Boat Parade - One More Time

Out on the water one last time for the Christmas Boat Parade here in Newport, I caught a few more photos and video clips. 

It was the final night, and conditions couldn't have been better.

 

One of the nice things about seeing the parade by gondola,

is that you can get super close, and our boats are quite noticeable. 

In this clip you can see gondoliers Bob Millspaugh and Simon Atkins

(in silhouette), and hear the guy on the yacht address us as he passes by.

 

 

 

In Newport we have our fair share of ridiculously large yachts, but some of the most impressive parade vessels are those little boats that have been decorated to the max.  Here's a little boat, with a lot of lights.

 

 

 

And then there are the big ones, really big ones.  And of course a yacht this big needs a horn to match.  This guy came through like a battleship, with a horn that rattled the windows of houses along the route. Sure,

it sounds loud in the video, but in person this horn could wake the dead.

As the vessel was passing us, they fired a small cannon off the back deck - scaring the heck out of my passengers.

 

 

After last night's great silhouette shot by Joey Hamamoto, I saw a chance to take a similar photo and caught this image of Bob Millspaugh in the reflection of The same yacht - one of the most dramatic boats in the parade.

 

Boat Parade is a blast. It's also exhausting. We are always thankful for the adventure as well as the business, but we are also thankful afterwards,
for sleep.