World Championship Bathtub Race

For the first time in its history, the Nanaimo Amateur Radio Association (NARA) will be playing an active part in this year’s Bathtub race. NARA has been invited to provide volunteer amateur radio operators to act as safety spotters and communicators for the Sunday event.

Eight members will be dispatched to various checkpoints along the race route including Entrance Island and the
Winchelsea Islands as well as on committee vessels to relay important information during the race to officials at the race headquarters.

NARA will also be setting up a special events radio station, called VE7TUB, especially for this occasion. It will be located near the parking area at Departure Bay Beach beginning at 9 am on Saturday July 26 and will operate around the clock until the termination of the Sunday Bathtub race. VE7TUB is an annual event and this year members will once more communicate with other radio amateurs from all parts of North America. NARA members will be broadcasting invitations on various frequencies to other amateurs to call in. Those HAMS who do will be rewarded for their efforts by receiving a special card and commemorative certificate certifying that they made radio contact during this year’s event.

Members of the public are invited to drop in and visit the temporary radio station located in the NARA trailer at Departure Bay Beach from Saturday morning until Sunday end of race, to see how HAMS operate, learn more about this hobby and perhaps even have a chance to talk on the air, supervised by a HAM of course !