A spectacular parade of decorated boats on opening day

April 26, 7:05 PMSF Boating ExaminerLaird Durham

More than 100 decorated boats paraded past San Francisco’s northern waterfront on Sunday, April 26, 2009 to open the yachting season,  The boats ranged in size from 10-foot inflatable dinghies to the 165-foot Potomac, once President FDR’s “Floating White House”. The parade took almost two hours to pass by.

There were a thousand pennants and stars and stripes flying, hula dancers, mermaids holding “censored” signs over their bosoms, and sea monsters galore. Many of the boats had recorded music blaring, one had a live rock band.

The parade was sponsored by the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association, Parker Diving Service, and BoatUS.

The photos in the slide show below were taken from Jim and Sandra Aber’s “Press Boat” El Nido, crewed by four former yacht club commodores.

For more slides of the parade go to the next article, A spectacular parade, continued.