TrumpStock boat parade scheduled for the Peconic Bay today, making stop in Orient
A flotilla of boats is expected to parade through East End waterways Friday in support of President Donald Trump.
His son, Donald Trump Jr. announced the parade, also known as TrumpStock, in a video posted to social media earlier this week. “We’ve seen them all over the rest of the country,” Mr. Trump says in the video. “We’re getting one going here.”
The group of pro-Trump boaters are expected to gather in Noyack Bay around 11 a.m., where they will set off north and navigate around Shelter Island en route to Orient Point. From there, the route turns south toward Montauk and will end with a tie-up off of Navy Beach.
The event will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance on VHF Channel 11 and boaters are invited to join in at any point along the way, communicating via Channel 11.
Two boats will lead the way: “Team Deplorable” and “The Official Trump Boat,” owned by Carlos Gavidia of Jupiter, Florida. When spotted on the North Fork by a reporter Friday, a man towing the boat proudly shouted out just how far it had traveled.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Donald Trump Jr. says in the video alongside his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. In an Instagram post, he extended the invitation to boaters from Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Event organizers announced a route change via Facebook Thursday afternoon, due to a larger-than-expected turnout. The route was initially planned to be from Orient to Montauk Point.
He also said there will be fundraising prizes and rewards for the most “outrageous” designs that include taking a photo with the president, who will be in the Hamptons this weekend for a blitz of in-person fundraising events.
According to a report in the Washington Post, tickets to the fundraising events, which will be held in Southampton and Bridgehampton, range from $5,600 and $250,000.
Proceeds from the events will benefit the president’s re-election campaign as well as the Republican National Committee.
The new kind of aquatic rallies have grown in popularity this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, with many of the first events held in Florida. Pro-Trump parades on the water were held in Patchogue and Massapequa in June.
They’ve attracted the attention of the president, who retweeted a video of one such rally in May, adding “Thank you. We love our boaters!”
Organizers of the event, which include Boaters For Trump New York, Businesses for Trump and Massapequa COVE, reminded boaters not to enter within 100 yards of ferries, which have the right-of-way, and to follow both maritime laws and distancing restrictions in place due to COVID-19.
