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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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