Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade: 2023 Winners

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Best in Show

At Last | Singles on Sailboats | Chuck Fort

Long & Foster Sponsor Award

Whiskey Business | Jimmy Buffett | J.P. Swann

Best Illumination

LookingGlass | A Pitbull Pirate Parade | Tony Baca

Best New Entry

Off Center | The Grinch Stole Christmas | Jack Lefever

Best Under 30 feet

Blue Ayes | Christmas Snoopy | Keith DeWeese

Best Animation

Barnacle | Santa’s Workshop | Brandon Barniea

People’s Choice

Woohoo II | Sirens All the Way | Scott Robinson

Shearwater Up the Creek Award

Wilma Lee | Oysters on the Half Shell | Rick Flamand

The story of LOOKINGGLASS

51 boats entered the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade this year but one, a first-time entry, shone brighter than the rest. Literally. . .

Believe it or not, LOOKINGGLASS was so bright that the owners, Tony and Kit Baca, researched FAA regulations to make sure it wouldn’t be dangerous for planes. Tony knows a thing or two about planes; he’s been a Boeing 747 pilot for 25 years. But let’s not get ahead of the story.

How did this luminescent labor of love begin?

Let’s go back to last year’s parade

Tony & Kit Baca were hosting friends on LOOKINGGLASS at South Annapolis Yacht Centre during last year‘s parade when someone suggested they enter the next parade. Maybe it was the excitement of the moment, maybe it was the bourbon. Regardless, they agreed.

Lots of boaters who enter get help from their friends. And LOOKINGGLASS was no different. They just happen to have a friend who produces concerts for world-famous bands you would absolutely recognize if we were allowed to print them.

In the end, 6 production companies donated their time, talent, and equipment to the effort:

• Nimblist – lighting, design, technical direction, technical drawings, and visualization
• Clair Global – state-of-the-art audio equipment
• 4 Wall Entertainment – state-of-the-art lighting equipment
• TAIT Towers – production management and rigging equipment
• Mike Newman – audio production
• Nick Hohn – NYC-based lighting director and programmer

Three local businesses also offered their services at no charge:

• Bridges Marine Services – electrician
• Benchcraft Marine – carpenter (and Jack Sparrow!)
• MAD Soaps – photography
• South Annapolis Yacht Centre – home port of LOOKINGGLASS

But Tony and Kit aren’t just a couple with a big boat putting the ego in Ego Alley.

Tony is both a Navy and Army veteran who served in multiple conflicts. So he and Kit only agreed to enter to raise money for the Valhalla Sailing Project – an Annapolis nonprofit working to prevent Veteran suicide through sailboat racing.

A massive production

When LOOKINGGLASS left the dock at South Annapolis Yacht Centre, she carried 30 souls including:

• 3 captains (1 primary and 2 backups)
• 2 spotters constantly relaying the boat’s position to the captain via radio
• A 4-person tech team. 6 more worked on the boat right up until they left the dock.
• 18 dancing elves
• 2 Jack Sparrows
• 1 Santa Claus

Along with that, she carried 2.5 tons of lights, speakers, and the same production equipment you’d find in the sound booth at a sold-out stadium concert.

And the result was stunning.

Captain Jack Sparrow and Santa Claus had a candy cane sword fight synchronized to the music. The elves danced a routine choreographed by an actual choreographer. And state-of-the-art lights and smoke machines capped off the incredible floating spectacle.

When we saw LOOKINGGLASS in the EYC Lights Parade it was the culmination of months of hard work to raise money and bring awareness to the Valhalla Sailing Project. Military veterans are 57% more likely to commit suicide than the average American so Valhalla is tackling a serious issue.

So far, LOOKINGGLASS has raised $5,000 and counting for the Valhalla Sailing Project. Click here to learn more or donate!