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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Wednesday, July 15, 2015
» Summer events
CITY
Silly Boat Regatta returns to waterfront on weekend
Downtown Slide the City event cancelled by council DARRELL BELLAART DAILY NEWS
the Young Professionals of Nanaimo’s entry, said her team is planning a library-themed boat to recognize the club’s efforts to build a new library for Snuneymuxw First Nation. It will “look like a book and we’re dressing up as ‘Where’s Waldo’ characters,” she said. The Silly Boat racers will begin competing in separate heats at 1 p.m. Winners of each heat will face off for the championship trophy. Horsfield said the NCDC and presenting sponsor Coast Capital Savings have lined up a list of family-friendly activities throughout the day while the races are taking place. For information, go to sillyboat.com.
A giant water slide will now not come to Nanaimo this summer. U.S.-based Slide the City needed a permit for a single-day event in August for a 300-metre waterslide on Victoria Road. Users would pay $20 per slide, or a daily rate. But city councillors worry about water consumption in the driest summer in recent memory. While Parksville and other nearby cities’ water restrictions are at Level 4, Nanaimo is only at Level 2 restrictions. Several councillors said it’s early summer yet, and the long-term forecast is for more of the same. Coun. Diane Brennan presented a compromise: Allow the event conditional on the use of a recirculating pump, and provided that Nanaimo’s watering restrictions did not ramp up before Aug. 29, the proposed event date. A city staff member said Nanaimo’s water supply is currently at 86 per cent of capacity. But councillors were nervous, and many said Monday they support the concept, just not under the current drought conditions. “I think people are so concerned about our water that just the perception of us agreeing to do something like that gives a bad perception,” said Coun. Wendy Pratt, after the vote. She and four other councillors voted against Brennan’s motion. “Disappointing,” said Kim Smythe, Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce CEO, of the decision. “We were in a pitched battle with Victoria and Courtenay to get this thing here, and we seem to have turned on a dime to reject it.” But it could still happen, said Chris Barfoot, city culture and heritage co-ordinator. “I wouldn’t say the event is killed. Hopefully next year we’ll not have such dry conditions.”
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Paddlers in last year’s Silly Boat Regatta show their spirit. This year’s event goes on Sunday at Maffeo-Sutton Park. [DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO]
Event aids Nanaimo Child Development Centre SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
O
ne of Nanaimo’s oldest and most ridiculous events returns to Maffeo Sutton Park this Sunday. The annual Silly Boat Regatta, a fixture in the city since 1984, will be held this Sunday in the waterfront park and 46 teams have so far registered for a chance to win the coveted championship. The event has teams from across the city meet at 8 a.m. Sunday to prepare for a day of racing in the harbour. However, there is a catch: the teams must assemble their boats on-site, and the vessels have to be made from used or reusable materials. All the boats have to be powered by paddles. The results can be, well, silly. Past efforts have seen ships
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made of a rickety combination of wood, styrofoam, rubber and basically anything else that floats. It is a common sight to see the makeshift boats and their crews fall apart or sink before they ever make it back over the finish line. Still, the mayhem is a flagship fundraiser for the Nanaimo Child Development Centre, which raised just more than $118,000 from the event last year. The NCDC aims to top last year’s total with a goal of $125,000, said spokeswoman Erica Horsfield. The NCDC will itself enter a seaplane-styled boat into the competition, but Horsfield declined to give away too much detail on the design.
“I believe it will be a human propulsion system and we do plan on using squirt guns to distract the other team,” she said. Generations Church is aiming to hold onto the grand championship title they won last year in a slightly more crowded pool of competitors. The Nanaimo Yacht Club is one of them. ‘Notty Yachty Comedy Team’ captain and formed club commodore Brenda Thompson said they are hoping their system of old dock flotation pieces will sail them to victory. “We’ve done a test run, so we know it floats,” she said. But Thompson also noted there are a batch of seasoned contenders also seeking a championship. “I don’t think we have an edge at all,” she said, despite her club’s nautical background. Elise Morgan, captain for
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