Gala Bridge Over Troubled Waters : 86th Newport Boat Parade Gives Reason to Cheer in Anxious Times

They know how to throw a Christmas party in Newport Bay. First you order up a full moon, pick one of the balmiest December nights in memory, then line up 150 boats bedecked with elaborate holiday decorations and brimming with revelers.

The 86th annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade--which will run nightly through Dec. 23--kicked off Saturday in grand style. Many longtime parade veterans among the thousands who lined the shores of the bay or watched from someone’s oceanfront home said the boats seemed bigger and more brightly lit than ever before.

“This is marvelous,” said Frank Rudolph, 80. He has missed only three of the boat parades since moving to Lido Isle before World War II and took his own boat in the parade when he was younger. “I can’t recall a balmier night for it, or a more wonderful parade.”

You couldn’t tell by this festive crowd that Orange County was embroiled in bankruptcy. The only mention of it usually came jokingly.

“I thought I’d help out Newport Beach’s economy a little bit,” laughed Judy McCall of Laguna Beach, attending her first Christmas Boat Parade.

The parade, which starts at 6:30 p.m. and runs about two hours, begins and ends at Collins Island--the western tip of Balboa Island. It takes a U-turn at the Marine Avenue Bridge leading to the island, then moves like a mile-long glowworm up the bay to Newport Boulevard, where it U-turns again. The boats then circle Lido Isle to run the full length of the Balboa Peninsula.

There’s grandstand viewing available, at the Sea Scout Base along Coast Highway and on the peninsula near Marina Park. But most people Saturday night just found themselves a spot on the beach, or sitting on a sea wall.

For six years, Don and Sandy Crampton of Newport Beach have crowded in with others from the middle of the Marine Avenue Bridge, where the water extravaganza turns in front of them. “It’s the best spot,” Don Crampton said.

The Cramptons wouldn’t dream of missing it. “It’s quite a show,” Don Crampton said. “They’ll spend $10 or 10 thousand dollars decorating those boats.”

It looked like many owners of the vessels--yachts and sailboats down to kayaks--splurged toward the higher figure. The lead boat--the Mayor’s Boat--was crowned with a Macy’s Parade-size Santa Claus, and many of the boats that followed were even more splendid, with flashing lights, Christmas music, reindeer, and Santas in crows nests. Their audience was delighted.

Anne and Charles Bozarth of Rolling Hills, who parked on beach blankets near the starting line on Balboa Island with nine other family members, have been coming to the parade for 14 years.

“It’s a family tradition,” said their daughter, Linda Gerbach. “It wouldn’t be Christmas any other way.”

Don Sloper, whose 33-foot brigantine Go-Getter was lit to the gills with Christmas lights, said for years he wouldn’t put his boat in the parade, for fear he couldn’t really see the festivities that way. But he tried it last year, learned his view was better than ever and paid his $50 entry fee to reserve a spot for his boat again this year. One irritation: He blew a fuse and couldn’t get his elaborate Santa Claus to light up. But the dozen party-goers aboard didn’t mind. They waved and cheered to the crowd along the route like the rest of them.

It’s the cheering that 14-year-old Melissa Moon loves most. Her mother, Laura, whose entire party was decked out in Santa Claus hats, agreed: “It’s the one night of the year when we are all one.”

The merriment wasn’t restricted just to watching the parade. The Newport Harbor High School Brass Ensemble played Christmas music as a fund-raiser, collecting a few dollars from passersby. And one corporate office of 25 showed up as a group with sheet music to sing Christmas carols. They were from the Anaheim office of Merrill Lynch, the investment firm deeply tied to the county’s $2-billion investment losses.

Most of them laughed when someone asked the name of their group. It wasn’t the time, they said, to talk investments and government blunders.

“Crisis? We have no crisis,” said office manager Rochelle Guindon. “This business goes up and down. You learn to deal with it. Now sing a Christmas carol with us.”

If you plan to see the parade during the next six nights, a word of caution: Plan to leave early. Newport Boulevard was jammed for two miles with people trying to make it in time to see the parade. And Balboa Island traffic was worse than the height of the summer tourist season.