Changes may be afloat for boat parade

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- First thing’s first. The more than one million

visitors flocking to the Newport Beach Harbor for the 2001 Christmas Boat Parade will still have seven days to enjoy the festivities.

That’s for sure.

What might change is the time boats skipper around the harbor each

night. To accomplish that, parade officials are thinking about shortening

the route.

Skipping the jetty is an option. A loop between Lido Peninsula and

Lido Isle might disappear. Another section under consideration is the

turnaround just south of the Back Bay Bridge.

The fourth option to speed things up a little is leaving Balboa

Island’s north side off the route.

But that’s a suggestion that has islanders “a bit up in arms.”

“If there’s a problem, I’d like to be part of fixing the problem,”

said Bob Neely, who owns the Newport Beach Yacht Club.

If the boats don’t come his way, he’s likely to lose customers who

have come to the club for front-row dining for years. The weeklong parade

amounts to 30% of the club’s annual income, Neely said. What’s more, he’s

already got reservations for more than half of his tables during parade

week. Should the boats stay away, he’ll have to return “tens of thousands

of dollars” in deposits he’s already collected, he said.

Let’s back up for a moment. Like every year, folks over at the Newport

Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, who organize the parade, met shortly

after the last one to review the event.

What came up during the meeting was that many boat owners who

volunteer to get in line and circle the harbor just didn’t hold out until

the end.

One night, about 117 boats set out at 6:30 p.m. By the end, that

number had dwindled to 47, said Richard Luehrs, the chamber’s president

and chief executive officer.

“Gosh, that’s quite a deal,” he remembered saying during the meeting.

“What do we do about that?”

One problem’s the weather. It’s cold in December and many people on

boats in the harbor simply start freezing after a while.

“We’re asking a lot from boat owners,” Luehrs said and added that a

shorter route might encourage people to stick with the parade throughout

the harbor.

No matter what happens, Luehrs said he and others will do a lot of

research and listening before making a decision.

A six-page survey to several hundred homeowners, businesses and others

around the harbor is coming out shortly. Once the results are back and

evaluated, parade officials will make any changes by mid-June, Luehrs

said.

But one thing’s already clear.

“This is the chamber of commerce,” he said, adding that loud

opposition against cutting out Balboa Island from Neely, Councilman Steve

Bromberg and many others had already pretty much done away with that

option.

“We support business,” Luehrs said. “We don’t detract from it. The

last thing we would want to do is cause economic hardship.”

FYI

Anyone interested in attending future chamber meetings on the boat

parade should call (949) 729-4400

QUESTION

High sea change

Should any tinkering be done to the Christmas Boat Parade? Call our

Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086 or send e-mail to

dailypilot@latimes.com. Please spell your name and include your hometown

and phone number, for verification purposes only.