TERRANCE PHILLIPS -- The harbor column

For the 92nd year, the Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade is

underway once again.

It is a great time of year for visiting friends, overeating, enjoying

music, merriment and watching boaters haul out their decks and deck out

their hulls. It’s a happy time.

The harbor is crowded with corporate gatherings, family reunions,

hundreds of thousands of visitors, neighborhood get-togethers and at

least 150 parade entries and 200 observing vessels. The water looks like

the inside of a Maytag washer on the spin cycle.

It’s fun, but it can get a little dangerous. The liquid beneath the

boat is not the problem, it’s the liquid in the boat -- or should I say,

the liquid in the boater.

It’s a time of good spirit and a time for ingesting good spirits. It’s

also when we need to be more cautious than usual because there is no time

when more boats are in the harbor at once.

During the parade, boats maneuver about like ants at a picnic. But

ants seem to have a distinct purpose and direction, while imbibing

boaters do not. Boats are inches apart from needing fiberglass repairs

and the possibility of serious bodily injury is heightened a hundredfold.

Enjoy the decorated boats, the parties, the spectacle and even nog

your egg if you wish, but be sure to have a designated skipper aboard --

and for the drive home too.

“It seems like every year we have one or two people fall overboard,”

said Capt. Marty Kasules, the Newport Beach harbor master for the Orange

County Sheriff’s Department’s Harbor Patrol.

“The water is about 57 degrees and the air is going to be very cold.

When people fall into the water all bundled up with parkas and heavy

clothing, swimming and surviving can be very difficult.”

The harbor master said boaters should be aware that being on the water

at night is much different than a sunny summer day.

“Our navigation buoys No. 8 and 10 get destroyed during the parade,

which means if they are damaged, so are the hulls of the vessels that hit

them,” Kasules said.

Some Harbor Patrol suggestions:

* Many boats use gas generators for powering the lights. When the

generator runs out of fuel and the boater tries to refuel with the motor

still hot, poof!--a fire.

* Most recreational boaters do not use their vessels at night and it’s

a lot more difficult. There will be a 0.1 tide around 10 p.m. during the

parade. For vessels with a deep draft, it is strongly suggested to stay

in the middle of the channels.

* Make sure there are ample life jackets aboard and have all children

wear them during the parade. Also, make sure they are in child-size

preservers.

* Refresh your memory on man-overboard procedures and have a safety

plan. Monitor Channel 16 on your VHF radio.

Enjoy the parade and be safe.

* TERRANCE PHILLIPS is the Daily Pilot’s boating writer. He may be

reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .f7