At first glance, you might think he's out of his gourd. But one Massachusetts farmer says he had good reason for paddling an award-winning 817-pound pumpkin down the Taunton River earlier this month.

Attempting to set a Guinness World Record, Todd Sandstrum piloted the carved-out husk of the pumpkin seven miles down the river, from Raynham, Massachusetts, to Taunton, on Sept. 5.

He told The Enterprise, a local paper, that he hopes the stunt raised awareness of local agriculture .