The best part of being in the annual Christmas Ships parade is wishing onlookers a Merry Christmas — at least according to a couple of sailors who have been at it for over a decade.
Since 2010, Doug and Colleen Vandecoevering of Scappoose have been part of the brightly lit fleet of ships that makes its way down the Columbia and Willamette rivers each holiday season. Having just wrapped up it 70th year, the parade drew people to the riverbanks eager to see the festively decorated boats sail by from Dec. 5 to 22..
“The thing we like most about it is getting together with the fellow boaters and really seeing the expression on people’s face(s), the crowd participation (and) the people we perform for,” Doug Vandecoevering said while the parades were still underway.
The couple’s boat, a 1980 Ocean Alexander sedan named Out to Launch, appears bedazzled in blue and red lights, with two big antennae sticking out the top that they changed from white to red this year.
“Last night, I was out there just wishing everybody a Merry Christmas, and everybody was screaming it back to me,” Colleen Vandecoevering said. “It was really fun.”