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Nothing says Christmas on the California coast quite like the annual Boat Decorating Festival at Pillar Point Harbor south of San Francisco. And this year, once again, staff from the Half Moon Bay Review is playing a part.
The annual boat-lighting festivities have been a Christmastime tradition at Pillar Point Harbor for more than two decades. Boat owners, fishing crews, those who live on their vessels and land-lubbers alike all have a hand in the magic.
Crews compete for awards like a free month’s berthing and it’s not unusual for competitors to pull out all the stops. One boat owner last year turned his boat into a winter wonderland by blowing three tons of shaved ice from the harbor ice machine onto his boat so that folks could have snowball fights.
In 2009, Review receptionist Barbara Dinnsen helped to judge the contest. This year she pegged Review advertising representative Marilyn Johnson to help out.
Marilyn says she is honored to judge the contest, which took place Dec. 11.
“I used to live in Princeton,” she said. Princeton – sometimes called by its appropriate formal title “Princeton-by-the-sea” – is home to the harbor and right up the road from Half Moon Bay. “I would always see the beautiful lights. It’s something to look forward to every year.”
— Clay Lambert
