It's That Time Of Year - Lighted Boat Parades

[menzies]

Going to do one for the first time.

Double whammy is that I have absolutely no lights or other stuff for the boat, and she is a big boat.

Any suggestions from those that have done them - any little gems on easy to do stuff that comes across well?

Theme is "Mickey And Friends, Holiday Harbour Treasures!" But would like general tips if you have 'em! We prefer the classical, white light look.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Just go as yourself...

 

[Capecodder]

Have fun, lots of zip ties, extension cords and family and friends to help.

 

[Grande Mariner]

I hope you will participate in the Palm Valley parade. We need more boats.

 

[menzies]

We were thinking about it, or the Jax one since they have now moved it to New Year's Eve.

Problem with the Palm Valley one is that it would take at least an hour down, and hour back, add in the wait before, then the wait before we can start to return and it is potentially a 3-4 hour session.

 

[Miz Trom]

Christmas parade planning

Hi Menzies:

We live in a canal neighborhood in Florida. For 10 years we have been doing the Christmas Eve boat parade here in Riviera Bay in St. Petersburg.

The best way to get ideas for how to decorate your boat is to look at youtube videos of boat parades.

After you do that, the first rule is, do not put any bright lights right in front of your helm station. You need to be able to see! LED Light strings around the forward railings are usually fine if you have a pilothouse or flying bridge.

Think ahead about where you will put all light strings; for example, what if you need to deploy your dinghy in the event of a Man Overboard situation and you have lights wrapped all around your dinghy?

Measure, measure, measure. Write it all down, and then order online or go buy your light strings now. Do not wait until the last minute because the Christmas lights start selling out right after Thanksgiving. My favorite most durable lights come from this company:
http://www.environmentallights.com/...channel-chasing-lights/supernova-strings.html


Buy the lights with the dark green wire.

Get your boat lights installed at least a week before the parade. Then you have time to tinker with your display before the parade. You can also get all of your controllers set on the movement you want before you wrap the controllers for rain protection. Buy more lights than you think you will need.

If you want that "Oooh!" factor, you will want some lights that have motion. The most important thing with these is to protect the motion controller from rain. Remember, if it rains the water will run down a wire but not up a wire.

The biggest "Oooh!" creation that I have done was to run 25-foot LED color changing strings at a 60-degree angle up into the air off the stern. I cut down two 26-foot pieces of bamboo and attached the color-changing LED light strings on the bamboo with zip-ties. Then I put the bottom end of the bamboo poles into a firmly attached fishing rod holder, and I ran two stays to each bamboo pole. My stays are heavy twine. The poles sway a little while my boat is underway, and they make getting the fishing boat back up on the davits a bit of a daunting endeavor, but the "Ooohs" are well worth it. These color-changing strings are the C9 bulbs (the largest Christmas light bulbs) and I set them on the Chase pattern.

I wrap the controllers tightly in Saran wrap, and then put plastic bags with the end tightly taped shut over that. So far, no rain has made it into my controllers.

Oh, and buy lots and lots of zip-ties.

It's a blast to be in a boat parade. Have fun!

Pea

 

[GFC]

Your decorations don't have to be fantastic, you go because you want a fun experience.


A few things to keep in mind:
-it's dark out there
-many (most) of the skippers are well lit, as are their boats
-if you fall overboard how are you going to let people know where you are (have a strobe light on your PFD), and who is going to take command of your boat. Keep in mind the skippers of the other boats have tipped more than a few--you don't want them to run over you.
-if a guest falls overboard, have someone spot him and keep his eyes on him until he is back on board.
-have someone call out a MAYDAY as soon as possible so other skippers know what's going on
-watch who is behind you as well as who is ahead of you. The guy behind you may be well lit and you don't want him running up your stern.

 

[menzies]

Your decorations don't have to be fantastic, you go because you want a fun experience.


A few things to keep in mind:
-it's dark out there
-many (most) of the skippers are well lit, as are their boats
-if you fall overboard how are you going to let people know where you are (have a strobe light on your PFD), and who is going to take command of your boat. Keep in mind the skippers of the other boats have tipped more than a few--you don't want them to run over you.
-if a guest falls overboard, have someone spot him and keep his eyes on him until he is back on board.
-have someone call out a MAYDAY as soon as possible so other skippers know what's going on
-watch who is behind you as well as who is ahead of you. The guy behind you may be well lit and you don't want him running up your stern.

WOW! Where on earth do you boat?

 

[BandB]

Y
-many (most) of the skippers are well lit,
-Keep in mind the skippers of the other boats have tipped more than a few--you don't want them to run over you.
- The guy behind you may be well lit

Wifey B: What a sad sad commentary.

 

[roguewave]

The Lauderdale folks put on a good one

 

[tallswede]

We did one on Clear Lake here in Texas. We had our 23.5' Hunter sailboat set up with a Christmas tree, Santa and his sleigh pulled by flamingos and all lit up with I don't remember how many lights. We ran two Honda 2K gens to power it all. It was so bright we had to use radio headphones with my buddy on the bow relaying directions slowdown/speed up etc. cause I couldn't see from the cockpit LOL. We won our division that year in Nassau Bay and Clear Lake. Lotsa fun!

Kevin

 

[menzies]

I just checked the moon phase for Dec 3. New moon, gonna be as dark as a witches hind quarter!

 

[GFC]

WOW! Where on earth do you boat?

We boat on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The parade is held on the Columbia, starts at 6:00 and ends at 9:00. It's dark and as Menzies said, it's going to be real dark this year.

To keep safe, I don't ever drink if I have to move the boat. After we're back in the slip, then I'll tip a few. I also don't let anyone go outside the cockpit or on the side walkways.

The last thing I want is for someone to go where they were told not to and to fall overboard. That's a fatality waiting to happen.

As far as the other skippers drinking before and during the parade, I know it happens. You can hear some of them on the radio and tell by their altered speech.

I have a strobe light on my PFD so if I have to go on the outside of the boat to fix something and fall overboard I can light up the strobe and hope (1) nobody runs over me and (2) someone will pick me up.

I am making a special decoration this year. It's super secret at this time but I'll post some pics after the parades are done.