Over 400 students turned the Connecticut River into a sea of floating rubber, plywood rafts and bodies Saturday afternoon, despite gusty winds and cloudy skies.
The 11th annual Tubestock seemed doomed by temperatures below 70 degrees, but students were undaunted. About one-half mile upstream from Ledyard Bridge, bands played on a high shore for anchored homemade rafts and passing innertubes.
Festivities began around 1 p.m., when live bands began playing. By 2 p.m., hordes of students convened on the Vermont side of the river to party, imbibe legal and illegal beverages and generally have a good time.
College Safety and Security officers maintained the peace and prevented students from entering the river from the New Hampshire shore.
Safety and Security Officer Robert Young explained the policy as a "College rule." He said there were no injuries during the day.
"It was nice and peaceful, actually," he said. "We just made sure that students got out of the river safely when they came floating down the river."
Chi Heorot fraternity member and innertube salesman John Kline '99 said students purchased approximately 550 rubber innertubes.
"It didn't seem like there were 550 tubes in the water -- it was kind of cold -- but there were definitely a lot of people," Kline said.
About the same number of tubes were sold last year during the 1996 Tubestock, he said.
Tubestock may be a Summer term tradition at Dartmouth but the College continues to maintain complete separation from the event. The tradition began in 1987 when Richard "Boomer" Akerboom '80 threw a private party on the river for his friends.
At the original event, Akerboom, now an environmental engineer, played with his band on the deck of his house -- known as the "River Ranch" -- while friends watched from the river. Since then, the weekend has become a yearly tradition without any sort of College affiliation.
Heorot brother Kevin Gallagher '99 said Tubestock was "fun but cold." "I think there were a lot of students down there -- not as many in the water," he said.
Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority member Pippa Gage '99 said she enjoyed Tubestock. "The water was warm but the air wasn't," she said. "It was definitely cold but everybody that was there had a really good time."
She said all the students "came out in good form even though it not a great day."
Many students chose to merely watch the festivities from the relative safety -- and warmth -- of the shore or the River Ranch, Gallagher said.
For Kate Russell '99 and many others, the cold was a little too daunting.
"I didn't go at all," she said. "It was freezing. I drove down there, saw the whole scene and that was that."
