PORT TOWNSEND — Thanks to a guiding star, Santa Claus will arrive at 4:30 as scheduled Saturday afternoon.
But instead of sailing across Port Townsend Bay on the Cape Flattery, he’ll be traveling on the Aldebaran, piloted by Brad Jensen.
“She’s my first choice to stand in for the Flattery,” said Matthew Willing, captain of the charter fishing boat. “I always thought she would be the perfect stand-in.”
The Aldebaran, a commercial fishing boat, is named for a red star in the eye in the Taurus celestial constellation.
One of the brightest stars in the night sky, it is used for navigation by sailors, Willing said.
“We used it every night for a month or more coming back from Africa on a sailing vessel,” he said.
Sleigh stand-in
For the past three years, Willing and the Cape Flattery have safely delivered Santa to Union Wharf, where he greets the crowd before leading them to Haller Fountain for the tree-lighting ceremony.
But Willing has to bow out this year due to the death of a relative in Europe.
“I’m going to be very sorry to miss doing it,” Willing said. “We were ready to go.”
