Boston Yacht Club Holds Annual Boat Parade

Boston Yacht Club members celebrated their annual boat parade around Marblehead Harbor on Saturday, as members crowded the club's dock-side porch and a cannon fired to salute the boats cruising past.

Each summer, the BYC's boat parade demonstrates members' pride in the club, their boats and Marblehead's yachting history.

Participating members cruise the harbor in their craft, passing the Eastern Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club on the Neck before returning to dock at the BYC landing off Front Street.

Mike Mentuck and his family and friends honored this year's "shipwrecked" theme by decorating Mentuck's boat the Elizabeth M. to resemble the S.S. Minnow of "Gilligan's Island."

The boats rounded the harbor under threatening skies before a downpour sent club members running for shelter inside the club or in their boats' cabins.

About a dozen of Mentuck's family and friends crowded into the Elizabeth M.'s cabin as the rain came down in sheets, where the festivities continued with a few drinks and hors d'oeuvres. 

Only eight boats participated in this year's parade, perhaps because of the weather.

"The storm may have scared people off," said Susie Travers, assistant general manager at the BYC. 

The club, which hosts the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race every other year, has a lot planned for the summer, even though this is an off year for the Halifax race.

Marblehead Race Week kicks off July 22, and the BYC will be the host club for the regatta, entering its 121st year.