that didn’t stop far more boys than were needed from running to the shore to help. With joyful cheers buoying its maiden voyage, the first student-constructed Gates boat stayed afloat! 

“Mr. Day! Mr. Day!” the boys chanted from shore.

Mr. Day hopped over the gunnel and with a single pull to the engine, he was off across the lake. The skiff cut through the water easily, gaining speed as it circled the cove. It didn’t wobble, nor veer to the left or right, but ran straight as an arrow as if it had been built by master craftsmen. Broad grins on the faces of the Gates teachers concealed more than a bit of relief, glad the boat was a success, but even more elated that they had not drowned their head of school.

At the moment, the Gates boat remains unnamed. At first, the thought was that the boys would get to name their creation, but when their vote came down to “The Sinker,” the Gates teachers wondered if there was another alternative. When the annual auction comes around next fall, could we leave it up to another community member? Stay tuned!