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even lowered a bag of ice-cold Gatorade from the bridge at
Brown's Tract directly into our boat one particularly hot year;
saving the day yet again. He takes his role as seriously as any
paddler out there. We know we can count on him to offer
unsolicited paddling advice, take care of ever ything behind
the scenes, and be there when we need him.
Of all the races our family has run, that six-person voya-
geur canoe will always stand out. In 2013, Chip pitched the
idea of putting all the Gianfagna boys in one 200+ lb. canoe
with our mom to paddle The 90. With all five brothers in, we
assembled The Queen Jean: five brothers of var ying abilities
and interests and one badass lady in the bow responsible for
the whole mess.
Chip and I took turns in the stern, Mom and Casey set the
pace at the bow, and Andy and Joe held down the middle. We
made our way over 90 miles, eight carries, and one dropped
hat that prompted a U-turn in a 22-foot canoe about five min-
utes into the race. We even sur vived a broken paddle in the
middle of Long Lake and one sibling's desire to document the
race with his camera. On more than one occasion, boats pass-
ing by likely heard the phrase "Shut up and paddle" coming
from our boat.
