Advertisement

Row, row (or motor) your boat to the Newport Beach parade

Share

It’s been described as Newport Beach’s Christmas card to the world.

The Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, a five-day event running Wednesday through Dec. 21, will draw thousands to bridges, boats and docks for a glimpse of holiday-themed vessels cruising Newport Harbor.

For some of the boat owners in the 106th annual parade — themed “Deck the Hulls with Bows of Jolly” — a chance to dazzle the crowd may mean six months of planning.

The Last Hurrah, an 86-foot yacht, is entered in the decorating competition for the seventh year in hopes of winning its fifth consecutive Grand Sweepstakes trophy.

Advertisement

“We get very excited,” said Cathy Vick, a co-owner of the yacht for six years. “We start talking in June to come up with a design and then prepare pieces for three months.”

The Last Hurrah is entered by Vick, her brother, Rob Meadows of Newport Beach, their sister and their mother, who own Morrow-Meadows Corp., an electric contracting company.

The creative team includes the family’s longtime friend, theater set designer Neil Caplin, welder and electrician Jerry Clowes and yacht captain Shaun Crossman and his wife.

“What an amazing parade it is,” Vick said. “The people are yelling, and it just puts you in the Christmas spirit.”

Vick and her team were inspired by a Corona commercial, with beer and waves creating a Caribbean-themed Christmas. The display will feature designs they have used in the past, such as palm trees and tiki huts. A new addition will be a video scroll on the hull, and more than 70,000 LED lights on the yacht will kick up the festive atmosphere a few notches.

“We glow,” Vick said with a laugh. “This year will trump last year’s.”

*

Competition on the water

Tom Hartmann, executive director of Newport Sea Base, plans to debut a sleek black eight-person rowing shell in the harbor.

“It’s definitely very unique,” Hartmann said. “The judges will have to start a new category for us. Maybe ‘best rowboat.’”

For 77 years, Newport Sea Base has provided maritime-based educational programs for youths, including rowing, sailing and kayaking.

Boys rowing coach James Long-Lerno is in charge of designing the Sea Base’s boat. After seeing a yacht embellished with a dragon spouting a flame, Long-Lerno knew he had to the raise the bar.

“I thought we could win until I saw that,” he joked.

The 60-foot rowboat will illuminate the water with hundreds of feet of LED lighting. Oars will be wrapped in candy stripes, and rowers will wear antlers. A pontoon boat will carry Christmas presents and a rower dressed as Santa Claus.

The decorating will begin Tuesday after practice.

Long-Lerno and coach Matt White said they foresee a challenge in turning the boat during the 14-mile parade route. For safety reasons, the team will stick to the back of the parade.

“It’s all about the Christmas spirit, having a good time and being a part of the community,” said Hartmann, who added that the Sea Base will offer grandstand seating for spectators for $10 to $20.

*

Celebrity grand marshals

Actress Leslie Mann and singer and television show host Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray fame have been named the parade’s first grand marshals.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses’ Rose Queen and Royal Court will be featured in the parade Dec. 20.

The parade is traced to John Scarpa, an Italian gondolier who arrived at Newport Harbor more than 100 years ago and established what was then the Tournament of Lights.

In 1919, after a depression hit the harbor, Joseph Beek, developer of Beacon Bay and the Balboa Ferry Line, rescued the lighted boat parade. Children decorated floats that were towed around the harbor. Beek built the floats in his garage, and many were patterned after the ones in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Today, the Tournament of Lights is called the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, featuring as many as 100 vessels — from kayaks to 100-foot superyachts. It is presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The parade begins at 6:30 each evening off Bay Island and sails throughout the harbor, ending where it began at about 9 p.m. Fireworks will be featured at 6:15 on opening night and at 9 on the final night. Rain or not, the parade will carry on.

Guests also can marvel at the Ring of Lights competition, in which bayside homes and businesses are embellished with light shows and festive decorations.

If You Go

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

When: 6:30 to about 9 p.m. Wednesday through Dec. 21

Where: Newport Harbor

Cost: Free to watch, $35 to enter a boat. Registration forms are available at https://www.christmasboatparade.com/parade-entry-form.

Information: (949) 729-4400, christmasboatparade.com

Parade cruises: 5:30, 7:15 and 8:30 each night of the parade; $32 to $36. Newport Landing, 309 Palm St., (949) 675-0551, christmasparadeboats.com

*

Ring of Lights

When: Nightly through Jan. 4

Where: Newport Harbor

Cost: Free to visit, $35 to enter the competition. Registration forms are available at https://www.christmasboatparade.com/ring-of-lights-entry-form and are due to the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, 20351 Irvine Ave., by noon Friday. Judging will be Monday.

Holiday lights cruises: 5:30, 7:15 and 8:30 nightly through Tuesday and Dec. 22 through Jan. 4; $32 to $36. Newport Landing, 309 Palm St., (949) 675-0551, christmasparadeboats.com

*

Christmas Boat Parade awards dinner and auction

What: Gala to honor the winners of the Christmas Boat Parade and Ring of Lights competitions and raise funds for next year’s parade. Auctions will offer items such as travel, dining, jewelry, art and more.

When: 6 to 11 p.m. Jan. 16

Where: Island Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

Cost: $125 per person

Information: https://www.christmasboatparade.com/awards-dinner-and-auctionhttps://www.christmasboatparade.com/awards-dinner-and-auction, (949) 729-4400

Advertisement