Christmas came to the big island Saturday with a bang – literally – as fireworks painted the sky and brightly lit boats did the same for the Caribbean waters in the annual St. Croix Christmas Boat Parade.
Even before the boats kicked things off, the crowd that thronged Christiansted Harbor was treated to a flyover by a trio of planes from Seaborne Airlines passing over the water in tight formation, then peeling away to circle around and make another pass.
Forget all the post-Thanksgiving sales. For thousands of revelers Saturday, the boat parade and the opening of the Crucian Christmas Festival’s Christiansted mini-village were the real start to the holiday.
And the festivities were to continue Sunday with the Old Time Traditional Christmas Parade at 7 p.m., passing from Time Square down King Street, then back up Company Street to end up at the mini-village in the Christian "Shan" Hendricks Vegetable Market for another night of fun.
Saturday’s main action was at the waterfront. From Angry Nate’s at the south end of the boardwalk all the way up to the corner of the fort, thousand lined the boardwalk, jostling good-naturedly as they sought the ideal vantage point. The farther north you strolled, the denser the wall of humanity, with friends calling out to each other so that it seemed every five or six paces, someone was having a reunion.
The boat parade featured 20 ships of all shapes and sizes – catamarans and fishing boats, sport boats and what looked like cabin cruisers. It was hard to get a fix on the actual lines of the ships because they were so bedecked with Christmas lights in the gathering dark. There were Santas and reindeers and floating Christmas trees and snowmen and, from one boat, a giant mocko jumbie flying from a mast lit up like a giant palm tree. All were wrapped in dazzling displays of color.
For high school student Cassandra Ceballos, attending the parade is a tradition.
"I’ve come every single year since I was little," she said. "It wouldn’t be Christmas on St. Croix without the boat parade."
Last year was the first year she missed it, she added, because of a school function, and the whole season just didn’t feel the same. She vowed she wouldn’t miss another.
Starting his own tradition was a 4-year-old named Jaiden, taking in his first boat parade. He seemed overwhelmed by the sight and the crowds, but he smiled when asked if he was enjoying himself.
Asked which was his favorite, he grinned and said, "I like them all!"
While 12-year-old Jacob Borden expressed a preference for the boat with the mocko jumbie – because he liked the live brass group it carried, playing Christmas Carols across the water — another man, who didn’t give his name but said he was a native, took a more practical approach.
He said he doesn’t come down every year, but enjoys it from time to time, "if you can find a parking place without getting a ticket," he added ruefully.
