Aspot of bad luck kept Johnny Owens from participating in last year’s Opening Day on the Bay, a judged parade of theme-decorated boats that helps kicks off the official boating season here in the Bay Area every April.
By Bill Picture
Published: April, 2006
Aspot of bad luck kept Johnnie Owen from participating in last year’s Opening Day on the Bay, a judged parade of theme-decorated boats that helps kicks off the official boating season here in the Bay Area every April.
The Walnut Grove resident, a member of the Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda and a delegate to the Meeks Bay Yacht Club in Lake Tahoe, had spent weeks transforming his family’s boat into a Viking ship. He had even fashioned Viking costumes for his family to wear that day, complete with horned hats, warrior shields and axes.
But, wouldn’t you know it, my boat broke down on the way to the parade, he says.
This year, Owen, who took home the first-place trophy for Best Overall in 2004, says his boat is in tip-top shape. And, once again, he plans to give the other entrants a serious run for their money in this year’s parade of boats, on April 30.
My biggest competition is the Island Yacht Club [from Alameda], he says. We’re all pretty competitive, but it doesn’t get nasty or anything. It’s friendly competition.
The annual event draws thousands of spectators each year, who line The City’s northern shoreline (from Crissy Field to Pier 39) to watch the procession of decorated yachts.
Every year, it seems to get a little bigger. Last year, we had about 150 boats entered. This year, we’re expecting about 200. -Manuel Mier, commodore of the PICYA
We started planning about four months ago, says Marcia Stern, commodore of the Presidio Yacht Club. As soon as we found out this year’s theme, which is ‘Mardi Gras on the Bay’, we started thinking about what we were going to do.
Stern’s boat is one of three from San Francisco’s Presidio Yacht Club that is entered in 2006 competition.
You know, it’s takes time to put something good together, she continues. [My husband and I] won Best Decorated Sailboat last year. This year, we’re really pushing for Best Overall.
Jerry Zanoli, commodore of the Emeryville Yacht Club, has his eye on the same prize.
I can’t tell you what we’re planning. It’s top secret, he jokes. Zanoli won Best Decorated Powerboat in 2004. I mean, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.
Yeah, [Jerry] will be miserable if he doesn’t win that, jokes Manuel Mier, commodore of the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association (PICYA), which organizes the event. It’s not really about the trophy or the prizes. It’s about winning bragging rights for the next year.
Sausalito-based PICYA represents more than 100 yacht clubs and boating organizations, all of which participate in the Opening Day festivities each year. Even though the organization itself is 110-years-old, Mier says that this year’s Opening Day on the Bay will only be the 89th because the event wasn’t held during war years.
Every year, it seems to get a little bigger, he says. Last year, we had about 150 boats entered. This year, we’re expecting about 200.
According to Mier, preparations for the festivities that mark the opening of the boating season, which runs from late-April through mid-October, begin every the fall for the coming year.
We meet at least once a month to go over all of the details, he explains. Coordinating an event of this size and just communicating to all of the clubs is a lot of work.
But Mier insists he enjoys every minute of it. And he says he’s amazed every year by PICYA members’ creativity: Really, you would marvel at some of the things the clubs come up with.
[Opening Day on the Bay] is a big deal for the [yachting] community, says Stern. We look forward to it all year long.
And it’s a lot of fun, adds Zanoli. It’s a big party is what it is. But I’m telling you, I’d kill to win this year.
Opening Day begins at Noon on Sun., April 30. One of the SF fireboats will lead the way. For more information, visit www.picya.org
