One week from today, dozens of members of the megayacht business will be in a gym in Fort Lauderdale, pedaling their hearts out for abused children—and you can help.

The second-annual Marine Industry Spin-a-thon is a fundraiser for Kids in Distress (KID), a nationwide organization that strives to prevent child abuse, preserve families, and treat children who have been abused and neglected. According to KID, in the state of Florida alone, more than one in every 27 children are abused and neglected. Startling statistics like that motivated several marine businesses to organize the Spin-a-Thon.

Nearly $15,000 has been raised as of this writing, with the goal being to raise even more, as well as awareness. The teams include staffers from The Triton, Fraser Yachts, IMA Yachts, The Luxury Yacht Group, the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, MHG Marine Benefits, and more.

You can donate to a specific team, or you can make a general donation. It’s amazing and inspiring to learn just how far a seemingly small donation goes. One hundred dollars, for example, helps train a foster care family to take in one of these in-need kids. Even just $25 can feed a KID preschooler for a day. Donate today; you’ll be glad you did.

A few years ago, the International Superyacht Society (ISS) decided to create awards for companies or individuals spearheading innovation, as well as crewmemembers and businesspeople who have achieved something noteworthy. The ISS’s Awards of Distinction, as they are known, are open for nominations now, and the non-profit ISS wants your input. (Full disclosure: I am a member of the board of directors for ISS.)

For crew, the ISS Distinguished Crew Award honors a team who best uphold the professional standards of their chosen profession. Previous winners have included Capt. Robert Corcoran and his crew aboard Argyll, who came to the aid of refugees crammed aboard a small boat.

The ISS Excellence in Innovation award recognizes a person or business who has achieved something truly original. It can be related to technology, or even environmental stewardship. The Carlisle & Finch Company was honored last year for leading the way in the manufacture of searchlights.

And finally, the ISS Business (Person) of the Year honors those who have achieved excellence in their niche over the past year. John Dane of Trinity Yachts is a previous winner, for marshalling employees immediately after Hurricane Katrina, moving operations to Gulfport, Mississippi, and keeping business going.

Nominations are due by August 20. They can be emailed or faxed to (954) 525-4325. The winning recipients will be announced at the Monaco Yacht Show and presented at the annual ISS International Awards for Design & Leadership Gala at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

France has the Cannes Film Festival and all of its glamour. Hollywood has the Academy Awards. But neither can hold a candle to the Yachting Capital of the World, thanks to the Fort Yachtie-Da International Film Festival.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Fort Yachtie-Da International Film Festival, held for the past two years in Fort Lauderdale, is a video competition for yacht crew. Crewmembers write, direct, and film the videos (a maximum length of five minutes), then upload them to the festival website for consideration. Come November 13, some of the most talented and creative individuals will receive awards, in the categories of Comedy, Action, Documentary, Yachtie Lifestyle, and Infomercial. The winning videos will also be showcased during the event.

While Fort Yachtie-Da models itself much after the Academy Awards ceremony, there’s a significant difference in how winners are chosen. The Academy Awards voting process involves strictly members of the organization, and not every member can vote in every category. In contrast, Fort Yachtie-Da allows anyone who’s interested to vote. (It also has a panel of experts who are well versed in videography and related aspects, plus a panel of sponsors.) In fact, you can log on at any time during the year to watch videos. Given the September 1 deadline for submissions, it’s wise to visit a few times or simply wait until then. While you are deciding which videos to watch, you can also read about the superyacht crew who produced and acted in the films, rate the films, and nominate finalists.

Produced by Crew Unlimited, the crew-placement agency, the goal of Fort Yachtie-Da is to bolster camaraderie, teamwork, and of course enjoyment of chosen careers.

If you know creative crewmembers, encourage them to enter. Then log onto the website for details – and to vote. In the meantime, check out this first-place winner from last year for some inspiration. It was shot by Lennie Mathiesen, a crewmember aboard Triton, showing what a day in his "office" is like:

For the past three years, Condé Nast Traveller has celebrated interesting and innovative designs in a variety of fields, from gadgets to aviation, even ones focused on environmental sustainability. The reason: The experience of travel is eased and enhanced by original thinking. This year’s nominees for Condé Nast Traveller’s Innovation and Design Awards include three megayacht projects, spread over two different categories.

In the Leisure category, there’s the Perini Navi-built Panthalassa and the WHY 58x38 from Wally Hermès Yachts. The remaining yacht is the sole superyacht in the Sustainable category: Soliloquy, the now-famed super-green superyacht concept project from Alastair Callender.

The Condé Nast judges nominated Panthalassa because they find her to be “the ultimate in sleek and super modern,” thanks to her Foster + Partners interior design. The all-aluminum, 56-meter (184-foot) ketch puts a significant emphasis on natural light. Skylights let it spill down through the three decks, for example. An oval staircase connecting the same three decks is surrounded by light-reflecting acrylic rods (see above), further introducing daylight in living areas. Moving the staterooms’ storage areas toward centerline instead of flushing them outboard helped enhance the views, allowing for more ports. Also worth noting: The designers set up each stateroom so that the curvature of the superstructure can be better appreciated.

As for Soliloquy, seen below, Callender envisioned an eco-friendly megayacht featuring currently available technology, notably solarsails produced by the Australian company Solar Sailor. Its solarsails have proven time and time again to effectively harness solar and wind energy for ferries and other vessels. Solar Sailor’s team and Callender determined that Soliloquy would be capable of speeds to 8 knots powered only by solar energy. This, in turn, would make her emission-free and lower in cost to operate.

There’s stiff competition for each of theses megayacht projects in their respective categories, so vote early, and vote often. But you can only do so through this Friday. Visit the Condé Nast Traveller website to cast yours. Winners will be announced by the magazine in May.

Despite being held annually for the past decade in San Diego, YachtFest is skipping this year, “to take a complete fresh look at how we fit into the superyacht business paradigm,” according to the board chair.

The event had been scheduled for September 16 to 19, with plans announced last November. It typically features builders, brokers, and other related exhibitors as well as new and brokerage yachts.

Organizers and exhibitors alike say a revamp is a good idea. Doug Sharp, president of Sharp Design and YachtFest’s board chair, explains that the goal is to incorporate more San Diego businesses, plus reach out to other megayacht businesses throughout the United States and around the world. Diane Fraser, vice president of Fraser Yachts Worldwide, one of the regular exhibitors, says, “It’s time to substantially refresh and bring the show to the next level. San Diego has grown in so many positive ways in the past 10 years. The show needs to reflect the new San Diego.”

For the past 12 years, the International SeaKeepers Society has been monitoring the deteriorating health of the world’s oceans and providing scientists with important data. The non-profit organization has been doing so mostly through generous donations by megayacht owners, and in more recent years through donations by yacht builders and even yacht crew. (“Generous” is no exaggeration: Owners pay a $75,000 membership fee, with an additional $10,000 in annual dues to cover maintenance and calibration of the SeaKeeper 1000, specialized data-collecting equipment installed on their yachts.)

To further its cause, SeaKeepers has partnered with Yachts International magazine to host five events on both sides of the Atlantic. The goal is twofold: to commemorate the strides being made, and to continue spreading word of the importance of taking care of the oceans.

The events will be held in Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale stateside, plus St. Barts, Cannes, and Monaco. In a statement, Michael Moore, SeaKeepers’ chairman, comments, “With the help of Yachts International, SeaKeepers hopes to inspire the entire yachting community to take action and join with us in the mission of providing vital data to the global scientific community – free – as these scientists work and study global climate change and thereby protect and restore the world’s oceans.”

No dates have yet been released for the events, so I will update accordingly. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about SeaKeepers, certainly visit the organization’s Web site. You can also read my exclusive online article on how SeaKeepers serves as the guardians of the ocean. Another SeaKeepers story I wrote was recently picked up by CNN and referenced by The Wall Street Journal.