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The Adventure Zone

Past stories The Calgary Stampede Moraine for Life Adventure Relay Monarch Redux Rockies Bird Festival Arctic Winter Games Bolivia's Acotango Mount Kilimanjaro The Drambuie Pursuit Canadian Aboriginal Festival Mountain Mania Adventure racing Manitoulin Island Star Party Celebration of Light Algonquin Park Ottawa Race Weekend Maple syrup festival Cain's Quest Have Snowshoes, Will Travel Quebec Ice Hotel In the Eye of the Storm Arctic Aurora Borealis Canada's 'Deep South' Agawa Canyon Ablaze Mahone Bay Boat Festival Vancouver Island's rocky trail Wild Women Expeditions Eco-Endurance Summiting Canada Gourmet getaway Yukon Arctic Ultra Canadian Wind Riders Winnipeg's urban pathways Canoeist/artist Bill Mason Take a hike Whitewater kayaking The 2005 Sea Cavalcade Moonstruck - Adventure racers Delta Marsh Birding Festival Climb for conservation The Eagle has Landed Gold Rush Trail Whistler Film Festival Fit to ski Whyte Museum of the Rockies Cheakamus Challenge "Super Dave" Norona Ontario's French River region Cabot Trail Relay Race Point Pelee Festival of Birds Canmore Ice Climbing Festival Winterlude Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series Golden Horseshoe Orienteering Club Banff Mountain Book Festival Haliburton Highlands Sand Sculpture Championships BC Mobility Society Bathtub Race Championship Bike Month Running off the road Birds of a Feather Grand Plans in Grand Cache Le Festival du Voyageur Raid Ukatak Around the World Alone November culinary adventure Mountains in Miniature In the Belly of the Dragon Raid the North Extreme!! Making a splash! Volunteer for nature Cycling for sustainability Working for Wildlife Whale of a time Canadian Death Race Mont Tremblant Skiing Nanook of the North Eco-challenge Climate Change Caravan Royal Regatta Unleash the hounds World Cup mountain bike race Yukon River Quest On top of the world Canada's World-Class Heritage Gliding across the silver screen Marathon Madness National Ski and Snowboard Week Christmas Bird Count Banff Festival Adventure racing Coast-to-coast trek Whitewater rodeos In praise of parks Watching Canada's wildlife Canada's Highest Peak Alaska Adventure Racer

IT'S SUNDAY, July 27, 2003 at 10:59 a.m. The elegant harbour of Nanaimo, the self-proclaimed "sun porch of Canada," has been cleared of marine traffic by flares and shellfire launched at 15-minute intervals. A hush, which has fallen over the crowd lining the waterfront of this Vancouver Island town, is broken at the stroke of 11 a.m. when the 5th Field Battery Howitzer fires. They're off! The 37th annual Great International World Championship Bathtub Race is underway.

Decked out in wetsuits, personal flotation devices and protective head gear, hundreds of feisty captains head out to sea. They ferociously manoeuvre their brightly painted, motorized novelty craft through a gruelling 48-kilometre course that loops Entrance Island, heads up the Strait of Georgia, slips around the Winchelsea Islands and winds up in Departure Bay. They have only one goal in mind: to be the 2003 winner of the world's cleanest sport.

These "tubbers" take their races seriously. Overseen by the esteemed Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society (LNBS), the event is a sanctioned World Cup sport series that culminates in the Nanaimo championship event. Participants must abide by the rules for safety and conduct, and their vessels must conform to official specs for both bathtubs and motors as stipulated by the LNBS.

World Cup racing status aside, the event thrives on creativity and revelry. Over 36 years since the inaugural launch in 1968, July has become a time for celebrating the Great Race, which is now the centrepiece of a four-day Marine Festival that includes food booths, children's events, the Silly Boat Regatta, a volleyball competition, a tricycle race, Sailpast on Wheels Fun Parade, the Land Tubbers Race and the LNBS World Championship Waiters Race.

Who says Canadians don't know how to have fun?

If you're travelling to the West Coast this July and looking for a light-hearted conclusion to the summer season, visit Nanaimo. For complete information on the dates and times of the events leading up to the Great Race, visit www.bathtub.island.net