Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2024
First Day Fun
FLIBS officially gets started
THURSDAY 10.31.24
17 Days at Sea with M/Y Loon
By Lauren Beck
M/Y Loon is well known for its social media presence, with its crew demonstrating daily what life is like on board to their followers.
Why should an Atlantic crossing be any different? Thanks to the advent of Starlink’s high-performance marine satellite, gone are the days of spotty connections at sea. Capt. Paul Clarke decided to livestream their Atlantic crossing on their YouTube channel.
While Clarke was not on board for the entire crossing, Chief Officer Tyler Viljoen brought the boat across. “We were able to stream at pretty good highspeed bandwidth the whole way across,” Clark said, noting that this year was the first time Loon had access to high speeds for their crossings.
“The crew was able to watch Netflix and stream Prime videos and FaceTime with family and friends, where even two, three years ago, it was dial-up speeds,” Clarke said. “We figured we’d go along and share the journey with the almost half a million people who tuned in over the course of the two weeks.”
Loon left Gibraltar on Oct. 5 to head to Fort Lauderdale, streaming the entire 17 days of the crossing, including two
to three daily check-ins of about 15 minutes. They would do Q&As and weather updates as they went.
“It was really cool to connect with the audience a bit more than we normally do just through the comment section on the videos,” Clarke said. While many non-yachties were tuning in, other boats also occasionally left comments or checked in on the weather at Loon’s location.
Despite the active hurricane season, Loon was not faced with significant weather events. “We had to be careful with Oscar, which is the one that was in the Bahamas, just as the boat was coming in,” Clarke said. Otherwise, while there were a few rough days, especially in the beginning, it was mostly “smooth sailing.”
“It was Capt. Tyler’s first crossing as a captain,” Clarke said. “All the crew did such a great job, with the added stresses of throwing half a million people on board with him during the trip and everyone watching and scrutinizing his and all the crew’s every move. I’m super proud of the whole team — they got the boat across safely and efficiently.”
Yachting luxury is on display in full splendor at FLIBS
Mega Yachts 130-150 ft. at the show available for sale, courtesy of YATCO, the trusted global marketplace of yachting.
Pick up the YATCO showbook during FLIBS, your pocket size luxury guide to all the yachts and boats listed by the professional members of YATCO.
$9,900,000
$9,995,000
CREW
Photos by Kevin Maher and Lauren Beck
CREW SCENE ON THE DOCKS
Photos by Kevin Maher and Lauren Beck
Photos by Kevin Maher and Lauren Beck
Anita Warwick
Tel: +1 954 763 9787
WhatsApp: +1 954 294 2078
anita@sevenseashealth.com
SevenSeasHealth.com
Crew • Expats • Travel
The 2024 FLIBS Oasis Lounge is made possible by:
CO-ORGANIZERS:
GMT - Global Marine Travel
Yacht Chandlers
SPONSORS:
Aqua Promotions
Datum RMS
Derecktor Shipyards
Dianthus Miami
Engineered Yacht Solutions
Informa MedAire, Inc
MHG Insurance
Newcoast Insurance
Odyssey Elixir
Shipyard Supply USA
Station Satcom
The Triton
Weather Routing Inc.
Yacht Entertainment Solutions
Networking Events
The Oasis Lounge
The Official Hospitality Lounges for Superyacht Captains & Crew
Drop by between shifts to enjoy complimentary food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and mingle with fellow industry members, sponsors, captains, and crew.
Crew Competitions & Prizes
Including: fender wars, floral arranging, tablescaping, and chefs’ challenges.
Educational Seminars
On both medical response protocols for yachts and hull insurance.
Rugby Watch Party
England vs New Zealand in the Autumn Nations Series, Saturday, November 2nd at 11:10 am EST.
With over 30 years of yacht fueling experience around the globe, the team at Tango Sierra has a lot to offer. Whether you’re cruising the familiar areas of yachting like the Caribbean, U.S. and Mediterranean, or blazing new trails to more remote parts of the world, we have the specialized knowledge and experience to keep you moving.
gail@tangosierra.us
Tango Sierra works with a straightforward, back to basics philosophy of a business run honestly and simply with good communication, fair prices and great service to bring you the
quality fuels and lubricants around the world.