Time to once again revise the Chet Gibson cruise?

Queen City member Chet Gibson rigged up some Christmas lights, a record player, and a loudspeaker on his boat, "Hilma III", and in 1942 began the tradition of lighted boat parades in Seattle. There are many who claim he was the first in the nation to display holiday lights on a boat and cruise past waterfront communities.

Especially once past WWII, when fuel was available once again, Chet Gibson used to cruise up and down Puget Sound, as well as several nights each year in Lake Union and Lake Washington. Gibson's cruise schedule was ten days to two weeks. On the final day of the Chet Gibson parade, QCYC members would rendezvous at the club house for a huge Christmas party.

Over the years, the mission has contracted. Some of the outlying communities have launched lighted boat parades of their own. The "novelty" of lighted boats is wearing off. The Chet Gibson Memorial Cruise is currently down to two nights, and cruises only on Lake Union, Portage Bay, and Lake Washington.

Unfortunately, participation has contracted as well. For the 2016 cruise, we struggled to turn out an adequate number of "turn boats" for the various waypoints. Boats actually on parade were less than a dozen on Friday night, and just a few more on Saturday. Four or five years ago, it was common to have 25 or 30 boats, sometimes more, in the parade. Clearly, interest in the event is waning among the members.

Decades ago, people used to line the shore to wait for QCYC to parade by. It's now unusual to see anybody making a deliberate effort to be on hand for the QCYC cruise, or schedule a party around same.

The Chet Gibson Parade now competes with commercial cruise companies, displaying on multiple nights. These commercial ventures include lighted, multi-deck boats with choirs, marching bands, etc. Some would say they put on a better "show" than the QCYC event.

In the same way that the Chet Gibson Parade has reduced the number of days and the number of locations covered throughout the years, it's my opinion, as chair of the event, that it may be time to once again consider reducing the scope of the event in order to increase participation.

It would be great to get some suggestions at this forum for re-imagining the event.

My initial thoughts include reducing the event to a single night (Saturday). Especially with traffic the way it has become, it can be difficult for some people to make a Friday night event that begins at 6 PM.

I am also considering whether the two very long routes across Lake Washington are worth the time and effort. There are very few people on those dark shorelines watching us parade by, The last two years, we have encountered some uncomfortably high winds on Saturday night. Some potential participants have remarked that they are not comfortable, or "no longer comfortable", making long runs in the dark.

Would there be support for a Chet Gibson parade that did three laps around Lake Union, motored down the canal to the turn basin east of the Ballard Bridge, came back around Gasworks Park, went under the University Bridge, and terminated at the clubhouse in Portage Bay?

Yes? No? Good idea? Bad idea? Other ideas (would be welcome)?

Coming up with a good idea for any changes this spring will allow us to have details in place when we apply for the 20017 parade permit next September. Once we're past Opening Day, just over 60 days from now, we will all be off cruising, etc, so the time to start a discussion on this issue is really upon us.