The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

A bird's eye view of the huge area covered by the boat show.
Several years ago we went to Boca Raton to visit an old college friend of hubs. They invited us to attend the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show, as his wife was affiliated with the company that produced the show or a magazine that publicized it, I am not sure which. To a person who knows nothing about boats, this show is an amazing view into the world of boating and the lengths to which people will go to own a boat (meaning the amounts of money they are willing to part with in order to obtain one).

I was astounded over and over at the numbers of boats at the show, at the hordes of people, and at the lavish displays of wealth on many of the boats. We had special access to tour two very fancy yachts and it was one "wow" after another. The first boat was about 350 feet long and had the most amazing furnishings (if you like modern styles). There was a large interior space, with leather couches, chairs, leaded glass windows, lush carpet and all the appointments one could wish for, plus larger than expected privatespaces. This boat was available for charter (to the right people). It came with a crew, a cook, staff and all the perks. I cannot remember the amount of money one had to plunk down in order to reserve it, but that amount did not include gasoline, foods or beverages, and it was equal to a year's wages for some people.

The next boat we toured was owned by Bert Sugarman, who is the husband of Mary Hart, the TV personality. This 395' boat is also for charter, sort of a time-share deal, where you pay beaucoups of millions for the privilege of using it for 2 weeks, and then $10K per week while you are on it. You might not believe the luxury on this boat. Nothing was spared to insure the comfort (and one hopes, the safety) of passengers. It had, in addition to all the usual living spaces, a gym with several pieces of workout equipment, a huge master bedroom and a bathroom for Mary with what looked like mother of pearl (or abalone) sinks and a mosaic tile bathtub surround. The mosaic (lapis lazuli, opal or copper and gold) theme, if I remember correctly, was a mermaid, and it was beautifully subtle. The thing that I noticed most about these yachts was that if you didn't look out the windows, you'd never realize you were on a yacht. They are all outfitted to look just like the inside of a home - granted a luxury home - but a home nonetheless. It sort of boggled my mind (which isn't hard to do).

The next best thing about the boat show was people watching, which is just about my favorite activity. I saw people from all over the globe and heard accents and foreign languages from numerous lands. Some of them appeared to be European royalty, or what passes for it here. I am sure I could be duped easily by some man pretending-to-be- pretending-to-the-throne, as I'd be a gaga-eyed over him and never realize he wasn't legit.

Back to Mary Hart: we were sitting on the deck of Mary's boat, sipping drinks and eyeing the hors d' oeuvres, when we were ushered off very quickly by the security personnel. Mary was on her way! Hubs was hoping she'd be dressed in a skirt, so he could see her famous legs, but no such luck, she was in pants. Her bodyguards flanked her, eyes scanning the crowds as though they were CIA men guarding the President. It was rather amusing to me. I was thinking who in God's name would want to harm Mary Hart at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show? But then, what do I know? Well, I soon found out why we were ushered off so quickly. Mary was there to charm potential buyers, and since we didn't fit the requirements, they wanted the chairs we were occupying to go to people who had the bank accounts necessary for the deal! No wasting drinks and food on the "tire-kickers", as we surely were!