The boat parade is free! To be counted for the attempt every boat must display an official parade sympbol, register and complete other world record requirements. They must carry an official parade flag which can be printed out and taped near the helm.
The boat parade is limited to 3,000 boats on a first come by category. The four categories are 1. Heroes with Special Heroes in their family. 2. Heroes or Special Hero families. 3. Boats that are live streaming. 4. All other boats. In each category boats with rehearsed and livestreamed skits, games and decorations are given a priority over boats with no preparation.
A group has 30 boats. We will have a maximum of 100 groups for the parade. Look at the top middle boat, it has a red “1” for group one, then you see the “2” of the second group.
The top 3 boats (10, 20 & 30) are squad leaders. There are 10 boats in each squad and 3 squads in a group. Now do you see three tic toe boards for the best out of three?
The boats following each squad leader are numbered 1-9 the same as a phone pad. Squad leaders to the port and starboard of the Group leader follow his speed and maintain a safe distance for their squads.
May 19, 2024 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
Each boat keeps 20′ away from any other boat in all directions while traveling in the parade and has fenders out. All boats must have one captain and one crew member. The crewmember is the lookout and handles communication by cellphone, visual and sound signals. Just like driving, the captain may not use their cell phone.
The 3 squad leaders in each group stop or start their squad when the group ahead stops or starts.
Squad Leaders must have 3 people, Captain, lookout and parrot. (communications)
On the day before the parade every boat is given an estimated start time for roll call. This includes information about their group leader, squad leader and squad position. They also get the contacts of the lookouts and parrots in their group. Roll call is 1 hour before they expect to cross the starting line of the parade. The group leader chooses a location near the parade queue and takes a roll call. If the roll call does not have 30 boats, parade command is notified and “spare and relief” boats make up the empty spaces. The group can also be disbanded to become “spare and relief” boats. When roll call is complete and the group has 30 boats, Queue Command is notified. Queue command tells the group leader when to enter the parade queue. This is 30 minutes before they expect to cross the parade starting line. Once in the queue Group leaders are given a queue number and told to wait to proceed to the starting line. Groups loosely line up in the queue according to queue number. When crossing the starting line group leaders are given their official group number which is their queue number if everything runs smoothly.
The parade starting line is between two navigation points. Each parade location has their own points.
Boats continue at parade speed and direction until they cross the ending parade line. Boats then travel in any uncongested direction for 30 more minutes at parade speed. This is necessary to clear the parade exit and to minimize wake for the rest of the parade. The group formations traveling away from the parade are a visual sign to alert other boats to slow down to no wake speed. Groups should think about having a raft up or beach party once they are out of the parade area.
If we estimate the average size of each boat being 25′ and each boat has 20′ of space on all sides each row takes up 200′ of space forward and back. At 3 mph, 80 rows or 240 boats are possible each hour and 320 if the parade speed is 4 mph. This may range from 100 to 400 boats per hour depending on the size of boats and number of parade stops and starts and more. We are using 300 boats each hour for our calculations or one group passing the starting line every 6 minutes. (For the all day live broadcast of the parade that means each squad of 10 boats has 120 seconds of featured broadcast time. This is 12 seconds per boat so we are going to say 10 seconds per boat. This is why each boat must have a rehearsed 10 second “teaser”. This 10 second teaser for the all day live broadcast stays with that boat for the full year until next years parade. This lets each both turn on interactive live streaming “fun raising” on any day they are on the lake to hold fishing tournaments, beach parties, raft ups and more. or off at anytime during the next year to raise money for the nonprofit they choose)
The parade length is almost 2 miles. It will take boats approximately 30 minutes for roll call, 30 minutes in the queue, 45 minutes to travel the route, another 30 minutes to clear the area. (2 hours 15 minutes)
World Record
Requirements
The Guinness Book of world records still lists 1,180 boats, Sep 13, 2014 as the largest boat parade. Guinness claims that other parades could not be verified for several very valid reasons. Each boat must be registered in the parade, display a unique parade flag (download and print) and each boat must be verified for starting, traveling and completing the parade. In a “Poker Run” where people just show up there is no way to verify individual boats as being part of the world record! Download our unique parade identity on a sheet of paper and tape it at the helm. Consider laminating or putting it in a protective sleeve. You can create larger flags with the identity, and display it on hats, t-shirts, koozies and more. Each boat takes a picture crossing the start and finish lines with the parade flag visible. Livestreaming catches all the boats staying in formation throughout the parade. This completes the major requirements for Guiness, but there is safety, registration and parade training to complete.
The lookout of each boat will take a picture of their boat in the vicinity of crossing the starting line with the navigation markers visible along with their identity. On the game card the lookout will post a picture of their boat and their identity flag in the vicinity of crossing the starting line. A designated person may also take pictures of other boats crossing if some boats are unable to do this.
The Atlanta Volunteers offers this absolutely verifiable solution for a boat parade to celebrate First Responders on May 19, 2024. It should take us 4 to 5 hours to tie the record and we have 12 hours to beat it.
Equipment Requirements
Each squad leader boat must have 1 air horn or whistle, a squad flag they can wave, and a way to display “Squad Queue numbers” on a piece of paper or poster board. This is to rally boats for squad roll call before entering the queue. The squad flag is anything. (Could be something fun, yes you can twerk, wave and old ‘oar – if you can pick her up or use a pirate flag) This signals the 9 boats for roll call and to proceed into the queue. All boats must be able to pass a USCG safety inspection.
Queue and position
You are given a roll call staging time and number. Watch for updates on the day of the parade. Once you leave the roll call area and enter the queue your roll call staging number doesn’t matter. You go “next in line” in the queue and your group leader gets a new queue number. Your final group number is one greater than the boat ahead of you and if things are smooth, it is your queue number. Update your game card with your final group number.
Two Signals
Although one single short blast means “I intend to pass you on the port side” during boat parades we are going to use a short blast for attention. We will use 7 or more short blasts followed by one long blast for any true emergency such as man overboard. All boats in the parade stop if somebody jumps or swims from a boat or has a medical emergency. (different than the 5 short blasts for “danger/doubt” in navigation)
When a lookout hears or sees any signal, they repeat that signal once so it is passed down the length of the parade. An example would be using a single blast to stop the parade to let boats in and out of coves. Expect lots of stops and starts just like any parade. Boats start moving again when the group ahead starts moving. Each captain makes a decision to wait or leave the parade when they hear an emergency signal as emergency signals can be given for weather or any other type of emergencies. The lookout should use whatever means they have to determine the nature of the emergency and then inform everyone else they can. If possible pass that information to the group ahead and the group behind and definitely post it on the parade chat room.
Parade Contests A Mermaid, Cheerleader, Gamer and a Bootymaster
Besides the captain and lookout, the lead boat may also have a Mermaid, Cheerleader, Gamer, and Bootymaster to encourage donations to any nonprofit from the interactive live streaming of boats in their group. This allows people to watch at home or parties at sports bars and be truly involved. Any boat or person on land can have interactive livestreaming to raise donations for their favorite nonprofit. The Bootymaster catfishes loonies (donation reward coins and people watching). The Bootymaster is a judge that expects to be bribed and only punishes the innocent. You can rotate the Bootymaster position to any boat so everyone can take a turns or just have one Bootymaster. Mermiads lure sailors to their doom with their treasure chest and siren song during the Karaoke Challenge Game. The Cheerleader organizes cheers, games, songs, dances and challenges for their boat, their 10 boat float, their 30 boat group or for all the boats in the parade. A “Gamer” uses their phone to livestream their game card and to communicate with everyone online. Synchronized cheers, songs, dances and other activities can be easily synchronized with all the boats. This can include rotational Karaoke switched on the fly from boat to boat or to people watching at sports bars and home. The Gamers also creates interaction, contests, bets and votes. This lets people online join in the fun and use (our game points) “loonies” to vote for or challenge the boats and floats.
Each group has a Master Bootymaster. They are the judge of booty contests and bribes, commander of who sings or dances, executioner of unfair punishment to the innocent and a banker with no ability to count except for bribes that are too low. The Master Bootymaster is used for fund raising activities for any nonprofit where loonies are exchanged for prizes that you or others create for the cause you want to fund, such as buying mermaid food to feed the mermaids at the petting zoo. “Save the Mermaids” is a very popular cause, but “Shave the Mermaids” is considered urgent as some of those Mermaids look like your uncle Frank with his hairy back.
