Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2012 FLIBS

Looks like the GB 54 "Europe".

Great Bahamas boat and a great beginner boat.
I did inspect it Sunday and came away rather impressed.

Same size as Judy's Bering 55 but $1.mill more.

Being a working stiff I would rather go with Judy's steel trawler and with less luxury. Range is twice as much with the Bering for half the price.

Nice coverage and commentary disco.

Starship, a 14 million usd refit? That seems a bit much...especially for such a relatively old yacht?

My mom and dad chartered Star Ship in the mid 90. I miss her 90's modern design!

According to what I get from the web site FABDOCK Drydock - The Dry Dock Solution (a floating drydock for boats), it apparently uses a pump to create a temporary,portable dry dock for your boat. It is supposed to keep it out of the salt water and decrease slime/barnacles/other growth on the hull. I'm still not sure how one gets it under the boat.

It is not portable, you set it at your dock, float on it, inflate the rear gate and you are up and dry!

Great coverage guys.

I remember back in the 80's or 90's there were a number of boats at the marina we kept our boat had something similar called "boat baths" as I recall. They didn't come up flush with the hull like the FABDOCK but apparently they were treated with chemicals that discouraged barnacle and seaweed growth. I'm guessing the environmentalists got those outlawed. This was in CA as one might expect.

At any rate many thanks to Disco and Capt Tom for the great pictures and commentary.

Since I was engineering on the boat that Maverick is the tender for up until a few weeks before the show and was involved in the measuring and design of that FABDOCK perhaps I can clarify.

The FABDOCK is portable. Although in most cases you would leave it in your permanent slip. You pull the boat into it, inflate the rear gate so that the boat is now inside the inflatable docking ring. Hanging from under the ring is a custom designed to your hull shape bag that has a couple of pockets in it with water pumps in them. You start the pumps once the rear gate is up and pump out the water from inside the bag. Water pressure causes the bag to seal up around the hull of the boat creating in effect a dry dock under and around the hull.

More Fab Dock

These are the selling points as posted on the Fab Dock page...

• The unique design makes docking your boat so much easier
• Portable: just roll it up and take it with you
• The footprint is about the same size as the boat (actually smaller in some instances), therefore no problems in tight spaces or marinas
• Inconspicuous: some marinas have already banned other alternatives because they are unsightly and potentially dangerous
• No issues in shallow waters; if you can get your boat in and out, you can have a Fab Dock
• There is no additional stress or strain placed on your pontoon or jetty
• Your boat remains at water level meaning no chance of the boat rolling over or having to climb up to board or blocking your water views
• Completely self contained. No bulky and hazardous control boxes or pipes to trip over
• No hard plastic or metal parts to damage your boat if something goes wrong
• No metal parts to corrode
• No moving parts to service
• Keeps water out of inlet pipes preventing sea growth and other build up in these vital channels
• You will save money on maintenance by keeping your boat’s legs, shafts and propellors dry

Tom departed FLIBS on Tuesday morning after working 6 full days (and nights, as we know!), stopped briefly by his house for fresh clothes, then drove 2 hours north to meet me in Orlando for my first day at the NBAA convention. He spent the following day shooting jets at the NBAA static display at Orlando Regional Executive Airport while I met with principles from various aviation manufacturers. He got home late on Wednesday night and without a chance to rest, had to pack an indefinite period suitcase and fly to New York the following morning, where his full time employer, Verizon Wireless, was waiting on him to tackle a 'real' job... Tom works for Verizon's Disaster Management Team and Lord knows, he's going to be busy for awhile!

A big THANK YOU to Tom Serio for his coverage of FLIBS, the NBAA and the mess that Sandy left behind.