Electrician Scott Scofield paces the teak decks of the 80-foot-long “The Last Hurrah” yacht while meticulously overseeing the complex electrical and mechanical installations of the boat’s holiday lights and décor by more than a dozen coworkers in preparation for this year’s Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.
Simultaneously, he admits, “I’m thinking ahead to what next year’s design might be.”
Such early noodling is one reason “The Last Hurrah” has been a frequent Christmas Parade Grand Prize winner during the last decade. The other equal reason is “everybody who voluntarily works on the project throughout the six-month-long, thinking-and-building process,” Scofield said with obvious pride.
A 15-year employee with electrical contracting firm, Morrow-Meadows Corporation (the yacht’s owners), Scofield said that being familiar with the latest in electronic and computer design and product technologies has allowed him to share a lead in design and construction for the past seven or eight years.
“Being in the electrical field, I was able to see all the new stuff coming out—newer lights, more electrical options. So that’s why the company’s owners invited me in. We all worked together to take old ideas to blend with new construction technologies — and here we are,” Scofield summed up.
Equipment choice is one thing. Planning how it all will fit aboard without impeding movement by up to 50 or 60 guests aboard during the parade evenings is another. “There’s only so much useable space where we can put the stuff,” Scofield said. “We want people to enjoy the cruise, so keeping it all out of everyone’s way is important to us.”
Of course, “safety is our first concern,” he emphasized.
After the final design is accepted (Scofield is the holiday theme co-conceptualizer), the physical work of pulling all the parts together in the company warehouse starts in July.
“By September, we’re in the warehouse eight hours a day; come November, we’re there 12 hours a day to assemble the bigger props and frames,” Scofield said.
By late in the month, all has been trucked to the dock for installation, where the final and perhaps most challenging tasks begin: getting the heavy parts to the ship past more than a dozen pristine yachts without nicking any of them, and hoisting every part large and small aboard and secured without scratching, scraping or chipping the glistening white gel coat, or gouging the teak decks.
Third, assembling the “jungle gym” support mechanisms to the ship without drilling into the decks and ship’s sides. Fortunately, “The Last Hurrah” has lots of tie-downs to which “we secure tons of straps,” Scofield explained.
As difficult as this seems, the crew is used to mega-construction challenges, for all have worked on major Morrow-Meadows projects that include sports stadiums, hospital complexes, shopping centers, airport terminals, and other structures.
Of course, there’s the finish work: stringing a mile or more of wiring to power up the many thousands of lights that bring the bright animation to life, all instructed and controlled by a single laptop computer.
The starboard side of “The Last Hurrah” thus becomes a floating “Cinerama,” a main attraction whose run is but a week. But, predicated on past Visit Newport guesstimates, up to 1.5 million viewers can be expected to line Newport’s shores from parks to restaurants to watch the three-hour-long Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade production.
Scofield summed up: “Not only is this fun for us, but it’s got to be fun for the viewers. It’s also fun to think that ‘The Last Hurrah’ might once again win an award based on what we’ve achieved here.”
