Boat parades: good times, good boats, good places.

Christmas Boat Parades

While the middle of winter is not an especially prime time for boating on the Western Gulf Coast, it does present some interesting opportunities. Activities such as holiday boat parades give dedicated boat owners a chance to extend their season to the tail end of the year if they choose to participate, while providing spectators a few options as well. The parades are among the most social of boating activities, giving families and friends who might not have much interest in a hot summer day offshore, a chance to join in the preparation—with a warm cabin or other refuge from cool winds or rain that are usually very close at hand. The same is usually true of riding in the parades themselves, although crews on smaller open boats have less chance to duck inside the saloon and warm up when they feel the need.
My fondest memories of the Clear Lake Boat Parade, which is arguably the largest on the Texas coast, were of watching with friends and my young son from the dock area of the Regatta Inn Restaurant, strategically located on the channel where Clear Lake prepares to enter Galveston Bay, near the end of the parade route. A rather randomly chartered course led me to that very coveted spot to watch the brightly lit boats go by. A lovely young lady who worked in PR for the Clear Lake Hilton Hotel thought I looked lonely at their bar and introduced me to Bob Hall, the former owner of a couple of Clear Lake marinas and a strong boating enthusiast. Bob seemed to know everyone in the local business and boating communities, and one in particular he introduced me to was Larry King, owner of the Regatta and a former mayor of Seabrook, one of the many small communities bordering the lake. Larry became a close friend and always invited me and my son to view the boat parade and the 4th of July fireworks show from his dock area, and gifted us with a parking pass to get past the temporary roadblocks put up to keep non-customers some distance down the road.
Another local resident that Bob introduced me to was Red Adair, the famous oil-well firefighter and avid boating enthusiast. Sadly, Bob Hall, Larry King and Red Adair have all gone on to dock at that Big Marina in the sky where we all hope to tie up one day. When I think of boat parades, I think of those guys, of good times, good boats and good places.

Save-the-Blue

A great website to further emphasize the importance of offshore oil production platforms, save-the-blue.org, offers visitors a chance to watch live views from two camera feeds from a platform out in the Gulf. Visitors to the site may also join Save-the-Blue or simply donate to the cause.