Ahoy! Manitoban carves giant pumpkin into motorized boat

Most people make pies out of their pumpkins at this time of year, but one Manitoba man has turned his into a boat — complete with a motor.

"I figured life on Earth is short and this was the time to do it," said Dan Friesen, who has been growing Atlantic giant pumpkins for 20 years as a hobby on his property in Landmark, 30 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.

Years ago, he saw photos of someone sitting inside a hollowed-out gourd "and I thought, 'Well, this would be something to do if I ever happen to grow something large enough to support my weight,' " Friesen said.

He also wanted his kids to have a good "my dad did this" story.

This year was the first time one of his pumpkins topped the 1,000-pound mark — rounding out at 1,037 pounds to be exact, and measuring three feet tall by four feet wide.

So Friesen made up his mind rather quickly.

"I knew this was the one," he said.

After entering it into a provincial contest, where it placed 17th, Friesen pulled out his machete and got to work. He cut out a chunk for the opening then gutted the gourd.

He mounted a small electric motor on the back, rigging it up with a piece of wood, and then headed to a friend's house near Steinbach. Just off the friend's backyard is a gravel pit that has filled with water to create a lake.

The trickiest part was moving it over rocks to get it into the water without having it tip and break — becoming squash(ed) — or rolling into the lake and filling up.

"But once we got it in, yeah, it worked great," said Friesen.

It was a little wobbly at first but once he got himself settled and steadied, it was "very placid" with the calm water and slow, puttering motor, he said.

After his successful ride in the makeshift boat, nicknamed SS Gourdo, a couple of Friesen's teenage kids tried and everyone managed to stay dry.

The pumpkin turned out to be a great little craft. Actually, it still is, Friesen said. 

"If you found the gravel pit, you might still see it floating around there," he said. "We have to go get it."

His next goal is to grow a pumpkin that can place better than 17th.

And he wants to take some time-lapse photography next year to capture the growing process of the gargantuan fruit.

According to an article called The Secret to Growing the World's Largest Pumpkin, Atlantic Giants can pack on 50 pounds per day during the peak growing season.

Oh, and for the record, Friesen didn't forgo the pumpkin pies this year.

That chunk he cut out to make the opening? It contained enough flesh for 15.

With files from Aviva Jacob and Marcy Markusa