2008 Winterfest Holiday Boat Parade in Ft Lauderdale

2008 Ft. Lauderdale Winterfest Boat Parade​

Happy Holidays from YachtForums!​

To help kick off the season, yachties and boaters of all types, in vessels of all sizes, participated in the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade on Saturday, December 13th, 2008.

This year's theme was "Rockin the Night Aweigh", and many boats were rocking and rolling (thanks also to the blustery winds). Starting up the New River in the heart of the city of Ft Lauderdale, this was the second year for this starting location. Previously staged and started in Port Everglades, running the river brings the parade to many more folks, albeit a little more trickier for the captains as they navigate the narrow and twisty New River course. Larger yachts are assisted by tow boats until the reach the ICW, then they are cut loose to resume under their own power. Once out of the river, the parade heads north up the ICW several miles, bringing joy to children and bewilderment to adults.

Carl and I were fortunate to have a view from the Bahia Mar Marina (big thanks to Dockmaster Christina Lowe), amongst the local crowd and docked yachts that were having their own holiday parties. What better way to kick off our coverage than with the official YF Elf, "Minna". She's an outgoing and friendly young lady that was willing to assist us, in the spirit of the season.

So sit back, watch the boats go by, and wait to see what vessel Santa Claus was on, bringing up the rear of the parade.

Boats started gathering early to get the best anchoring spots, as witnessed here in Lake Sylvia, located just south of Bahia Mar where the ICW makes a 90-degree turn, heading south to Pier 66 and the New River.As the sun went down, the lights came on. Event the yachts docked at marinas got into the holiday mood.

Houses were lit up, crowds lined the docks and yacht parties were going strong as the parade made its way down the river towards Bahia Mar Marina.

Here comes the parade! After the Coast Guard ship and fireworks barge passed, the first yacht, sponsored by the Hard Rock, carried the parade's Grand Madrshall, actor /singer Jim Belushi. The Seminole Tribe followed with their colorful float.

Decorations varied by boat. Some were subtle; others splashed colors all over.

Colors of the season.

Check out the sailboat. The toy soldiers would stand at attention and salute. The leader would fire a canon, with a resonating BOOM!, and the toy soldiers would fall down. They must do this a hundred times during the parade.

Broward County Fire Rescue got into the act, with their own set of lights flashing as they danced their jet-drive fire boat in front of the crowd. The next boat was rocking to the disco tunes, complete with a mirrored disco ball. The Florida Oceanographic Institute set their boat up to look like a shark. Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum.

All denominations can participate in the Holiday Parade.

Not sure what''s going on in this second photo. This "vessel" has no freeboard and the deck is very close to the waterline. It looks like it's made up of those floating dock panels, the big, black, plastic ones that connect together, and pushed by something. A little tough to see as the boats were a little distance from us.

Many boats were pumping out their favorite rock tunes, adding the element of sound to the colorful sights.

This boat was not just pumping tunes but water also. Gives a neat display.

And here comes the last vessel with ol' Saint Nick. But what is he riding on?

It's Lazzara Yachts' new show barge. If you attended FLIBS this year, you most likely saw this at their display. Heck, it practically upstaged their new 92 LSX. It's an office that floats, self propelled (but they did use tow boats for the parade), with offices, display stations and even a waterfall inside. Lazzara rented it out for the parade.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the Winterfest 2008 Boat Parade. It was fun to cover, as we did meet some interesting folks on the docks and had a great vantage point.

Happy Holidays!​