On the evening of March 22nd (yes, my birthday) my son had a Regatta race for Scouts. When I was in Scouts we had one Pinewood Derby (and  lately I’ve had the overpowering desire to watch Down and Derby again). I did the work on my car mostly by myself and when my Dad and I showed up at the Derby it was clear that my car didn’t have a chance (my father recently lamented to me “As soon as we showed up I realized I was supposed to build your car, not you”). I did, however, win the “Most Massive” award- probably because my car was basically a black and yellow painted block with wheels. But I had fun and I wanted my son to have fun too.

The Regatta is a small boat kit that you have to sand, seal, paint, assemble and then decorate. Then, two by two, the boys then race the boats down a filled rain gutter. I suspect the overarching goal of the Regatta race is to determine which dads are deadbeats and which are actually involved in their son’s life. At any rate, Mike and I worked on the Regatta off and on the week prior to the race and I tried to let him so as much of it himself as possible (why do kids love spray paint so much?)

Overall I was pleased with our Regatta. When race time came the boat stayed perfectly upright, didn’t veer to port or starboard and was fairly swift. My son was as good as his boat- he never cheated (get your hands off the boat other kids!!), he tried his best and even though he didn’t win he was a good sport.  His regatta was awarded the “See You Later Alligator” certificate of participation. He had a good time and, more importantly, he knew he had a dad that cared about him. Personally I’m really looking forward to that Pinewood Derby…

Posted By Cam, April 2nd, 2012