Will It Float? A LEGO Pool Party
/Best of BrickNerd: Weekend Highlight — Article originally published September 12, 2021.
As an impulsive reaction, pools and LEGO don’t seem like a good mix. Getting a MOC wet seems like the most unintuitive thing you could do. But what if a LUG member had a pool and issued a challenge to build something that could face the waves? Well, fun times and great memories ensued.
Every year, SLUG (Saskatchewan LEGO Users Group) has an annual pool party, and each year the club includes a LEGO-themed pool contest. Past events have included making an amphibious vehicle that would race down a ramp in the water and see who went the farthest. Other activities have included the Unsinkable Challenge, an elastic-powered boat, a floating catapult minifig fling, and a floating castle challenge. I wish I had photos from each of these events because they led to some pretty amazing creations! I’m sure that some other challenges are in lost records at the bottom of Davy Jones locker.
This year’s theme was Pirates! We were challenged to make pirate ships using any pieces, but it would have to withstand the assault of every water hose, squirt gun, and child’s splash the pool could throw at it. One member even brought a submarine, seeing how the challenge was to see who could float the longest, I was not so sure of the tactic. But like Jason Batemen says in dodgeball, “It’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off for ‘em!”
Official LEGO boats came in all sorts of shapes, styles, and sizes—and some float and others don’t. When it came to our challenge, builders used lots of different tactics too: making it subnautical, using plastic dragon wings to have the water bead away from the inner haul, or even using a Pick-a-Brick cup to contain your small pirate raft. (We had a heated talk about if this was “legal” or not, and the rules only stated it had to be made of LEGO not exclusively LEGO system bricks, so we let it in. These rules were also put in place a few years ago when elastic powered boats were the challenge and a member used soda pop bottles as the floatation device, with a LEGO platform attached.)
Once all the boats were in the pool, we had a quick parade of floating MOCs—It had to be quick because the kids weren’t waiting and instantly unleashed the water hoses and tidal waves on the poor LEGO boats. It was a graveyard of loose LEGO pieces afterwards and all the boats were pretty waterlogged and in rough shape—but none sank. One flipped over from being too top-heavy. There was a solid effort to get the lid of the S.S Cheater Cup—I mean Pick-a-Brick cup—but that lid was on there tight!
The Nautilus submarine was even dragged down to the bottom of the pool and it STILL would not stay there. I suppose there is enough air trapped in the cavities of the hull and inside the bricks to provide enough buoyancy to come rocketing back up to the surface. But it led to a really epic video!
The pool party was a lot of fun and we had a blast, just like we do every year. After 18 months of lockdown, it was so nice to get back and see everyone. The party was open to the families of club members as well so it felt more like a big reunion rather than just a club meeting. To cap off the day, we had a great BBQ graciously cooked by the host’s husband. Following a few more pool shenanigans, a set draft or two, and even more good food, it was time to call it a day. It was a great way to end the Summer.
The pool party reminded me of a few other water-themed activities I’ve heard about in the LEGO community. BrickCan had a pool party a few years back at their hotel with AFOLs trying to bag build sets with water in them. (FYI it doesn’t work.) BrickFair often does boat races. And I’ve also been told that the Portuguese LEGO convention Paredes De Coura has a nice river near the convention hall, and AFOLs often head there to cool off during the day—a LEGO river challenge would be something to see!
So if someone in your club has a pool (or if you can get access to a public pool with your club), I highly suggest having a friendly LEGO water competition. Don’t be afraid to get your LEGO wet and make use of all those boat hulls we have hiding in the corner of our LEGO room closets to actually test if it will float.
Have you taken part in or seen a LEGO pool party? Let us know in the comments below.
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