Impressions from the London Boat Show

First impressions from yesterday at the London Boat Show.

Noticeably quieter than previous years with some notable faces missing. No rowing girls (more on them later), no one from Blue Spirit Yachting (old chums there), and no one from the Corinthian Sailing club. There were fewer sailing clubs and schools in general - actually there were probably fewer of everything.

But of course Guinness was still flowing and the Princesses were as humongous as always. Nice Bond theme (above) in the big boat hall, but rather than a full band there was simply a DJ.

I went along on Thursday evening which has a nice feel to it. There aren't the crowds of Saturday and there's often drinks on offer if you know where to go.

My nice glass of bubbly came from Simon from On Deck Sailing with whom I went on the Volvo 60 Pindar at last year's Cowes week. He says he's working on something even bigger and better this time round but we'll have to wait and see. There was the usual "what's it looking like for Antigua week" discussion to which there was no conclusion apart from how cool would that be but there's the whole money and time problem.

Another perenial wouldn't that be cool if it wasn't for time and money was the Clipper Round the World yacht race stand which know people who have done and it looks like a great adventure. Another time alas.

Had a certain amount of fun asking the various yacht charter and sailing holiday companies if they have anything in country Y, which am planning visiting on business soon (you'll have to stay tuned to find out where that is). Most went "where?" or "huh?" and then said "no" but one handed me a business card with an email address of someone that might, so not a complete waste.

One person who wasn't phased to be asked about country Y was Liza Copeland of "Just Cruising", and she knew all about it and could tell me which islands are safe and which dangerous (oops, giving you some clues there). It was really useful stuff and bought her book "Europe to Australia" which covers that country amongst many others (so not much of a clue in that). She went sailing round the world with her husband Andy and three children ages 2, 6, and 9 - sounds like a great adventure.