By Spencer Sterritt

Community sailors put their silly boats in the water for charity

Jul 13, 2018 | 2:51 PM

NANAIMO — All manner of weird and wacky boats will take to the water in downtown Nanaimo for the 34th annual Silly Boat Regatta.

Dozens of boats will race at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 15 from the Swy-A-Lana Lagoon in Maffeo Sutton Park. The sillier the better; watchers can expect to see colourful boats with creative designs which might not survive being placed in the water.

“It’s an absolute riot,” Tracy Berg with the Nanaimo Child Development Centre told NanaimoNewsNOW. “We want to be silly, enjoy ourselves, have fun and have something memorable for the community.”

All the money raised from the free family event goes to the Centre.

Berg said they raised $112,000 last year and are hoping to reach $120,000 this year.

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“We’re always trying to look upwards and beat the year before, but always wanting to be so thankful for what we do get.”

Money raised will pay for new equipment and workshops at the Child Development Centre, who have a wait list of several hundred children needing help.

The Silly Boat Regatta is the second of three events for the Marine Festival, sandwiched between the Dragon Boat Festival and Bathtub weekend.

Island Radio and NanaimoNewsNOW have a boat in the water which is expected to smoothly sail across the choppy waters and leave all other boats in its wake. Unless, of course history repeats itself and the boat’s occupants get very wet, very quickly.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit