JUST LIKE SPARKLE, BUT WITH RUNNING SEAS AND A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY…

Since we were simply bereft over missing Sparkle in beautiful downtown Quincy, I was thrilled to notice a roadside banner announcing the Santa Cruz Yacht Club’s annual Marina Parade of Lights.  A quick call to the Club’s office bestowed upon me the knowledge that, indeed, on the evening of December 4^th a bevy of masted sailboats would sail into the night, a-glow from stem to stern.  The woman on their end said, “…they line up and sail out into the harbor and go in a circle… any place along the beaches there will afford you a spectacular view of the boats.”

The afternoon began to wane and off we went, steadily on to the marina area.  Of course parking adjacent to the actual moorage was virtually non-existent, so we shot around and down a side street, parked and hoofed it a couple of blocks to the sandy shores of Monterey Bay, on an overlook with an unencumbered view of the lighthouse and breakwater at the mouth of the marina.  The minutes ticked by, the sun set and the skies grew dark with rain.  The offshore breezes carried the odd raindrop and the waves breaking on the beach picked up a bit.  Small clusters of friends and families strolled past in the direction of the festivities.  5:30, the announced start of the event, came and went.  Occasional crowd noises and a swelling of light occurred just beyond the small bluff that hid the marina from our view, but the waters of the harbor remained illuminated only by the lonely beacon of the Christmas light bedecked lighthouse.

Apparently the plan changed due to the conditions out on the water because every once in a while a boat, strung all over with jewels of light, would motor out from behind the bluff, bob up and down furiously on a bed of obviously rough swells in the mouth of the harbor and then turn back and race for the safety of their moorage and the counterpart of the 19^th hole for all fair weather sailors.

By 6:15 the family groups began dribbling back to their vehicles, the rain picked up a bit and we headed back to our parking spot.  As we inched along the bridge that crosses the back of the Yacht Club we could see all of the glory that was to have been the Light Parade… it was almost as bright as all of the auto lights in our traffic jam.

I’m sure that if I move from Santa Cruz, I won’t make an effort to come back for this one either…