FLIBS 2026 dockage: hold a Fort Lauderdale slip before the show

FLIBS week is not a recap of last year’s champagne. It is a dockage shortage with a dress code. In 2026 the Bahia Mar apron becomes a show floor, 17th Street becomes a parade, and every transient that was “probably available” in September is a handshake that already happened in June. This page is the constraint list and the reason we ask owners to hold a slip before they book a dinner.

Show footprint: Bahia Mar and the adjacent ocean-basin docks are the stage. Hall of Fame and Pier 66 absorb overflow at show rates. Residential Isles do not become a secret marina — HOAs notice generators and extra crew. Hydrography does not change: 17th Street still ~55 ft closed, Port Everglades still a commercial inlet, New River still sixteen feet at SE 3rd. What changes is inventory. Captains who wait until October are shopping leftovers and hotel docks. We overlay your LOA against Harbor Beach bulkheads and off-show basins first, then we talk about a show-week face-dock only if the program is actually exhibiting. Fuel docks queue. Tender traffic in the Isles gets ugly. If the vessel cannot sit on Harbor Beach in a normal month, FLIBS will not invent water. Hold a slip means a named wall, a date window, and a dockmaster who already knows the beam — not a screenshot of last year’s map.