Sunday, April 26 is Opening Day on the Bay. It's a grand nautical celebration, part of which can be enjoyed from the shoreline as well.
The main event for Opening Day on the Bay is the Decorated Boat Parade. Last year’s theme was “Visions,” and the Monarch from OxBow Yacht Club took first place in the powerboat category by evoking visions of the past century of history in the United States. Photo by Mia Bernt S/C PICYA
By Captain Ray
Sunday, April 26 is Opening Day on the Bay. It’s a grand nautical celebration, part of which can be enjoyed from the shoreline as well. Two events will happen that day; the roots of one go back several hundred years and the other nearly a hundred years.
The first of these is the Blessing of the Fleet. This celebration, begun in the Mediterranean many hundreds of years ago, was originally a Roman Catholic festival. (In many areas of the world, it still is.) The local priest would bless the fishing fleet, petitioning the Catholic God to ensure the safety of the fishermen and grant them a productive harvest.
Here in the Bay Area, we tend to be more inclusive and the party is open to all: fishing boats, sailboats, powerboats, workboats of all types, and more. In keeping with this theme of being more inclusive, there is often more than just a Roman Catholic priest available to dispense the blessings. In the more recent past, various Protestant denominations have been represented as well as Wiccans and Druids. The Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon hosts the event, which starts at 10:30 in the morning. It will take place in Raccoon Strait—the body of water that separates Angel Island on the south from Tiburon on the north.
This portion of the day’s celebrations will be difficult to view from the shoreline. However, there are several charter vessels that are offering cruises specifically for viewing this portion of the day’s celebrations from the water. These include the Freda B, a classic 80-foot topsail schooner sailing out of Sausalito (www.sfbayadventures.com), the presidential yacht U.S.S. Potomac berthed in Oakland (www.usspotomac.org) and Hornblower Yachts out of San Francisco (wwwhornblower.com).
The next part of the day’s activities, however, will be very visible from the shore. It is intended to be a display for those who do not have a boat as well as a celebration for those who do. This second event is the Opening Day Decorated Boat Parade. The theme this year is “Youth in Boating”—encouraging young people to participate in any and all aspects of boating on San Francisco Bay and celebrating the multigenerational aspects of boating. It will be very entertaining to see how this theme is interpreted on the boats participating in the parade.
The Opening Day on the Bay parade route was purposely chosen to allow for very good viewing from many locations all along San Francisco’s northern shoreline. Between noon and 3 p.m., boats will parade from a point near the Palace of Fine Arts and the St. Francis Yacht Club, along the waterfront passing close to the Marina Green, Gashouse Cove, Fort Mason, and Aquatic Park, all the way east to Pier 39.
The Pacific Inter Club Yacht Association (P.I.C.Y.A.) sponsors this parade. Organized on May 12, 1896, its purpose (as stated in the bylaws) is:
…to constitute an association of yacht clubs and boating organizations, to promote inter-club communications, yachting activities and the social interaction relating thereto, and to organize and conduct programs which enhance the general welfare of the member organizations.
From its original five founding clubs, the organization has now grown to represent more than 100 member clubs in northern California. It has sponsored this parade since 1917. You can visit its website, www.picya.org, for more information about the organization and this year’s events.
So, on April 26th, pack a picnic lunch and come on down to the Marina Green. You don’t need to own a boat to enjoy the Decorated Boat Parade: The viewing is free!
Ray Wichmann, is a US SAILING-certified Ocean Passagemaking Instructor, a US SAILING Master Instructor Trainer, and a member of US SAILING’s National Faculty. He holds a 100-Ton Master’s License, was a charter skipper in Hawai’i for 15 years, and has sailed on both coasts of the United States, in Mexico, the Caribbean and Greece. He is presently employed as the Master Instructor at OCSC Sailing in the Berkeley Marina.
The Opening Day on the Bay parade route was purposely chosen to allow for very good viewing from many locations all along San Francisco’s northern shoreline. Photo by Mia Bernt S/C PICYA
Knots and Bolts from the Sacramento Yacht Club won the best overall category in 2014 with help from Habitat for Humanity, Feed the Children, Susan G. Komen, World Wildlife Federation and the American Red Cross. Photo by Mia Bernt S/C PICYA
