PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- You probably aren't going to sink a buoy on your first throw, but with time and practice you'll get the hang of buoy toss.
Mike Dunnigan invented the game ten years ago on Long Island, Maine. Form is important and so is your release in the game played with fishing buoy's and oil barrels.
"There's two barrels. You get one point for the front barrel, two points for the back barrel and you throw three shots per turn and it's set up like corn hole," said Dunnigan. "You play with a teammate and your teammate is down at the other end."
Buoy toss is played every Thursday evening starting around 4 PM at Thompson's Point in Portland during Summer Sunsets On The Point. Brendan Lorello discovered the game there with his girlfriend. She ended up winning a tournament, earning bragging rights and the golden buoy.
"I came down and my friends and I saw this game happening and I checked it out and I was like what's going on here and we ended up doing a tournament and I got really into it," said Lorello. "You get to the final and you win the final then you get your name on the golden buoy. My girlfriend brought it home for a week."
After watching Craig Steward and his teammate play for a short while, it was clear that experience is on his side. He's been playing buoy toss since it started and it doesn't hurt that he's good with a buoy on the water. Stewart is a lobsterman who fishes around Casco Bay. When he's not fishing, he's playing buoy toss. When he's not playing buoy toss, he's explaining the game to those who should play.
"Yeah everybody is interested when they hear about it and you sort of explain to them that it's horseshoes with buoys and barrel," said Stewart with a smile.
There are two more Thursdays left of buoy toss during Summer Sunsets On The Point.