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Ahoy! Lewes marks the Fourth with annual boat parade

More than 30 vessels registered for this year’s canal sail celebration
Sea Sisters Celebrate the 4th took first place for most patriotic boat. The boat is captained by LeeAnn Augustine and her red, white and blue crew. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
July 4, 2023
Tiffany Lionetti accepts first-place honors from Lewes Mayor Andrew Williams on behalf of the Sea Sisters Celebrate the 4th crew.
The second-place award went to Cutter No. 2, captained by Andrew Lyter. The crew is made up of volunteers and staff from the Lewes Historical Society.
Happy Ours sails to a third-place award, thanks to its Gilligan’s Island theme. Brian Hankin (aka the Skipper) is at the helm. Laurel Dasher, Walter Hankin, Joyce Hankin and a puppy named Nico were all part of the three-hour tour.
Capt. Brian Hankin, holding the plaque, is joined by the crew of Happy Ours in celebrating the third-place finish.
Boat No. 1 from the Freedom Boat Club leads the parade. Capts. Bev and Tom Rosella and crew member Rob Sweeney get the crowd into the patriotic spirit right off the bat.

Down the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal they came, dressed in red, white and blue to celebrate Independence Day. The 19th annual Lewes Independence Day Boat Parade brought hundreds of people to the banks of the canal to watch boats of all kinds celebrate the Fourth of July.

More than 30 boats officially registered for the parade, co-hosted by the Overfalls Foundation and the Rotary Club of Lewes-Rehoboth Beach, and sponsored by Freedom Boat Club. Some boats were powered by engines, some by sail and others by oars. No matter how they got down the canal, they all showed off the holiday spirit.

Winners of this year’s parade include the following entrants:

First place: Sea Sisters Celebrate the 4th (boat 21); Capt. LeeAnn Augustine

Second Place: Cutter No. 2 (boat 17); Capt. Andrew Lyter

Third Place: Happy Ours (boat 13); Capt. Brian Hankin.

 

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Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.

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