A Busy Show for Nautical Ventures

Published November 4th, 2015 by Admin

By Steve Waters | Outdoor Writer

Friday, October 30, 2015

FORT LAUDERDALE — After selling his California water filter company and retiring, Roger Moore decided to cruise down the coast to Mexico for a few months with his wife, Sam.

Their trip ended up lasting 13 years and took them around the world, from the South Pacific to the Middle East and Mediterranean to Europe and, finally, back home to the United States.

The Moore’s arrived in Fort Lauderdale so their weathered Cheoy Lee motorsailor could get some much-needed maintenance. They ended up staying in South Florida and, given his hands- on experience; it was natural for Moore to get into the marine business.

The innovative CEO of Nautical Ventures Group, Moore likes to say that he sells everything from kayaks to cruise ships. And it seems like he'll have almost everything his company sells at the boat show.

On land at Bahia Mar, Nautical Ventures will have a number of different tender lines.

At one of its booths will be the new Wave, a 19-foot inflatable Moore said is "both a yacht tender and a sport boat." Nautical Ventures is the exclusive worldwide distributor.

The company is also the exclusive distributor of Chapman Transition tenders, which have an adaptive hydraulic bow ramp that makes it easy to get in or out.

Nautical Ventures also has the exclusive on Evolution Tenders, which range in size from 10 to 18 feet. And the company is a dealer for Alessandro Marchi, Ribcraft, Highfield and Aruba tenders, which are all at Bahia Mar.

Inside the Broward County Convention Center, Nautical Ventures has 28- and 34-foot Buddy Davis center console fishing boats, a 17-foot Action Craft flats boat, a 25-foot Avalon pontoon boat, three Key Largo boats 18 to 21 feet and six Century boats from 22 to 32 feet.

Moore said there also will be two Hobie kayaks in the convention center with signage to direct people to the AquaZoneTM.

Moore was the mastermind behind the debut of the AquaZone at the Sailfish Pavilion in front of the convention center at last year's boat show. The 60-foot by 30-foot pool filled with water had seminars on kayak fishing and standup paddleboard yoga. Surrounding the pool were vendors whose products are sold at Nautical Ventures Marine in Dania Beach.

At the Palm Beach International Boat Show this past March, which is put on by the same company that runs the Fort Lauderdale show, Moore had an AquaZone with even more products, including electric bicycles and a gas-powered surfboard.

Those toys and more will be at the Fort Lauderdale show, along with Arimar life rafts, Freestyle inflatable waterslides, Hobie kayaks and paddleboards, Palm Beach Drone's underwater model, a Renegade hovercraft, Evinrude outboards, Sea Bob water sleds and a Schiller water bike.

"It's a circus," Moore said of the AquaZone, adding that it's a joint venture of his company and

the boat show, which is produced by Show Management and owned by the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. "It brings a fun element to the show for parents and kids."

Owners and crews of superyachts that travel the world's oceans also like to have fun. That's why Moore showcases items like the waterslides, which can be placed on the upper deck of a yacht anchored in a protected harbor. The underwater drone can be used to inspect the bottom of an anchorage or the bottom of a boat's hull.

The Gocycle electric bike can conveniently be brought ashore in a tender, then quickly assembled and used to explore a destination at up to 50 mph. The Schiller bike has pontoons so you can pedal around on the water.

"I'm trying to bring more excitement to it," said Moore of the additions to the AquaZone. "If we can keep bringing more life and excitement to it ... I think we'll broaden the appeal."