The Delta Marine Rescue Society presents Delta’s Tour de Duck next month at Deas Island Regional Park.
“This is very much a family event,” says society member Patty Nugent.
The race, which could see up to 4,000 rubber ducks floating down the Fraser River, is a fundraising event for the society, which is the non-profit arm of Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Station 8 Delta.
“These ducks will go with the flow of the tide and the current,” says Nugent, adding organizers are hoping for a good sweep of wind too.
Society president Keith Paremain notes the racecourse will be approximately 300 feet and how long the race takes will depend on variables.
“If we’ve got wind with the current, it could be 15 minutes. If we’ve got wind against the current, it could be 45 minutes,” he says.
The society has borrowed booms, regularly used for fuel spills, to contain the ducks.
The search and rescue operation gets the majority of its funding through B.C. gaming grants but still needs to raise funds on its own, he explains.
Organizing the event has been a lot of work but has brought the group together in a different environment than usual, he says.
“Normally we go to meetings and it’s all business,” Paremain says. “With an event like this we get a chance to meet … and chat a little, rather than in an environment where either we’re going out to rescue people or we’re in a meeting doing a discussion on what went right and what went wrong while we were helping people.”
Station 8 is an all-volunteer group dedicated to providing search and rescue to the waters around Delta, its website explains.
Tickets cost $5 per duck. Tickets can be bought at the Aug. 28 edition of the Ladner Village Market. Tickets will also be available at the event, which has White Spot as its presenting sponsor.
There will be prizes handed out, including $1,000 for first place.
Tour de Duck takes place Saturday, Sept. 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ducks swim at noon. White Spot will have a food truck at the event.
For more information about the search and rescue group, visit www.deltasar.bc.ca.
