In September 2011, on a lake near the small town of Inlet, New York, the Central Adirondack Paddlers Society sponsored an attempt to break the Guinness record for the “World’s Largest Floating Raft.”
“Largest Floating Raft” in this case was a gathering of canoes and kayaks, held together only by hands, floating freely for at least 30 seconds.
At the time, the world record was 1,619 boats, set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2010. The New York team easily set a new record with 1,902 boats.
The Inlet event was known as One Square Mile of Hope, and it raised $80,000 for the Komen foundation for breast cancer research.
So — 2,000 paddlers had a memorable day, and a chunk of money was raised for medical research.
Also notable about the event was the awesome photography.
At ground level, the largest floating raft looked like this:
The most eye-popping photos were taken by Lake Placid photographer Nancie Battaglia. Her amazing aerial shots earned two-page spreads in Sports Illustrated, Canoe & Kayak, and National Geographic.
Here is a bird’s-eye view.
And here is the money shot, a beautiful mosaic.
The population of Inlet, New York, is about 400. They like to point out that they bested mighty Pittsburgh, population 350,000.
It was, in addition, a revenge thing. Inlet had won the championship in 2008 (1,104 boats), only to lose to Pittsburgh in 2010. I assume Pittsburgh has plans to retaliate.
Meanwhile, to celebrate Inlet’s victory, you can go to OneSquareMileofHope.com and choose your memento:
— A 16″ x 20″, 500-piece jigsaw puzzle of Nancie Battaglia’s money shot, $25.00
— A 22″ x 28″ poster of the same photo, $15.00
— A nifty pink One Square Mile of Hope commemorative cap, $15.00
All profits will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
All in all, it’s a pleasant, uplifting story that has no bad guys.
Not counting Pittsburgh, of course.
Mr. Write's Page 
Wow! Awesome pictures and event.