By HENRY COLT
Sentinel Staff Writer
The second installment of the Sitka Boat Parade on Sunday will feature a $500 cash prize for “Best in Show,” parade organizer Beverly Caldwell has announced.
The parade is a revival of a longtime Sitka tradition in which volunteers decorate their boats with Christmas lights and sail in stately procession along the waterfront for the enjoyment of viewers on shore. The first running was last Sunday, and the second running will start at 5 p.m. this Sunday in Sitka Channel offshore from the Longliner Lodge.
The second-place prize in Sunday’s judging is a $150 gift certificate to the Longliner Lodge, and third place wins a year’s subscription to the Sitka Sentinel.
The paraders will run north along Halibut Point Road, as they did last Sunday, and then double back. This time, organizers said, the boats may make a loop to Jamestown Bay on the Sawmill Creek Road side of town.
Caldwell said those who want to see the boats up close should be at the Longliner Lodge by a half hour before the 5 p.m. start.
“There was a lot of commotion,” Caldwell said of last Sunday’s pre-parade lineup. “We had kids and families and dogs, and that just makes it fun.” She said canine pets were particularly interested in boarding her boat because she gave them treats.
A radar view of last Sunday’s boat parade shows the tug Salvation at the center of the inner ring, six boats follow. (Image provided by Lee Hanson)
Sentinel staff members James Poulson and Henry Colt will be the parade judges.
“I’m going to be looking for variety and originality,” Poulson said today. “If someone does something with music, I’ll add another five points to the overall score matrix.”
Caldwell and Lee Hanson, and their boats Ambiance and Salvation, were the nucleus of this year’s parade, and were joined by five other boats in the first running last Sunday.
Caldwell said since then she and Hanson have heard from other boaters who would like to join in, and this Sunday’s procession should be even longer. She said she and Hanson as parade organizers will exempt their boats from the judging. (Before he knew that, Hanson had remarked that Caldwell “should be disqualified – she’s got the most decorated boat!”)
Hanson added that even spectators can play an important role in the parade. “It’s really fun when people flash their car lights at us, or flash flashlights from their decks. It lets us know that people are watching, and that they appreciate us.”
Mindful of the ever-present hazards of sailing in the dark, Caldwell said she wants parade participants to know that in case of emergency, Hanson, who runs a marine salvage business with his 69-foot tug, can be reached on his satellite phone at YHF16 254 543 0361.
