WE WANT YOU (AND YOUR BOAT) TO JOIN THE HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE!
Do you want to participate in the Rocky Point Boat Parade but aren’t sure how? It’s easier than you may think. And because we typically choose a different date than Bay Crest Park, you can participate in two parades! Here are a few tips from the Dana Shores Civic Association on how to deck out your boat easily and create plenty of crowd appeal:
• Energizing Lights (Simple Method): If you have a cigarette lighter on your boat and are planning to use strands of LED mini lights, it’s relatively easy to power them. Inverters are available online for under $30 that plug directly into your cigarette lighter and provide a regular household outlet to plug into. No batteries or generators are necessary, but the combined wattage of the lights you plug in must be below the wattage limits that both your inverter and your cigarette lighter can handle. If you need a little advice on how to calculate this, feel free to contact info@danashores.com, and we can give you a hand.
Alternative Options: Purchase an inverter that you can connect directly to the boat’s battery posts.
The clip-on types are most convenient; the screw-down terminal types are a little more secure but
require a little more effort to connect. You can get a much larger inverter than you can when hooking to the cigarette lighter, just make sure you keep your motor running once the inverter is on or have only one battery selected for the inverter.
Some people purchase a spare battery (e.g., a deep-cycle, 31-series battery), set it on the deck, and attach the inverter to it. This is necessary for a higher electrical draw and is often associated with the use of traditional incandescent bulbs.
• Colors: If you’re looking for a certain color of LED lighting, https://www.christmascentral.com/ has plenty of options to choose from with different colored bulbs, wires, etc. Christmas Central also has lights with wide-angle tips, which are even brighter than traditional mini lights.
• Shapes: If you want to do a shape of some sort that’s not readily available, a little imagination and PVC pipe from Home Depot or Lowes can do the trick. (“Baby shark” was made entirely of PVC pipe. You’ll likely want to purchase the thick-walled, ¾- to 1-inch PVC pipe to keep it from bending under the weight of the lights.)
• Themes: It’s fun to pick a theme! We’ve seen many different themes – The Stanley-Cup Winning Tampa Bay Lightning, Mickey Mouse, Under the Sea, Santa Hat, and others. Picking one theme and running with it can be fun for the crew and a real crowd pleaser!
• Work the crowd! Play some music. Having your crew sing and dance gets viewers on the docks pumped up and excited. Just remember, play to the starboard side since we will be closest to the docks as we pass them on the right. The port side may still be able to hear and see your boat, but the chance to make the big impression is when you pass by onlookers on your starboard side!
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