Caravanning to Fort Lauderdale

N68 passing us on the river

And we’re off!  Thursday morning all three of us, an N68, N76 and Blossom, headed out the St. Lucie Inlet toward Ft. Lauderdale. We wanted to leave on the rising tide and expected about a 10-11 hour run down. The big girls travel much faster than we do (9.5+ knots v. our 7 knots) so they arrived early and waited for us to get in around 8:00pm.  We stayed at Pier 66, a marina just around the corner from Bahia Mar, where we’ll be for the show.

View from the cockpit

The seas were 4-6 again but were coming from the NE behind us, so aft quartering seas. It was a comfortable cruise down the coast. We had dolphins at the bow a couple times though they’re harder to spot in a wavy, gray sea. One managed a full breach over the waves – head to tail out of the water. Very cool.

We arrived in the dark with wind gusts 20+ and Mart had a bit of a time getting into the marina. Our forward starboard control station has been acting up (not powering up post rain) and in the middle of getting blown around while entering the marina, it faulted and he lost control of the rudder. That was a bit hairy. We’re getting it replaced in November but I don’t think we should rely on it too heavily for getting in and out of the show! We had a great dinner with the Stuart commissioning team, John, Rob and Chris, the captain of the 76, Jeff, and our delivery captain, Jim.

Update, the 86 just came in so I've added a photo!

All 4 Nordies waiting to go in: 68, 76, 60, 86

Hanging out, waiting to get called into the show

Today, Friday, is our day to get put into Bahia Mar. They load up the marina by docks, we're on a "temporary" dock that is constructed just for the show "F/G". Our entry time was supposed to be noon but at 11:15 they're still on C so I think we'll be waiting for a bit. Everyone talks about how crazy it is – packing the boats in as tight as they can. We’re happy to have Jim get us in there. It’s supposed to rain with 30 knot winds today so it’ll be challenging. I think we’re going to cozy up next to the 68 in the show.  Sitting here next to the 76 I have to laugh. Blossom feels so big to me and we’re dwarfed by her. We’re going to be the minnow in the big-girl pond. I’m excited to get a close up view of all the boats and have a ring side seat for all the goings on!

For those who aren’t familiar with boat shows, the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) is the largest in-water boat show in the world and is the “world’s premier venue for superyachts”.  It’s on from October 30^th-November 3^rd. There are several different locations and sites for the show throughout Ft. Lauderdale. Each area highlights different boats and boating vendors. It’s the place to go to see what’s new in the industry and is attended by about 125,000 visitors.  We’ve been several times though it was as a guest and not a participant. This year, Nordhavn is having a strong presence with an 86, 76, 68 and 60 in the show. 

We'll have almost a week in the marina before the show starts so we'll be watching the set up, hope to have a few cosmetic issues addressed, and will enjoy Ft. Lauderdale.