Annual NC Holiday Flotilla turns into wedding proposal

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — The annual NC Holiday Flotilla turned into a wedding proposal for one couple this weekend.

Organizers say large crowds gathered Thanksgiving week in Wrightsville Beach for the 11th season opening of Enchanted Airlie and the 32nd Annual North Carolina Holiday Flotilla.

Saturday’s holiday flotilla followed a 4-mile route, with 50,000 visitors, and passed the judges’ viewing stand at Blockade Runner Beach Resort. Twenty-three yachts, sailboats and motorboats, each competed for cash, prizes, and bragging rights.

Organizers say, in a first for the North Carolina Holiday Flotilla, Captain Mike Hamby of Wilmington used his holiday decorated boat as a surprise wedding proposal. When passing his girlfriend on the parade route, Hamby flipped a switch lighting up the words: “Sharon, will you marry me?”

Sharon Edelstein of Wilmington accepted the surprise proposal via cell phone with Hamby illuminating her answer on the side of his boat.