Star Trek's U.S.S. Enterprise walks on water (photos)

It seems the U.S.S. Enterprise crops up everywhere--as a kitchen utensil or even a masquerade costume for a pooch. So we weren't all that surprised recently to discover the venerable craft lounging in a canoe in a canal in the LA neighborhood of Venice, Calif. Still, we did kinda wonder how it got there--and why exactly. Then we had the brilliant idea of using the Internets as a handy research tool(!). And lo and behold, we got our answer. Read on for more.

After stumbling across the DIY ship, of course we moved in for a closer look. Here's the familiar face of the Enterprise, expertly crafted with miscellaneous Legos and other goodies.

This is where Captain Kirk would no doubt sit, tricorder and paddle in hand. Or maybe he'd sit on that seat just visible in the front there, and Scotty or Uhura would sit in back.

More exquisite DIY craftsmanship. But was all this effort expended simply so a geeky resident of a canal-side house could get his or her Trekkie thrills rowing around on weekends? There was no one nearby to ask. But we later heard tell of some sort of holiday boat parade. And--gasp--we still later had the bright idea of putting an Internet search engine to work on the puzzle.

Eureka! We worked Google and waded through a couple of YouTube videos, and after 4 minutes and 29 seconds of this one--"BOAT PARADE 2011"--the mystery ship suddenly flashed through the frame! A truly exciting moment of Web sleuthery!

Here's our spacey canoe yet again, making its way down the festively adorned Venice, Calif., canals. The musical backdrop to the parade was James Brown's "Sex Machine," as played by a barge-surfing cover band with Spider-Man on drums and Godzilla on bass. Yes, they "took it to the bridge."

The video even provides a glimpse of the U.S.S. Entercanoe's mysterious crew. After a little more Internet sleuthery, we discovered that the "S.S. Enterprise" was apparently put together by Liz and Tim Prokop, and Stephen Kruger, and that it won a prize for being one of the best boats in the parade. Way to go! Kirk would be proud!

The Enterprise wasn't the only starship sailing by...

...and some little green men participated in the parade as well.

It's mission--to boldy go where no canoe has gone before--now safely accomplished, the makeshift gondola Enterprise rests in wet-dock, carefully guarded by Spock the duck.