The Lighted Boat Parade...

Or, rather: the resurrected Lighted Boat Parade.  A couple years ago, the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce made the decision to not sponsor this parade.  Dwindling participation and a couple years in a row of crap weather the night of the parade were to blame.  Some folks on the island wanted to see it go on, and two years ago, it came back last minute.

The route is much shorter, and boats no longer have to go into the Fingers area in Port Isabel - that always made for crowded conditions in that small harbor, and some of the boats had draft issues getting into the shallow entrance to the canal there.  So now, it starts at Southpoint Marina (right across the ICW from our island), goes through our swingbridge, under the causeway, and across the Laguna Madre and up South Padre Island to Jim's Pier.

The parade was supposed to start at 6:00... it actually got going a few minutes early.  We took the Vespa to our swingbridge, leaving at 5:45, and got to see all the entries (we missed a few last year).  The only downside to starting early: there is still a glow in the western sky, so the lights on the boats don't stand out as much.

On with the parade: a small Coast Guard boat to lead the way...

Great to see them get in the spirit - in the years we participated, the CG boat wasn't decorated.

The contestant boats...

The bigger boats are commercial entries, selling seats - good for business and adds to the fun.

The only sailboat is a commercial entry...

This one was cute: a trail pulling (floating) cars...

After passing through our swingbridge, heading towards SPI (the lights at the horizon)...

I missed a few while trying different settings on the camera (also the reason some of the above are a bit blurry).  In all, I think there were 20 to 22 entries, a good showing as the participation builds again.

So, it's official: Merry Christmas!