Wine, Water and Song: Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade Deadline Extended

The nighttime parade has been organized by the Palm Coast Yacht Club since, with boats decking themselves out in lights, sounds and the occasional illusion. Participants and spectators, their own sounds often amplified by boozy cheer, call and respond to each other from boats to shore on either side of the parade’s path along canals and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Earlier this month, the Palm Coast City Council proclaimed Dec. 7 Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade Day, recognizing its history going back to its inaugural edition in 1983. This year, Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland and Sheriff Rick Staly will once again serve as the Parade’s Grand Marshals.

Though best experienced visually and in the chill of December’s air, the parade will also be broadcast live by KOOL-FM, 100.9, and anchored by singer Linda Cole, Central Florida’s First Lady of Song, David Ayers, Vice President and General Manager of Flagler Broadcasting, and former Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts, who’s still on the water as often as not, towing boats in trouble. Also joining them on air will be Ansley Paige, Flagler Broadcasting’s Florida Palm Coast High School Media Intern and star pitcher.

Renowned Palm Coast photographer Lori Vetter Bowers will serve as the parade’s official photographer, taking portraits of each decorated boat as it passes by on the Intracoastal Waterway and providing them to each captain gratis in thanks for participating.

The Parade will be escorted by boats from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, TowBoatUS, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Palm Coast Auxiliary of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The nearly 4-mile parade begins at 6 p.m. departing from the Cimmaron Basin south on the Intracoastal Waterway, turning at the Grand Haven gazebo back to the Club House Waterway. The Parade will be escorted by boats from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, TowBoatUS, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Palm Coast Auxiliary of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Parade will pass the Tidelands, Marina Cove, and the Palm Coast Legacy Vacation Resort. It will then proceed under the Hammock Dunes Bridge along St. Joe’s Walkway and Canopy Walk, pass by Waterfront Park, Grand Haven, Island Estates, the Hammock, and Yacht Harbor Village before disbursing at the Clubhouse Waterway.

Registration is open to all. For registration forms, boat captains are urged to contact Parade Captain Robert Ulis at 386-283-5166 or at [email protected]. Forms and further details about the parade are also available at the Palm Coast Yacht Club website. Boats must be decorated and registered to participate. There are no entry fees. Rain date is set for December 8. Official notice of any change to the Parade status will be posted on the Palm Coast Yacht Club website by 4 p.m. on December 7. Membership in the Club is not required to participate.