The Holidays are upon us here in South Florida!
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The 2017 Winterfest Boat Parade was preceded by the leading edge of a strong cold front that covered the entire US of A and kept south Florida cool for a week!
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Just in time, a strong cold front moved over our area on December 9th, 2017.
Preceded by numerous squalls and rain bands, the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Holiday Boat Parade faced an uncertain forecast. As a result, turnout was a bit lower than usual. However all the rain moved on and the evening was clear and cool with temperatures dropping into the 50’s.
That’s winter time!!
Local paddlers “Kayak Ted” and “Kayak Whitney” of the South Florida Kayaking meetup group once again organized a paddle of the parade that has become a year-end paddling highlight and an annual South Florida kayaking tradition!
This is THE boat parade to see and it’s always a real special treat to be a part of it!
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Our Winterfest kayak party HQ host Whitney demonstrates how light a wooden “stitch & glue” kayak can be!
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Lisa D. seal launching off a floating dock.
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Kayak Ted gets a seal launch assist from local paddler Greg.
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Happy Holidays!
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While en-route to Cooley’s Landing we encountered an obstacle in the form of the rail bridge that runs through downtown.
Unfortunately the draw was down and Ted’s palm tree did not fit underneath!
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First time Winterfest paddler Yamile M. waiting for the Parade to start.
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“Train! Train ..” going overhead of paddler Lisa D. with the show about to start!
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Due to the rail bridge, we regrouped and started the Parade right downtown.
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Lights, Camera, Action!
Rudolph basking in the bright lights of downtown Ft Lauderdale.
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We are off and paddling at the head of the 46th annual Winterfest Boat Parade!
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Kayakers Whitney and Ted at the 2017 Winterfest Parade.
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Rudolph poses with local paddler Greg in his lightweight, self made kayak!
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The unbearable lightness of being Rangifer tarandus in Ft Lauderdale.
Happy Holidays!!
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Close encounter with a large Blue Heron at Tarpon Bend on the New River in Ft Lauderdale.
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My green LED light strips at full intensity with white stern light on a 4 foot pole.
This year I paddled CLOUD9 – a Venture Kayaks Orca 16 short sea kayak with a wing paddle.
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Kayak Ted’s color changing LED lights with palm tree and Rudolph setup was a big hit with the Parade crowds!!
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Ted is always smiling! 😉
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“Is that a Rudolph or a puppy on your kayak?”
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My kayak nearly overwhelmed with Kryptonite on the 2017 Winterfest Holiday Parade – HELP! 😉
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Just say NO to Kryptonite !?
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With the Kryptonite under control I was able to enjoy watching the Parade!
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“I, Rudolph” at the 2017 Winterfest Holiday Boat Parade.
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“You have reached the end of the Parade” – with an escort of blue lights!
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Lit up Royal Palm trees on a waterfront Ft Lauderdale mansion.
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After about 5 hours, my green LED lights were still plenty bright at about half intensity.
Happy to say that I was fully rechargeable and ran all the lights off two 12V AA battery packs!
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Our Winterfest HQ hosts Whitney and Shana warming up by the fire! 🙂
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A BIG thanks to Kayak Whitney, Kayak Ted, Winterfest and
all of Ft Lauderdale for a really nice Holiday paddle on the water.
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See you all next year!
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This year we paddled up past Oakland Pk Blvd and back for a total of about 14 miles! 🙂
Winterfest Boat Parade route map through downtown Ft. Lauderdale.
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Click below for more highlights from past Winterfest Boat Parades:
Kayaking a Parade of Lights!
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Happy Holidays! Feliz Navidad!
Veselé Vánoce!
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© 2017 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.
All rights reserved!
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DISCLAIMER:: The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!
With that said..
Blessings friends!
Kayakfari
kayakfari ( kayak .. far .. i ) 