On the Waterfront : Oxnard: Spectacular floats will herald a procession of decorated boats tonight in the Channel Islands Harbor Parade of Lights.

At the Channel Islands Yacht Club on Friday, a group of sailors were figuring out how to move the world.

“I’ll go get my toolbox,” said yachtsman Richard Olsen, aiding in the Gargantuan effort. His pals grabbed pliers, a hammer and a whole lot of rope.

In the end, a trio of mariners, doing their best impression of Atlas, simply put the weight of the world on their shoulders and carried it down to sea.

“I just hope we don’t poke a hole in it,” Olsen said. “My wife will kill me.”

The pleasure craft Auntie O will sail into the 27th annual Channel Islands Harbor Parade of Lights this evening with the giant Earth-like replica suspended overhead.

In sticking to this year’s theme, “Wonders of the World,” the yacht club crew spent much of Friday morning hoisting the blue-and-green sphere and readying the boat for a massive display of lights and cardboard cutouts of Santa Claus driving a team of reindeer.

More than 30,000 spectators are expected to line the route during the two-hour excursion through the harbor in Oxnard. The slow-moving, glowing spectacle starts at 7 p.m. and will feature 35 decorated boats.

“You can see this from just about anywhere in the harbor,” said parade coordinator Susan O’Brien. “People should arrive early for the best parking and they should dress warmly.”

Forecasters predict that it will be clear and cold tonight.

On Friday, early-morning rain and whipping winds kept many parade participants away from their boats. The cold ocean breeze drove Ed and Claire Irving indoors after half a day’s work on their dockside entry, entitled “Save the Creatures of the Sea, the Wonders of the World.”

The Whittier couple, who keep their red-and-white boat docked in the Pacific Corinthian Marina at Channel Islands Harbor, took third place in last year’s parade.

This year’s environmentally conscious effort includes a pelican with a Santa hat towing a water-spouting whale in a rubber dingy. The boat will blast two straight hours of the Beatles hit “Yellow Submarine” and carry banners promoting the environmental-activist organization Greenpeace.

“We’re kind of afraid that when we go past the fishing docks, people are going to throw things at us,” Claire Irving joked.

At the Channel Islands Yacht Club, the midmorning wind was carving a dent into the giant globe hanging between a pipe and wooden beam on Bob McCurdy’s 40-foot powerboat. The Earth, essentially a plastic tarp wrapped around a skeleton of aluminum pipe, had been stored for a week in a small compound behind the seaside clubhouse.

Once the sphere was hoisted into place, the crew started work on reversing the gears of a motor that rotated it the wrong way.

The crew was planning to add lights and other frills to McCurdy’s boat this morning.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve ever tried,” said McCurdy, who plans to carry about 10 people tonight.

Holiday Events

TODAY

Event: Camarillo Christmas Parade

Where: Las Posas Road between Temple Avenue and Carmen Drive, Camarillo

When: Noon

Event: Candy Cane Lane opening

Where: 100 block of Teloma Drive, Ventura

When: Dusk

Event: Tree lighting, caroling and hot cider

Where: Lake Casitas Recreation Area

When: 6 p.m.

Event: Parade of Lights

Where: Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard

When: 7 p.m.

SUNDAY

Event: Holiday Street Fair

Where: Main Street, downtown Ventura

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.