Fireworks float their boats

Published by The Boston Globe

Instead of staking out a spot to watch the fireworks from the Esplanade tonight, about 100 people will view Boston’s Independence Day celebrations from more than four dozen inflatable rafts on the Charles River.

Project Best Idea Ever, an ad hoc group of engineering graduates from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, has been organizing a group, consisting mostly of students, for six years. The group obtains rafts, life jackets, American flags and snacks in bulk and sells them in three packages on its website. The costs range from $15 to $45.


Anthony Roldan and his roommates, who graduated from Olin in 2008, began watching the fireworks while floating on the Charles six years ago. Roldan, who works at Quickware Engineering in Waltham, decided a rental canoe was too expensive, so he went to Target and bought a few inflatable rafts instead.

“The reason why it’s called Project Best Idea Ever is because I had to convince my friends it was a good idea,’’ Roldan said. “Everyone was like, ‘Those are like pool toys; we’re going to get hit by other boats.’ ’’

This year, a few of his friends who have graduated and moved away are flying back to Boston just to help out with the event.

“The first time they made it out to where the fireworks went off, where it feels like the fireworks are right [above] them . . . seeing that awe and happiness expand every year has been the coolest part,’’ he said.

Each year, the group joining Roldan invited more “friends of friends of friends,’’ and Roldan moved from buying rafts at Target to ordering them from a manufacturer, he said. He added life jackets to the package after being questioned by the Coast Guard on on the strength of his eight-person boat, a Craigslist purchase with only one life jacket aboard.

Anyone planning to watch the fireworks from a raft should keep a safe distance from the fireworks, and wear a life jacket, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell. The Coast Guard increases patrols on the night of the fireworks to make sure spectators take safety precautions.

For this evening’s observances, Roldan plans to lead the participants into the water at 7:30 p.m. He and his friends will ride on “mother ships,’’ which are equipped with grills and coolers, to supply everyone with a hot dog dinner while floating near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge before the show begins.

After dinner, the group stops about 50 feet from the designated safety zone, which the state Department of Conservation and Recreation says extends 100 feet from the shore between the Mass. Ave. and Longfellow bridges, and 1,000 feet from the fireworks barges. The most difficult part of the evening is keeping everyone anchored in the same spot, Roldan said.

The rafts seat two people, so participants can sign up in pairs or be matched with someone without a partner, Roldan said. The group, however, always shares the experience en masse.

“Generally, people who want to spend their Fourth of July on an inflatable boat on the Charles tend to be pretty cool,’’ he said.

Those who don’t sign up with Project Best Idea Ever could buy their own raft and join the group on the Charles, but tag-alongs would miss out on dinner and the special instruction booklets that Roldan hands out.

Roldan’s roommate from freshman year, and cofounder of the Somerville Artisan Asylum, Gui Cavalcanti led another group down the Charles last year on an inflatable pool shaped like a pirate ship that he had converted into a boat. This year, he’s working on giant rafts that resemble rubber ducks. Roldan said he’ll share food with the ducks, but they’ll have to figure out the rest on their own.

Anticipating more demand this year, Project Best Idea Ever placed a second order of rafts to open up 35 more spots, and Roldan said he expects they will expand even more next year. He is, however, a bit nervous about liability issues as it gets bigger.

“This year we posted it in a couple of places, and it’s sort of exploded in the last week and a half,’’ he said.

However, he said, he’s not seeking profit and will use extra funding or equipment for next year’s event. Last year, the six organizers walked away with $7.

“It’s about the shared experience of going on the water with your friends in these cute little boats,’’ Roldan said. “It’s a really fun time.’’