California dragon swim

Its an old tradition no longer with us. It was called the dragon swim and that thing breathed fire! It used to be made every year and scrapped down after, but eventually just made it good enough to last. It wa made out of chicken wire with foam sprayed on the top. All the guys from the club would go down to 2nd street in Long Beach and drink and eventually tow it around the harbor in part of the Christmas boat parade. There were a few sites I wish I could have back.. Seeing Jay Riffe in a red man thong.. NO THANKS :@

I've done it twice, but too little to be of much help, so I sat on the float and told one of the guys when to fire off the flames.

Don should be able to offer a bit more history and pictures..

Quote from ddonnell

Its an old tradition no longer with us. It was called the dragon swim and that thing breathed fire! It used to be made every year and scrapped down after, but eventually just made it good enough to last. It wa made out of chicken wire with foam sprayed on the top. All the guys from the club would go down to 2nd street in Long Beach and drink and eventually tow it around the harbor in part of the Christmas boat parade. There were a few sites I wish I could have back.. Seeing Jay Riffe in a red man thong.. NO THANKS :@

I've done it twice, but too little to be of much help, so I sat on the float and told one of the guys when to fire off the flames.

Don should be able to offer a bit more history and pictures..

Will do when it gets closer to Christmas.:thumbsup2:

Cheers Don

Lunker here are some more.. Story's later...

Quote from LunkerBuster

man, that is really cool.

Don will you shed some light on the history / origins of this crazy ritual??

i love the silliness of it juxtaposed to the longevity of the tradition. just awesome.

Post # 3 :D:D :thumbsup2:

Generations after generations of kids and parents could not wait for the Neptune's Dragon Swim. Sadly the City of Long Beach brought a end to it a few years ago. My self and other Neptune's want to bring it back in the future, perhaps without the 10'flame.:@

Cheers, Don

That is awesome! How long ago did they disallow it? Would've loved to have seen that one

Quote from Miguel

That is awesome! How long ago did they disallow it? Would've loved to have seen that one

Early 2000. The City liked us so much they left us keep it in the storage lot until some new yuppie scum :rolleyes1:wouldn't permit us in the Boat Parade.....they said OK you got guys swimming in the water with boats:@... and a 10' flame coming from a non Coast Guard approved Dragon:@.....and some a getting X-Mas cheer from the docks.

Cheers, Don

That's the story I heard, the city wanted the neptunes to pay their own insurance to have the dragon going on. I remember seeing that dragon in the naples boat parade every year, this was way before I started freediving. As a tribute, the tongue sold for a lot of cash at one of the neptunes auctions

Really cool tradition Too bad the Narrow minded yuppies can't let it continue...

x2 , good luck bringing it back Don ,,, Joe

Quote from Bamz

Really cool tradition Too bad the Narrow minded yuppies can't let it continue...

Very cool. I wonder when and how it started.

Quote from Dan

Very cool. I wonder when and how it started.

Wait till X-Mass ...

Cheers, Don

I hate to defend the yuppies, but based on the limited explanations here (divers in the water at night on the boat parade course + spirits+ 10 foot flames) it does seem like pulling it was a prudent decision for lawsuit happy California.

I wonder, in the previous decades that the Dragon Swim took place if there has ever been any type of incident to prompt city officials halt the tradition? Has our society become so scared and timid that they must stop anyone from thinking outside the ever-shrinking box? I would think with proper planning and safe guards implemented it could be made safe (as safe as swimming...), but thats asking the city to think outside that damn box :rolleyes1:

If I remember right, there was an incident where a (large) man needed to be taken out of the water because of some sort of medical emergency. With him being large, that was really difficult to get him out of the water and to medical personnel. They didn't pull the plug, but they made it very difficult with insurance demands (as previously posted).

Yes it was a fun tradition, but something was bound to happen sooner or later with booze, boats, and fire involved..

make the dragon the last "float" in the parade, keep all of the boats ahead of them. Guys swimming with a flame throwing dragon is finale-worthy to me.

End of the parade, Maybe a whaler or 2 with fire extinguishers as response/chase boats for any laboring swimmers, release forms... a little huevos on the cities part... I'm just sayin