MONTAGUE, Mich. — Dozens of kayaks joined together to form a flotilla in White Lake on August 28, Sunday afternoon. The event was touted as an attempt to break a world record, but a comparatively small showing had the group far from collecting that crown.
However, the organizers say they weren't discouraged, rather that the first attempt was meant as a learning experience to get closer next time, eventually bringing the record to West Michigan.
"We just wanted to kind of get all the logistics out. How to unload the kayaks, how to do registrations and all that stuff," said Elie Ghazal, a volunteer organizer of Float a Palooza. "We just learned a lot of things that we can do better next year, so tonight all of us captains are going to get together and go over lessons we learned."
Ghazal is part of the organization White Lake Snow Farmers. They host winter programming in the Whitehall and Montague area as well as run beautification programs to improve White Lake. The event was a fundraiser to continue those efforts, and they are hoping to keep trying to win the record year over year.
As of Sunday night, an official number of kayaks connected at once has not yet been released. 13 ON YOUR SIDE found conflicting reports of what the true world record is, but Elie and the Snow Farmers were hoping to beat a group from Suttons Bay that connected 2,099 kayaks and canoes together.
Alongside the fundraising efforts, the event was a community gathering and an addition to the water loving culture in Montague and Whitehall. Many paddlers we spoke to say events like Float a Palooza are positive for the image of the area, and they hope it will bring in more tourists.
"That’s something very important to all of us here," Ghazal said. "We need to maintain our lake in tip top form."
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.