This Saturday, Mike Skulsky, the port captain of the White Rock-based International Yacht Club plans to load a 3,000-watt portable generator aboard his vessel along with 250 feet of Christmas lights.
Then Skulsky and some like-minded sailors will take their brightly-lit ships to the waters of Semiahmoo Bay for the clubs’s annual Christmas Light Parade.
Normally, the event is held the first Saturday in December, but organizers decided to delay it a week. That’s because the first Saturday also happened to be the first day of December and there was concern it might still be too bright out.
Based on the wet and windy conditions experienced last weekend, the delay may have been an inspired move.
“It was bloody awful,” Skulsky said of the Dec. 1 conditions, adding the sail-past likely would have been cancelled.
The long-range weather forecast for Dec. 8 is for relatively warm and dry conditions, a low of plus-one Celsius and partly cloudy skies. It also calls for light rain the day before and mixed rain and snow the day after.
“That’s good news,” said Skulsky, who has been participating in the annual event for “about 25” years.
So far, only 10 ships have signed up for the Christmas sail-past, but Skulsky is hoping the word about the positive weather forecast will add to the fleet. Anyone interested in taking part can call 604-240-7978 or 1-604-858-1717.
Participating boats will muster near the White Rock pier between 4 and 5 p.m. on the Saturday.
At 5 p.m., they’ll all flip the switch.
It’s suggested that the end of the pier is the best place to watch from.