Wait, there's more! Vancouver Island

MarciA came over on the ferry with me to go to Vancouver Island. There were seals that were swimming alongside the ferry, but we could only see their wee little black heads bobbing in the surprisingly calm waters. We met up with two friends who then took us to Nanaimo to witness the annual bathtub races. Yeah, you read me right. Bathtub races. Apparently, in 1967, the mayor of Nanaimo, Frank Ney,(who dressed like a pirate) thought that racing bathtubs across from Nanaimo to Vancouver would be a great way to celebrate the centennial. The tradition has stuck and now people create these bathtub boats they have to race across the straight of Georgia. They kneel in these crafts for an hour and half (or so) in supremely choppy waters. When they arrive at the finish line, they are to jump out and run up the beach to a bell they must ring. Unfortunately, their legs are often numb and they tend to collapse instead. It is rather hilarious, though one guy bit it pretty badly and ripped his leg open. That was not hilarious at all.

This guy had trouble with his motor at the beginning of the race but managed to finish pretty quickly. He had a rather exciting (for me anyway) trip to the finish line. His legs were like rubber and buckled several times, bringing him to the same repeatedly. But he rang the bell.

This is how they look on the water, racing along. It was all very exciting. I am estimating, because I can't remember the details, that 43 boats entered the race and 8 sank. Oops. Each bathtub boat has to be escorted by a bigger motor boat just in case of issues.

After the races, we milled about Nanaimo where MarciA tried to feed some WLM. They seemed a liiittle too comfortable.

We went to the house of one of the local friends whose parents fed us a great dinner. Really great people. I like Nanaimo. I even found a house I could live in, though I did not photograph it. I also found another rainbow. They seem to be following me around.