As I mentioned in my previous post we attempted to start a Christmas boat parade here in Corozal and there were high aspirations for this project.  The venture started off three months before December even arrived.  The idea emerged at the tail-end of a night out drinking with friends.  Mom and I were sitting around a table with Rod and Ken at Haley’s, a local bar, when the topic of Christmas boat parades came up.  Rod had been in a few big parades in Florida and thought that it would be fun to try and rally all the boat owners in Corozal to be a part of a boat parade here.  Unlike nearby San Pedro (on Ambergris Caye), Corozal doesn’t have this tradition.  Mom and I both thought it would be a lot of fun so we said we were onboard for sure (we don’t own a boat so our involvement wasn’t much of a commitment).

The three of us planned on having a committee meeting every Wednesday until the middle of December when the event would take place.  Our intentions were good, we even assigned each committee member a position (I was the secretary), but as the weeks moved ahead our enthusiasm waned.  All hope wasn’t lost yet; we had spoken to about 12 couples who all owned boats and told us they would be involved.  It really would have been a sight for the Corozal Bay if everyone had participated.

It became clear a couple weeks before Christmas that Ken and Rod would be the only two boats appearing in the parade.  No matter, we were still determined to make this happen and had planned on it up until the weekend the whole thing was to take place.  Then the weather turned and Rod still wasn’t even back in the country with his boat yet.  So the three committee members in country (me, mom and Ken) decided, with regret, that we would be canceling the boat parade.

Then Rod got back in the country and the project had life breathed in to it again; Rod convinced us all that it could still be done and they would decorate the two boats.  Two days later, and two days before Christmas we were on the bay in boats surrounded by Christmas lights and having an absolutely awesome time.  There were two boats with seven people total and we had our Christmas music blaring as we made a slow pass back and forth the town of Corozal.  We weren’t sure anyone would see us from shore since our parade had sort of fizzled before it sparked back to life.  There had been no announcement this would be taking place, but there were plenty of people along the water that night.  So we waved and yelled, “Merry Christmas” and spun the boats in front of each crowd we passed.

In the end we provided some entertainment for the kids along the water that night and for ourselves.  It is the start of a tradition for us as long as we’re in Corozal for Christmas and we may even add another boat next year.