When quarantine gives you time, you build a pirate ship.

At least that's what one central New York man has done with his extra time at home lately. Dustin Kringer of Chittenango transformed his jet ski into the pirate ship every kid dreams about.

Dustin and his wife own a small pizzeria, and when a customer gave him a jet ski he didn't want anymore, Dustin figured it was a good opportunity to make a cool idea an awesome reality.

"I always thought it would be cool to either take an old boat or something that you could just kind of turn into a pirate ship for the lake," Kringer said.

Kringer got to work, building the pirate ship in his garage over the span of a few weeks whenever he'd get a couple hours here or there. He took a lot of details into consideration, from the sails to the pirate flag to his family's Croatian surname painted on the back.

Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
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Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
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Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
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"My ancestors, when they had moved over here and immigrated to the U.S., the last name was Krnjak and it was changed to kind of 'Americanize' it," Kringer said. "I figured that would be good. It sounded 'pirate-y,' if you will."

Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
Courtesy of Dustin Kringer
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Kringer lives on Oneida Lake, so when it came time to test the ship out on the water, he felt the pressure, not knowing what would happen and having his neighbors outside watching. Luckily, the ship took off and stayed afloat, making for an epic video that could almost look like a scene out of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Kringer said he's still planning on making a few adjustments to his new creation, including adding a pump to act as a water cannon so he can shoot water out of the ship from any direction. Can you say EPIC again?!

This central New York pirate ship has become a bright spot in a time of a lot of fear and sadness surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Kringer said he's happy his creation has made people smile and think about something other than the virus for a bit. He said it's even given him and his wife something to look forward to in the coming months, even though a lot of summer activities have been canceled.

"We go to the CMA Fest every year; This would've been our ninth year," Kringer said. "However, that was canceled, but I told her, you know, now we've got the whole summer to be out on the lake and use the pirate ship instead."

So if you're out on Oneida Lake this summer, keep your eyes peeled for Dustin and his pirate ship, with that Jolly Roger waving in the wind.

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