November 1, 2021
21st Annual Johns Lake Holiday Boat Parade Sunday
Please join us for the 21st Annual Johns Lake Boat Parade! Updates and information are available on Facebook @ Johns Lake Improvement Association.
This year, we have some great prizes to encourage everyone to decorate their boats and make this parade truly spectacular for our 21st year on the water!
1st Prize – Full boat detail from Tommy’s of Clermont
2nd Prize – $100 cash
3rd Prize – $50 cash
All boats wishing to participate for prizes MUST register their boat IN ADVANCE of the parade to qualify. Final judging will take place at the last quarter mile of the parade route.
Here is the registration link.
All boats participating should gather no later than 6:10pm in the NW corner of Johns Lake; otherwise known as Clear Lake (see map for exact location). THIS IS THE SAME MEETING LOCATION AS LAST YEAR. The lead boat will start the parade at 6:15pm by blasting an air-horn several times. All boats should follow in-line and slowly head east. The parade route will follow the northern, eastern, and southern shores of Johns Lake (from Johns Lake Landing in Lake County to Twinwaters in Orange County, where parade ends).
The parade will take about 2 hours to complete. Please see the Parade Route Map at the end of this article.
If this is your first time decorating your boat for a parade, here are a few tips:
Christmas lights run on 120v AC and are designed to operate from your home electrical current. To operate lights on your boat, you will need to purchase a DC to AC power inverter. Power inverters are available at most auto parts stores, Wal-Mart, and Harbor Freight. Power inverters convert your boat’s 12v DC power to 120v AC. Inverters do have a limit as to how much power they can generate from your boat’s DC battery. Inverters are rated by watts; the more watts the inverter can handle, the more lights you can put on your boat.
Most power inverters above 150 watts will need to be connected directly to your boat’s battery terminals to provide full power as 12v outlet plugs (cigarette lighters) are power limited by a fuse.
Use of LED lights provide the ability to power many more lights than incandescent lights. A 300 watt power inverter connected directly to your battery could power over 600 LED lights as opposed to 60 incandescent lights! Be careful though, as some units will overheat if too much load is placed
on them. Test your lights for a period of time before the parade starts. Make sure you use UL approved outdoor lights as the lights on your boat may get wet and you do not want to cause a fire or shock someone on your boat!
If you do not live on the lake and are looking for a public place to view the parade, here are a few options:
- The Public Boat Ramp on Johns Lake located at 13620 Lake Blvd., Winter Garden, FL 34787 (north shore of Johns Lake, off of Hwy. 50 at the Lake/Orange County line. Although the parade will not go directly by the boat ramp this year, it could still be viewed here from a distance.
- For Public Road Viewing you can view the parade in Johns Lake Landing Subdivision at the
intersection of Willow Hills Ln and Good Hearth Blvd, located on the Clermont side of Johns Lake. There are also a number of Empty Lots along Secret Hollow Loop and Hickory Wind Drive, further in that subdivision.
If there are any other public viewing areas of the lake you are aware of, please post those on the
Facebook Page @JohnsLakeImprovementAssociation. We’d love to hear about more viewing
areas that may be available so please put up those posts!!
IMPORTANT: Please don’t forget to register for the parade. Even if you’re not entering the parade for prizes, it is extremely helpful to the event organizers to know how many boats will be participating.