The ORCAS patrolled a Jacksonville lake Sunday night.
But no worries: It was the Operating and Radio Controlled Association of Shipwrights — made up of radio-controlled boat aficionados — holding its 16th annual lighted boat parade on the Colonial Manor lake at 3625 San Jose Blvd.
More than 100 spectators watched everything from a 10-foot-long tanker herded by four tiny tugboats to a barge with "Merry Christmas" scrolling by in lights floated by the shoreline, backlit by the lake's illuminated fountains. Among the boats: a neon Santa on a barge towed by an industrial-looking tugboat, as the Tanker "Marko" had a miniature model railroad circling its midships-mounted Christmas tree.
And yes, Virginia, there was a real orca there — a radio-controlled downsized model of the ocean-going mammal, complete with Santa hat and navigation lights.
For more information on ORCAS, go to the club's Facebook page.
