Newcomers to boat parade excited to impress
For the last three years, Tracie Moore and Denis Karda watched the annual holiday boat parade from the shoreline and wondered how they could match the beauty and grandeur they so enjoyed.
This year, they’ve not only entered the event but they’re out to top their fellow boaters. Big time.
“I don’t want to give away too much, but I will tell you that when I described our plan the people at the mayor’s office said it will be like something they’ve never seen before,” said Moore, who with Karda will set sail alongside the other entrants at 6 p.m. Saturday from the docks at Salty Sam’s Waterfront Adventures, 2500 Main St. “We decided that if we’re going to do it, we’ve got to go all out.”
Moore, of Cape Coral, said her boat will be connected to Karda’s, totaling 45 feet. A crew of 23 will be on hand to navigate the display while waving to onlookers and singing Christmas carols.
“I’ve put about 10 hours into the lights and decorations with about 20 more to go,” said Moore, who plans to wrap up the finishing touches Friday with Karda.
Karda, a Fort Myers Beach resident, is equally excited about the challenge.
“I have a great, big imagination and my idea has become increasingly and contagiously outrageous,” she warned. “It will be fun to see it come to fruition.”
As many as 30 lit-up boats will participate this year, competing in several categories including most creative and most spirited crew. They first head northbound in the Matanzas Bay and under the bridge before traveling in and out of the first two channels in Siesta Bay. Then they’ll take the Matanzas Pass channel toward Bowditch Point, turning in front of the Pink Shell Resort, passing Nervous Nellies and Matanzas Inn, before finishing back at Salty Sam’s. The journey usually lasts just shy of 3 hours.
Entrance fees benefit the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, the event’s sponsor. Afterward, a private tent and buffet await the sailors on the Salty Sam’s grounds.
At neighboring Bootleggers Waterfront Barbeque, free live music will begin for the general public at 6 p.m. featuring the band ToucanDo of Cape Coral.
Returning this year as a participant is Beach resident Larry Motz. He made his debut last year with his wife, Jamie Story, in a 21-foot Hurricane boat that had quite the distinctive and memorable look.
“We’re the boat with the flying pigs,” Motz said of his illuminated pork-bellied characters. “We got a good reaction last year.”
He and his wife will host friends from Ohio and Kentucky on the boat.
“They’re coming down again for the very purpose of this event that’s how much they liked it last year,” Motz said. “Then it’s back to the freezing cold for them.”
R.J. Snider serves as the marketing director for Salty Sam’s and considers the boat parade a great draw for not only area residents but also for tourists.
“We get visitors every year who make it a point to arrive in time to see the parade,” he said. “For many it kicks off the holiday season.”
Snider said observation decks at both Bootleggers and the Parrot Key Caribbean Grill, the two establishments that flank the marina, hold a total of about 600 people. He notes viewing spots are first-come, first-served.
And Snider hopes his favorite “boater” will be back this year.
“Last year, all of a sudden here comes this guy on a non-motorized water-bike type of thing, all lit up and pedaling along, with a giant Christmas tree on top of it all,” Snider said. “It was the funniest thing I’ve seen in my life. We had to create a new division because of him.”