Shaky for Santas, but perfect for paraders
Ted Schindler is a proud and accomplished veteran skipper – so much so, his vessel was designated to lead Saturday’s installment of the annual Greater Fort Myers Area Chamber of Commerce Holiday Boat Parade.
However, he can also be modest.
“We did have a mishap on our way to the event,” he said with a whisper as he prepared his 45-foot boat, the Yachta-Yachta-Yachta, to set sail from Salty Sam’s Marina. “Santa kind of took a dip in the bay. We had to fish him out.”
That’s right, his life-size inflatable Kris Kringle was blown loose by the 25 mph winds. Tough as it was on the displays, the breezy night would not make travel difficult, Schindler said.
“Being inside the bay, and mostly in larger boats, everyone will be fine,” said the San Carlos Island resident. “We only go 5 mph heck, I can’t even idle that slowly. I have to take the boat in and out of gear to go slow enough.”
Back in place, Santa was one of many to serve as decorations amongst the lit-up boats that cruised at dusk through Matanzas Bay, then under a Sky Bridge lined with cheering onlookers, and then back to dock before a throng of admirers at Bootlegger’s Barbecue on San Carlos Island.
Joanne Brandien, visiting from Connecticut, was one of them, standing on the shore and applauding the beauty of the night.
“I got here just in time we came straight from the airport,” she said, her husband, Peter Brandien, at her side. “We actually read about this in a travel magazine back in October, so we made it a point to see it.
“It’s nice to know such a tropical place can still give us the feel of the Christmas spirit.”
Lorelei Slaughter of Lehigh Acres was excited to be making her first parade trip on a pontoon boat, having only watched it the previous 10 years from land.
“It will be so nice to see and feel the reaction of the crowd,” said Slaughter, decked out as Mrs. Claus. “I know how much it’s meant to me.”
Karen Mahin can vouch for how wonderful it can feel.
“The spectators make it so much fun, the way they smile back, and then there’s the look in the kids’ eyes,” said the Fort Myers Beach resident as she climbed aboard Schindler’s boat for her fifth parade trip. “I also love seeing the way the people on the shore have decorated their houses. It almost feels like they did it just for us.”