OPENING dAY 

The tradition of Opening Day goes back to the 1800s, when the drawbridge at Beach Road and Main Street in Belvedere was opened to allow arks and boats back into the Bay after over-wintering in Belvedere Lagoon. In 1917 the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association (PICYA) started an annual celebration called Opening Day. 

In 1963 the Corinthian Yacht Club added the Blessing of the Pleasure Craft to Opening Day festivities, modeled on age-old traditional blessings of vessels of working fishermen. Later In the morning of Opening Day, the Corinthian positions a Blessing Vessel in Raccoon Strait in front of the Club. On board the blessing vessel are clergy of different faiths who bless all boats and boaters for the coming season.