As the 2023 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show comes to a close, Triton recaps a few of the many events captains and crew were invited to attend.
Oasis Lounge’s Sushi Showdown
The Oasis Lounge’s Bahia Mar location was the setting of the 2023 Sushi Showdown. Chef Danny Davies hosted the competition on Thursday, October 26 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Superyacht chefs from around the show were invited to participate in the sushi showdown, including Chef Christian Russo, winner of Triton’s 2023 Fuse Yacht Chef Competition.
Participating chefs were given 20 minutes to create their sushi dishes. Every chef was given the same ingredients to work with, which included sushi rice, wasabi, pickled ginger, tobiko, nori sheets, avocado, Ebi shrimp, tuna saku, salmon saku, and more. The chefs were given the option to choose however many ingredients they wanted when creating their sushi dishes, as long as no additional ingredients were used.
Once the 20 minutes were finished, the dishes were tasted by a panel of judges that included Below Deck Med Chef Dave White, Mega Yacht Chef Brennan Dates, and Beverly Grant, founder of crew placement firm Crew Solutions. Dishes were judged on technique, creativity, presentation, taste, and texture.
After careful deliberation from the panel of judges, Chef Denise Melton was crowned the winner of the 2023 Oasis Lounge Sushi Showdown. Melton has participated in previous chef competitions, helping her hone her skills. Melton has worked on yachts since she was 17, and while originally becoming a captain, she followed her passion of food and made it into a career.
Global Marine Travel’s Oasis Lounge was the scene of the 2023 Sushi Showdown, but it also hosted The Superyacht Tablescaping Competition, two floral arranging competitions, and a Rugby World Cup final watch party. The Oasis Lounge was open every day of FLIBS for superyacht captains and crew, offering food, drinks, and great times.
Captains and Crew Party by The Bottom Line Podcast
The Captains and Crew Party, hosted by Capt. Douglas Meier’s Bottom Line podcast, was on Thursday, October 26 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at The Wharf in Fort Lauderdale. The party was hosted as a captains and crew appreciation party.
More than 1,800 people attended the party throughout the night and were treated to free drinks, networking, and different raffle prizes. The party’s sponsors each submitted a gift to be raffled off to lucky winners within the crowd, and Meier and the Bottom Line gave away an iPad as the grand prize. The party also collected donations to benefit the Bahamas National Trust.
The Bottom Line podcast is hosted by Capt. Douglas Meier. It combines weekly yacht news with his brand of humor and fun.
Capt. Kelly J. Gordon’s Yachtie Mental Health Panel
Capt. Kelly J. Gordon hosted a seminar on how yacht captains and crew can combat bullying, different kinds of harassment, and drug and alcohol abuse in yachting on Thursday, October 26, from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Gordon’s seminar was hosted at the Broward County Convention Center during FLIBS.
Gordon is an accomplished motor yacht captain, but when she’s not working on the ocean she loves to help captains and crew in the yachting industry navigate through potential problems they might find themselves in. Gordon has hosted similar panels in the past, most recently during the 2023 Monaco Yacht Show.
Gordon touched on age, gender, and size discrimination during Thursday’s seminar. Retelling a past experience where she experienced discrimination due to her gender, Gordon explained that someone she knew that works for a management company told her one of their colleagues passed on Gordon’s CV just because she was a female captain.
“He looked at your picture, saw that you were a woman, looked no more, and slid it across his desk,” Gordon recalls being told.
She also used other experiences that she has observed happen to other crew members to discuss the many issues currently impacting the industry. Although she admits these different issues have negative effects on crew’s mental health, she iterates that the solution to these problems is for everyone to speak up and change as much as they can.
“Yachting needs a facelift, and really what we’re looking for is a cultural shift,” Gordon said. “It’s coming from speaking out about it, it’s coming from bringing awareness to it, it’s coming from encouraging you guys to open your mouths to speak up to advocate for yourself.”
Capt. Kelly J. Gordon’s full-length seminar can be found soon on her YouTube channel! (https://www.youtube.com/@captain_kellyjgordon)
Read the full length Triton Today here!
Tagged FLIBS, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
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