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Deck The Hulls

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

TAMPA In Florida, Santa doesn't need Prancer, Dancer, Donder or Blitzen when he has an Evinrude, Mercury, Johnson or even a pair of oars.

Up north, people brave the chill to stand on sidewalks and watch Christmas parades.

Here in the land of oranges, sunshine and loud tropical shirts, people line waterways to watch the lights float by.

And boat owners go overboard (pun intended) when it comes to decorating for the boat parades.

From St. Pete Beach to the Hillsborough River and from Tarpon Springs to Sarasota, holiday spirit spills forth on the water. Most parades are planned for this weekend and next.

In Indian Rocks Beach, for example, Bill Snyder, Tim Kuklis, Tom Schafer and Mary Levine have been working for weeks putting thousands of lights on Snyder's 48-foot boat.

These friends and neighbors have been boat parading separately and together for about 13 years, and they have mastered the art of decorating. This year, they pooled their efforts. Over the years, they have amassed a large collection of rigging for the lights.

"This year, we've got dolphins dancing, a manatee, clown fish, horse fish, as well as a reindeer driving a helicopter and two rocking horses pulling Santa's sleigh," Snyder says.

"And we've got our trademark shark rising out of the water at the back of the boat," adds Kuklis. "We have become the boat to beat in the parade competition."

They plan to take the boat to four parades this year. In the past, they tried to be in every boat parade in the area, and one year they even took a boat to a Key West parade.

"We just do it for the fun of it," Snyder says. "And, of course, if we win any prize money, that's always good to cover fuel costs."

First prizes of $300 in three categories (from 23 feet and shorter to 31 feet and longer) are offered in the Indian Rocks boat parade, which begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 15.

There's a $200 "Elf" prize for the best-decorated small boat, which has been won by a kayaker.

In Tampa, kayaks, rowboats, canoes, pontoons and all manner of other watercraft, including inner tubes, are welcome at the seventh annual Hillsborough River Holiday Boat Parade on Saturday, sponsored by Friends of the River.

"This is the boat parade for the rest of us," says Phil Compton, one of the founders of the parade. "It costs nothing to enter. There are no prizes. No yacht clubs are involved. It's just people who love the river and want to celebrate it."

"We get people who will put one string of lights on their kayaks, and one person had tiki torches on his boat last year," says boater Rich Brown. "It's quite a sight to see these small boats ghosting along the water with their lights."

This low-key event draws about 25 participants. It starts at the Lowry Park boat ramp at about 6 p.m. Saturday and travels upriver past the illuminated Sulphur Springs Tower to the Harbor Club at Nebraska Avenue, arriving about 8 p.m.

Compton says most of the spectators gather at the riverfront park by the Sulphur Springs City Pool and historic gazebo.

"This year's parade's theme is 'A New Day in Tampa Bay,' which celebrates the coming rebirth of the lower Hillsborough River," Compton says.

Beginning Jan. 1, millions of gallons of water will be added to the downstream flow, which will help provide good conditions for the river to once again function as Tampa Bay's estuary, he says.

With water levels down on the upper Hillsborough River, the city of Temple Terrace dropped its annual lighted boat parade in favor of its first Lighted Golf Cart Parade. The carts will roll at 7 p.m. Saturday at Riverhills Park (329 S. Riverhills Drive).

Meanwhile, in Pinellas County, the 19th annual St. Petersburg Lighted Boat Parade is one of the biggest in the Tampa Bay area. Parade chairman Jim Watters says more than 50 boats have signed up. "People go all out to light up their boats," he says. "It's like Disney World. We've got prizes in several divisions."

The event begins at 4 p.m. Saturday with carolers singing at The Pier. The boats arrive around 7 p.m. and are visible from Vinoy Park, Straub Park, Bayshore Drive and Demens Landing.

Also on Saturday, lighted boats will be going up and down the Anclote River at the 18th annual Tarpon Springs Lighted Boat Parade. "If you put enough Christmas lights on anything, it looks good in the dark. And when it reflects on the water it looks great," says Duffy Smith of the Tarpon Springs Recreation Department.

Between 6 and 8 p.m., about 20 boats will make the trek from the sponge docks and proceed around Whitcomb Bayou to Spring Bayou, where there will be caroling and a showing of the movie "The Muppet Christmas Carol" in Craig Park.

Other boat parades include:

St. Pete Beach Lighted Boat Parade: 6 p.m. Saturday: The parade starts at the Merry Pier at the Pass-a-Grille section of St. Pete Beach and runs past the Don Cesar hotel to the tip of the island.

Treasure Island Christmas Boat Parade: 6:20 p.m. Sunday. Offering one of the best views for spectators, this parade leaves Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club (400 Treasure Island Causeway) and floats by John's Pass at about 7 p.m.

Clearwater's Memorial Holiday Boat Parade At Island Estates: 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The parade begins at in Mandalay Channel between Island Estates and Clearwater Beach and travels through the Island Estates canals, arriving at Coachman Park at 8 p.m.

Madeira Beach Boat Parade: 7 p.m. Dec. 15. The parade starts at John's Pass and ends in the canal north of City Hall on the border with Redington Beach, beyond the Tom Stuart Causeway Bridge.

Redington Beach And Indian Shores Parade: 6 p.m. Dec. 16. The parade begins north of the Tom Stuart (Madeira Beach) Causeway. Boats will cover a route following the Intra-Coastal Waterway from just north of the Tom Stuart Causeway Bridge (Redington Beach) to The Pub restaurant in Indian Shores.

Downtown Tampa Holiday Lighted Boat Parade: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22. Boats leave Davis Islands and pass Channelside. The parade ends at the Tampa Convention Center.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

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