The hurricanes that pummeled American shores in 2005 threatened to bring the U.S. marine industry to its knees. The boating infrastructure was decimated in four states. And one of those—Florida—was still shaking off the blows of four hurricanes the year before. Jobs and customers were scattered, investments in floating assets and the places to moor them were wiped out overnight. And then, just as if the Marine Industries Association of South Florida (MIASF) didn’t have enough problems, there was the miserably bad timing of Hurricane Wilma.

Days before the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was to open, the partially assembled site pretty much blew away. Wilma had been expected to weaken as it crossed Florida from west to east and was expected to be little more than an annoyance to Fort Lauderdale. As everyone knows, Wilma broke the rules. By the time she left town, Fort Lauderdale looked like Beirut in the bad old days.

To have the show or not to—everyone in the marine industry had an opinion on the subject. No one would have blamed MIASF Director Frank Herhold for throwing in the towel and canceling the show.

ShowManagement, which produces the show for MIASF, the city of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County officials were both lambasted and praised for their decision to move forward. Angry letters poured in questioning and criticizing the financial interests of a boat show taking precedence over repairing the city and restoring the power grid. A representative of a large European consortium who decided not to attend the show said to me, "Even if they do have the show, what hotels will be open to accommodate our group?" Indeed, many of the waterfront hotels had sand in their lobbies and most were missing windows. A1A looked like the Sahara and was only traversable by four-wheel drive!

I talked with Kaye Pearson, CEO of ShowManagement, about what led to the decision to proceed. Pearson says he and his team took out their yellow legal pads, surveyed the show site, took stock of what had to be done and decided to forge ahead regardless of costs "for the good of the industry." Even a skeleton of a boat show creates positive and vital impact on the marine industry and the economy of South Florida. It puts food on the table of everyone involved—from yacht designer to upholstery seamstress to cab driver.

With the support and cooperation of city government, ShowManagement worked 24/7 to clear debris, brought in tents from as far away as Chicago, and floated barges and boats into place. As MIASF and ShowManagement gained momentum, so did support for the show from many dealers. The marine industry is much more than four states. Sure, attendance was down, but the consensus on the docks seemed to be that those who did brave Wilma’s wrath were quality people—real buyers. Phil Purcell from Westport Shipyard said, "We were extremely happy; we did in excess of 30 million dollars’ worth of business at the show." Billy Smith of Trinity Yachts reported four sales. Hatteras sold at least one of each of its convertible models from 50 to 77 feet. Mark Harakal, president of Hatteras Yachts said, "The results of the show were better than we could have possibly imagined. While the date change did result in significantly less traffic, we’re happy that Hatteras customers are resilient." Resilient. Harakal hit on the great thing about this industry and about people who love boats.

Now we have Miami to gauge. This issue of ShowBoats International focuses on who and what to see at the first major show of 2006. Kicking off the show, our postponed Wings, Wheels and Water party will take place at the Fort Lauderdale Jet Center, proving the indomitable nature of our industry. The show must go on….We must "ShowBoats."

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