And the show goes on

For each of the past 15 years, Gay Wassall-Kelly has stood on the dock in front of her Balboa Peninsula home during the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, wrapped from head to toe in Christmas lights and green tulle — a human Christmas tree of sorts.

The outfit is rigged with 40 batteries to keep her Christmas cheer twinkling for the duration of the parade.

“Now I’m down to double A’s,” she said Thursday. “LED lights help a lot.”

Wassall-Kelly’s East Edgewater Avenue home also is illuminated with about 150 boxes worth of Christmas lights. The display includes an igloo, numerous illuminated snowmen and an animated miniature Ferris wheel.

Although the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade got off to a soggy non-start Wednesday when the festivities had to be canceled due to rain, the weather was fair and mild Thursday. Spectators flocked to the opening night of the 100th anniversary of the annual Newport Beach event.

Many boats paid homage to the 100th anniversary of the first boat parade on Newport Harbor with illuminated signs reading “100 years.”

Organizers reworked the parade route this year, to avoid traffic jams on the water and reduce gaps in the parade. The new arrangement seemed to work well Thursday night, Newport Beach Harbor Patrol officials said, with no significant mishaps on the water.

The parade included about 100 illuminated vessels and at least 100 more boats were in the harbor to view the parade, according to the Newport Beach Harbor Patrol.

Software engineer Peter Barbour paid tribute to the 100th anniversary of the parade this year by stringing Japanese lanterns on his 11-foot dinghy dubbed the D25.

According to local lore, the tradition of lighting boats in Newport Harbor began when an Italian gondolier decorated his vessel with Japanese lanterns for a group of visitors to the bay in 1907. The first lighted boat parade began one year later on July 4, 1908, with one gondola and eight canoes.

Barbour’s dinghy incorporated the lanterns into the theme of his boat this year, “Tropical Island Cheer.”

Spectators chuckled and waved at Barbour’s small vessel during the parade Thursday night, as it followed in the wake of several 80-foot yachts.

“I only have 10 or 15 seconds to make an impression, so it’s got to be fast paced and pass on the message of tropical island cheer and 100 years of Christmas cheer,” Barbour said.

One of the most popular parade entries, the D25 has taken top honors since Barbour first began decorating the boat five years ago.

Barbour’s design this year for the D25 also featured a 10-foot animated palm tree, and an illuminated palm tree and beach chair. The light show aboard the tiny vessel is synchronized to the tune of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Wizards in Winter.”

“All the boats have personality, and mine has a lot of my personality,” Barbour said. “It has a fun, quirky sense of humor — a techno geek type of flair to it.”

The Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade continues at 6:30 each night through Sunday. Visit www.christmasboat parade.com for route details.

For more photos, click here.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.