I Built a Raft

By: James Nugent

Narrated by: Andrew J. Cornelius

I built a raft out of plastic pop bottles and plywood, and then sailed away for a Saturday. I had sailed many kinds of vessels in the waters of southern Puget Sound, but never a homemade raft. The raft cost me $60. The adventure was priceless. Join me as I try this grand experiment.

Disclaimer:

Rafting is inherently dangerous. A homemade raft is even more risky. Human beings simply don't breathe underwater. I do not recommend trying to copy my exploits. I do recommend that you do sit back in the safety of your living room and enjoy my ludicrous adventure.

Bits and pieces:

I cobbled my raft together mostly from bits and pieces from around my yard and my 22-foot Columbia sailboat in the marina in Olympia, Washington.

For floatation I used 400 two-liter plastic bottles. There were also some one-liter plastic bottles sprinkled into the mix. In order to contain all the bottles I made flotation bags out of plastic lawn fencing.

The pop bottles were placed in the handmade bags. Plastic ties secured the flotation bags closed. I ended up with eight bags that would be the flotation for my adventure vessel!

The hull of my raft was made of scrap 2x4s and some quarter-inch plywood.

©2015 James Nugent (P)2015 James Nugent