l see in one of the smaller | North Shore papers there: was a guy who has written a. history of bathtub racing. 1. don’t know how he could without consulting one of the | pioneers of the sport—me. Well, it~ wasn't. just. me. There was George Tocher and Grant Ashall and Doug Denniston (he: was the commodore) ‘and = = Ed McDermott and a few other bathtub. racers..We became” . the founding members... of short-lived . CIBRAC—Cast: Iron Bathtub Racing Assoc- iation of Canada, and we had our first race at Dundarave in 1964 or thereabouts. True bathtub racing is a far cry from this mechanized mockery that poses as the Nanaimo-Vancouver Bathtub’ Race, soon to be run. True _ bathtub racing, - involves real bathtubs. Cast- iron ones. They weigh about . - two to three’ hundred pounds. You know the kind, © ilk in short, eine ~~ ane across. secasionally in “older _ houses, perched on‘ ornamen- ‘tal iron feet, the kind with a — . tolled-over Sip and old-fash- - have written such a book > ioned’ taps with. porcelain: ; handles. In the early sixties there was a craze for replacing them with the Pembroke tub, and junkyards had them for sale for $10 or $20. Why people ripped them out | -don’t Know, for the shallow, cramped Pembroke bath is a ‘poor substitute for the deep, long ‘comfort ‘of the old. cast-iron tubs. We bought them home and fixed them up. Sometimes the faucets were kept for trim, but we took off the feet and made stout plugs for the drain and overflow. We painted them. Mine was orange and black and named. ‘Ringo,’ and the others had names of similar All you really need to know about the current Park Royal hassle boils down toa couple . of traffic lanes. That, basically, i is what nine: citizen groups, representing ‘many thousands of West Van residents, were raising polite hell about at Jjast week's council meeting. If it seems like a lot of fuss over a white line painted along the middle of a roadway, let's consider a few facts for a moment. With more than 40,000 inhabitants, West Vancouver is now in the same league as Kelowna. The _ difference being that those 40,000 West Vancouverites ate strung out along a narrow 10-mile strip of real estate with access only from its eastern ex- iremity. Unless they opt fora the ° lengthy detour . over’ Second Narrows, the - only way they can reach the great big world td the’ south =- and: get home again -- is via those two already choked lanes crossing the Capilano River in each direction. Otherwise it’s a boat or a helicopter, Probably no com- aa 7 1 VM fa Bey fy Myo a) haat : ft! Suen bet ip piraulasion 906-18 a wen ee ‘| ' pe vis yy ve ts ig Ne sna BS nalnene mo me " is ela 4 ole aay et | ‘i 1) AAT +Vebe , be ’ ey re ‘ , _ Stands shore: not NEWS north shore free prewe {ech * Giroulation: 48 900, Founded Ne 1060, ae van. independent,’ _ oommunity. ‘fnowspaper, ‘the: North Shore. :: News Ie: published. weekly, and. dloteibuted a 00. avery door on: the’: North Shore. (tts: a pegle tered. newkpaper linder, Part ‘4 Schedule: 4104: «i haraarenh ne etlice".. ee oui ;lpsaliled’ epeaqea ae By on oi i Ki munity of similar size any- where in Canada has such a superbly bottlenecked ent- rance, It’s almost. a 1 work of . genius. Even as ‘the traffic situation at the _ moment, there’s no West Van comm- uter or West Van housewife ‘bent ‘on an afternoon's shopping in. Bigtown_ who isn’t painfully aware of what - I'm talking about. . So the ciflken groups that appeared before council last week were not ‘there: ‘to: contest the right. of "the |. Squamish Indian Band to: ‘do “ what it wishes with its own land. Nor to: oppose the planned $20 million Park Royal expansion in. (though some local enemies the * ‘centre enough already), They were ‘there to voice thelr alarm about the thous- ands of additional vehicles that will be jamming West. Vancouver's narrow, ovet- crowded entrance once the enlarged centre is completed. The expansion Publisher 44): '] whe : ! ‘ ip) PON vay! RR i hf van ' Beans ie ie oon a egies Ae MUA! ii Ser vey * ry . floated, Sinking largest cause of defeat in the. races (automatic dis qualifie - occurred _ Sion were out of the quest itself. porch, | | 1. Stat: ‘Heather , Andrewa,. Pe Y¥vonne Chapman, Carolyn Colecloigh,'Heten a reek ‘Linda Dougias, Paula’ Ford, ‘Linda. . | “Green, Wendy Green, Carol Halstead, Barbara’ : Haywood, Randy Hilihouse, Bernl Hilliard, ™.: 1. dannie, ‘Johnson, Terry Johnaon,, ‘Barbara’: a Kean, Mike Keen, Betsy’ Knight, Ann Kolod, |. “Qutitermd: Lam, Joyoe,Lawry, Marna;Lelren,’': vs ‘Madeleine Leroy, Faye McCrae, Jessja: Marks, 4: Darling | Mason,‘ Jill Plese, Mauredn:: ‘Roach, a veloh “Ani. Blym; | Sylvia Sorenson”: lone. 1 et wart).Bam Stewart, : i "Mandal; Kate, Wallage largest’ weekly. newapeper | aa ‘5 " ’ ve " 7 ‘pean es ee ve y Wy y, Se oe i os . ' ’ : by Peter Speck Ly ee. oo | mrtas. ney hoated. ie captain aboard, . cation, — in fact). Sinking if the. captain shifted his. weight incorrect- ly, ever so slightly. So motors | and other forms of, sestion, These new ‘bathtub ‘as ers’ are johnny-come-taté-: lies, with ‘their fibreglass’ chings and :the retrlevals . “many. of the pioneer racers 7 ‘developed hernias and. be- © ‘bathtubs’ and their souped- up outboard engines. The real racing began with Veitn ie - they just” was the... dignity and spirit(s). One of , our longest races was across the Pool at Dundarave. The object of the race was to paddle the cast-iron tub to. |’ the other side of the pool'and back again. It: was best done ' gingerly—a momentary mis-. calculation would result in - either the front or the back of . going | under. one’s craft water, and when this happ- ° ened several gallons of icy | sea water rushed in. If the will approximately * double the size of the Park Royal ‘South shopping facility, ‘and -it’s pretty obvious, therefore, «that the number of customers _-will also have 'to double if the _'thing is to pay its way. True, the expansion . plan " calls for the building of a'new two-lane bridge over the Capilano to link: the expand- ed centre to. North Vancouver at a point south of the Plaza : International Hotel. But right away two big question marks loom. ‘First, the bridge will be technically a ‘‘private’’ one, owned’ by the Squamish Second, the effectiveness of the hook-ups from the Lions the new lower level route into Park Royal South remains’ completely unclarified. Can future Park Royal: shoppers from Vancouver be. ersuaded to take the right- and exit from the Lion’ 8 Y Assistant Publisher Rex Weyler |. Managing Editor . Noel Wright Ploture Editor | Ellaworth Dickeon |: ~News@ditor =. ~ Guillermo Lam | 7 Adverjieing Manager Bob: Graham: ; Patrlota “Cardio,” Alan. ‘Twigg; ' late’ Hiieon sani i riety ns Peter speck bo ‘Indian Band. Neither West ° ‘nor North Vancouver will » have any jurisdiction over its © UBGr es of progtess, doubtless think °° is quite big _ Gate bridge and ‘Marine . . Drive, North Vancouver, to loaded, with lineups, considerable _Perlods of. the ood) for me a Mphokes a tort isn I Your skipper. didn't react quickly enough, it was the end of the race=—-or that race, anyway. The public ‘enjoyed. it a. . great deal, and the times that | I watched the races it made ‘me laugh, all those grown men out there feoling around : in bathtubs. | " "When they sank they: sank: 7 fast. They were very. heavy" and .had ‘absolutely: . flotation’ reservoir and they 7 went to the bottom with a’ giant ‘glup!’ ‘There was a. . plastic bottle on the end of:a | line from the tub, so they ‘CIBRAC, Betwéen the laun- came unfit for facing. A. typical | race might take. could be salvaged after the « race. Incidentally, it was this © ‘aspect of bathtub racing that — ‘contributed to the demise of | place on.a hot day in July. ' with blue ‘skies overhead.. The racers lined up with their crews, waiting for the official signal. We used to-race after ' “downing some. of the afore- ~ _- mentioned spirit, but one day: several false ‘starts led to a. race in. which every. vessel sank; Of tourée,’ it: could be - ‘construed that this. was due to the alcohol, ‘and so the — indges nightly. decided, but I: North Van learn to turn. left at the same, busy Marine it is? Orwill they both continue to barrel: straight: through. to- wards .Taylor| Way?. The. statistics to date are. not merely interesting. : They’ re gloomy in the extreme.’ fe According to a. consultants’ Vancouver turned up in force. report presented : by: ‘the citizen groups last week, the . two-lane Marine Drive: bottle . neck between the Lion's Gate ' Bridge and: Taylor Way has a ‘ capacity of 2,400 vehicles per hour, and is already over- for day... © Without a new lower levels access route, the Park Royal expansion, say the. consult- ants, would increase the traffic - density to‘ 3,400 Letters ae wee won The. enclosed poem | was | - waltton especially, ‘for’ the: TY ¥ I ‘Notth Shore’ siete: ‘furniture aia en Your ‘results: nave bee oh. AO neil basement, | and) ‘your, ttle tony hy: Mf you'll ‘put, it ‘ad’ + vty i “hit Vaie'ss Pee ly ce me te erie ay we think many of | the sinkings were in fact caused by Dirty ° Tricks, Dirty. Tricks were things : like. paddling up ‘behind another skipper and forcing © the stern of his tub under water,or else a tactic of poor losers, who abandoned their ‘ sinking craft and swam over r ‘to their opponents and tried ‘to ‘sink them too. We finally g head:.to-.' vehicles per. hour, imposin wards . North: Van’: "before : 4 . turning south to join. the new aa “-route?: Will shopper's: from’ made this. against the rules. First we proposed ‘that we should: have a'rule that said ‘no. swimming’ but would have been dangerous: and probably fatal as few of the racers could walk ashore ‘underwater and the rule was . scrapped. In its place we eatly extended lineups. 7 Fi ; ‘Even. with the extra access ‘route -- and provided it was | - fully utilized -- traffic’ fight- - Drive intersection, wherever ing to get’ through: the Marine |. Drive ‘bottleneck: .would - increase to. 30,000 | vehicles | a-;day:: ‘present. 20,000 ‘within a ‘from - the decade. In other words, a 50 fon cent increase in congest- nat the very best. The good citizens of West at the council chamber to ask how they were going to get in and out of their own front door at all in a few years time — (or even sooner), . Council -- which gave its formal blessing to the exp- ansion last month -- hadn't any specific answers, Only optimistic but vague reass- ‘Urances. Mayor Jones sugp- - ested the picture would ‘become clearer once the ‘Squamish Indian Band com- . ‘ia in _ commend ay hl etl i ae am ¢ Eso we a yeas Migs we mre neh My r ‘i “4 vt . ma " . ment as well as the | ” Publisher racing in REAL bathtub, . this | ruled that sinking skippers s. a must salute the: judge's stand, the intent of the ruling being. to preoccupy the submergin master | and thereby delay him. : We raced in West Van- couver, ‘Soon our fame spread, and we were invited to the hydroplane races on Lake Okanagan, and then we were on television. It was a | proud moment for us, in- deed. Alas, these Nanalio-Van- couver speed. and power freaks are missing the whole. point of bathtub racing, . have a lot of fun. ‘ which is to be totally silly and ‘eae ment This long delayed document , is now expected to emerge in | uly, . I'm sure a majority of West - Vancouverites,are happy to live side by side. with the ‘Squamish Jndian Band on. a ,good-neighbour basis, But if — your good neighbor suddenly Starts to have so many visitors that their cars block . your own driveway morning, noon and night;: entitled to have | something done about it. In the present case you’ "re - certainly entitled to ask your elected representatives in no uncertain voice what they intend to do about West Vancouver's’ driveway", eee Alexanderlanas tact is’ the art of speaking your mind. only when it's what the other fellow wants to hear. °° “Bouquet for the police Copy of a letter to the West Vancouver Police Dep. | artmont. 7 involved in an unfortunate incident in which our three year ‘old son. was badly njured. He's now recovering Lions Gate. Hospital through a great deal of effort _ on the part of the West. Vancouver Pojice Depart- lre- Rescue and Ambulance ser- ' yice iti West Vancouver,‘ 1 would particularly like to the actions’ of Elasalfied, we'll: apt At: out for y "Your. “old. ! pe ue Cah une: you raelf, Han ays ‘ ‘ ji a) ‘i a, “f Wea hy em On June 12, 1976 we were » Constable Wiebe of the West [Ponte ieaeotid : ze i ‘ i it! le ran e en “a HN ‘ Ment Ni dis i ite re Sty s eA wh ie : a Pi ‘ ‘Vancouver Police ‘Dept, ae his thoroughness, :kindness , and consideration was’ most ‘helpful at a time that: was extremely difficult. 1 understand ‘most letters that you receive are in the form of a complaint; However this is one in which I can’ offer nothing but praise... Again thank. you ‘to ‘your personnel for all the consid- eration given and the effic- : ient and courteous manner in: - which they conducted then,’ ‘selves, Barry M.. Mitchell Went. Vancouver t fvides, ee a Mi ; ft " eee a ‘pletes its overall develop- — | lan for the lands it | controls in the affected area. you're erg Wy f rain th;