Tale of Two Boat Shows

This is what the (official) London Boat Show (TM) looked like on Thursday evening. Comparing it to the one at Earl's Court in December there was one obvious difference - the number of people there.

I had a chat with show Product Manager Michael Enser, who was tactfully avoided any attempt to compare the two. Maybe he felt he didn't have to, with first Saturday attendance of over 16,000, compared to the Earls Court meager 900. That was actually up 700 on Excel's previous year's first Saturday, which doesn't suggest much splitting of attendance between the two.

I had a chat with On Deck Sailing (who deserve the plug as they've got some really interesting sailing options up this year and they gave me a glass of bubbly) who were at both. They felt Earls Court may have had low "footfalls" but they were good contacts, and it can get hard to manage the greater number of leads from Excel.

One benefit of the docklands site is the ability to house the huge motor boats like this Princess. Glamorously shining black it hung high above those walking by, reflecting most of the other boats in Excel's huge shed like halls.

One commonality between the two is the emphasis on a stage with events and bands, which is generally a good development. At least here they had an audience, unlike the rather embarrassing empty space in Earls Court.

They didn't have the James Caird, the Top Gear car, or Gypsy Moth, but there were alternate attractions. Like this Volvo Ocean Race ride - where you get bounced around more or less in sync with shots of VOR boats racing across the southern ocean with fans blowing air in your face - great fun.

Also met these two authors, Sally Kettle and Hector Macdonald, who were so nice I ended up buying both their books.

Sally's book "Odd at Sea" is the true story of how she rowed across the Atlantic with her mum despite no rowing experience and suffering from sea-sickness.

Hector's book "The Storm Prophet" is a novel set around the Sydney Hobart yacht race. I'm still reading Ackroyd's Thames but will give reviews of both when get round to reading them.

I also had a chat with Jo Rogers, one of the Sisterhood who raced a Dragon Boat across the channel who I'd seen practicing along the Thames last year. While I'd struggled to fit in sailing with work and doing an Open University module she had been up at 6am training, working in a her film company Scion Films, and flying off to LA as part of an MBA focused on the film industry. Bit of a wow! really.

So how which was better - and what would that mean? Will have a ponder and post some thoughts another day.

British Sea Power

I am currently listening to British Sea Power's latest album. As well as being a great band they sing about topics with nautical and geographical themes as diverse as the Larsen B ice shelf and the floods at Canvey Island being a herald of climate change's destruction.

The sleeve notes starts as follows: "There's hardly anything more impressive than a great sheet of water which is motionless and soundless. At such rare moments at sea it is almost frightening - and then when the moon comes up, then it is truly a shining level".

Just fab.

London and the Thames

I was up in central London delivering a Very Important Document Indeed and took a few minutes after dropping it off to walk by the Thames by London Bridge.

Reading Peter Ackroyd's Thames has really added to my appreciation of the river - even if the language is sometimes over the top and logic is often a stranger to his flights of fancy.

But it is packed full of stories, anecdotes, facts, and curiosities. One such was how the Norwegian Olaf Haraldson sailed to the aid of Ethelred against Danish invaders of London in 1014 but faced the Danes amassed upon the bridge. Olaf achieved victory by fastening ropes around the supporting piles and with the help of the tide tumbled the bridge and its warriors into the water.

Something for the city workers of 2008 to think about as they stroll across checking their Blackberries.

Ratty and friends travel the world

Where people go, so do animals. Some, like horses, cats and dogs, by plan. Some, like mice and rats come along uninvited for their own reasons. And through their DNA they can tell stories that are forgotten by us humans.

So by looking at the DNA of rats scientists have mapped the migration of humans across the Pacific, showing not one but two waves of explorers.

Voles meanwhile were travelling in neolithic times between France and Spain and the Orkney Islands, just north of Scotland.

Meanwhile Viking mouse DNA shows the Madeira archipelago off Africa was discovered by the Scandinavians hundreds of years before the official discovery by the Portuguese in 1419.

There's an interesting article in the New Scientist this week about it (which you can find here though unfortunately subscription only).

Top Photos

Following Adam's project to blog your favourite sailing photos here are some that have posted earlier:

Slow down at the boat show?

Ok, it hasn't got a sail, but it's relevant for this story from the FT about the London Boat Shows thats currently on at Excel.

The credit-crunch, exchange rate yo-yos, and general slow down are affecting so many corners of the economy will the boating industry be immune?

Maybe they are in the wrong place. There was also this story in today's FT about the art market, and how its worth many tens of billions a year. But interestingly though increasingly unsurprisingly the main growth is in China where there has been a 100-fold increase!

I'm guessing the top-end art and top-end boat markets have some similarities. In which case thats the sort of market expansion that must make boat builders drool into their vintage champagne.

Offshore Racing Update

I'm not sure if you've been following the amazing progress of Francis Joyon but it looks like he is about to shatter Ellen MacArthur's round the world single handed record.

Now on the final stretch after crossing the equator and passing the Cape Verde Islands he remains about 10 days or two and half thousand miles ahead of Ellen.

It's a shame his web site is in French, though that of course should be good practice. However can't fault the web based "cartographie" (above)

Unlike the web site for the Barcelona World Race: its been an interesting race but as too often in the past I've found the race tracking less than helpful. I really don't think that Flash or Shockwave plug-in technologies are up to doing the sort of 3D visualisation that the organisers are trying to achieve. All too often it either freezes or crashes my laptop.

Two approaches work ok:

1) HTML page based - such as Joyon's above. As can be seen this can be show all the information you need including most importantly the wind now and in the immediate future without requiring plug-ins

2) Stand-alone application - nothing I've seen has come even close to the wonderful race viewer supplied free with the last Volvo Ocean race. You can still download it from the Volvo site but alas they have taken away the telemetry (why?). I hope it will be used for future Volvos and licensed for other races - preferably all other major offshore races.

Another problem with the Barcelona site is its overcomplicated and makes finding multimedia hard. I remember see a video where leaders Paprec-Virbac2 passed an iceberg and did a wonderfully ironic gosh aren't we so French and naughty commentry of "oh la la its so big"!

Or at least I think they did - despite contacting the race organisers still can't find that clip again. It's a shame as I think its double-handed Open 60s is a good format for offshore racing and it has attracted a good list of top names.

Real Wreckers?

While the Timewatch program last night on the BBC was about the history of wrecking, there was an article in the today's paper about a more recent example.

About a year ago the container ship Napoli (below) was beached to avoid worse damage in heavy seas, several containers were disloged and washed up on Branscombe Beach in Devon. This resulted in the feeding frenzy of scavengers (above).

The law in this situation is given in this post at the MCA. The owner of boat and containers has appointed contractors to clear up the area and recover that which has value. Any voluntary salvage should be reported to the receiver of wrecks, as described here.

However in the minds of many - in particular those that recovered goods - if they find it it's theirs.

This might work for small scale things - the odd trainer where the cost of recovering exceeds the value of the item. But does that approach, that the value is so small there is no harm in just taking it, apply when the goods in question are brand new working BMW motor bikes?

Wreckers and Vikings

Couple of good programs on the BBC covering maritime history recently.

On the 5th January there was a 90 minute program covering the voyage of a reconstructed Viking ship, Sea Stallion, from Denmark across the North Sea, around the top of Scotland, then down the Inner Hebrides to Ireland. The destination was Dublin, a city founded by Vikings many centuries ago.

It was a very cold and wet crossing with very cramped conditions: about a square metre of deck space per crew. The boat wasn't great into the wind - nearest it could get was about 60 degrees - and in trials they found they could get 2 knots rowing into the wind against just 1 knot sailing. You can read about the Sea Stallion here and there's lots of clips from the BBC Timewatch documentary here.

Today there's just been another such program, this time about the history of wreckers around the coast of Britain. From the Scillies, to the Cornwall coast, to the Goodwins Sands, to far north of Scotland, wrecked boats have been plundered in their hundreds if not thousands over the centuries.

The law was often counterproductive: the boat was only considered wrecked if all were dead. Hence it was in the interest of the scavengers to kill - or at least not give much aide - to the survivors.

It was a rather grizzly story of poverty driving crime, completely lacking the gentle humour of Whisky Galore, but still fascinating. More here.

Boat watching by Google Earth

One of my jobs at work at the moment is to test the latest version of one our software products. And one of its (many) cool new features is the ability to output results for display in Google Earth. All to often, and especially on a Friday afternoon, its too easy to get distracted and go exploring.

So I got to see this - an eight training on the Thames. The shadow may look like one of Oxford's dreaming spires but is actually London's western waste centre. From the angle of the shadow it was morning, clearly a nice one without clouds, and by the length of the shadows it must have been taken in winter. Indeed probably a day a bit like today!

Struck by the boat watching potential I then checked out this view of the Red Funnel ferry just of Cowes harbour, and imagined what happened next to the two yachts jostling at it entrance.

Finally before stopping to do some real work checked out this picture from Valencia, Spain. In an otherwise empty harbour was this - looks very much like an ACC boat moored up there.

What is absolutely mind blowing to me is that not just we can see all this, but we can see all of this on a 3G mobile phone using the mobile version of Google maps. So almost anywhere in the world as long as there is mobile coverage you can get maps and images to pretty much everywhere. Amazing!

What's your favourite Google Earth / Maps boating view?

Useful links:
http://earth.google.com/
http://www.google.com/gmm

Sackroyd's Piddle - A Gentle Stream

Following the inspiration of Peter Ackroyd's "Thames - A Sacred River", I have received a proof copy of Beter Sackroyd's "Piddle - A Gentle Stream". Due for publication 01/04/08, similarities in floral style an be seen from this excerpt:

The river Piddle is born deep in the rolling chalk hills of Dorset and flows and matures till its death in the world's largest natural harbour at Poole. Thus it symbolises the travel that we must all do along the road of life, a journey repeated across the centuries and millennium that this river has seen. Is it fanciful to hear echoes of re-incarnation in this repeating cycle? Together with the parish churches its passes, this river has deep religious significance, ecumenically connecting the Christian and Buddhist faiths.

Dorset is of course the home of that great writer Thomas Hardy (*). His melancholy can be heard on a frosty winter day as ice forms around the river banks. He would have known the river well, visiting Puddletown as a child, which is commemorated as Weatherby in "Far from the Madding Crowd". It is literally a literary river.

It's name speaks of the mundane nature of life in the great scheme of the universe, the daily acts of the living. Just as the great pubs along his length revel in the joys of hearty meals and strong drink. There has been beer drunk by its side for hundreds of years, the satyranic pipes of pan joining in with the solemn ringing of Church bells. Sunday picnics and romantic trysts are one to its ever twinkling eyes, both serenaded by its gentle trickling.

It is a historic river, for its passes through Tolpuddle (*), home of the eponymous martyrs. Here was born th Trade Union movement that changed the balance between capital and labour for ever. In the blood, bones and bodies of the martyrs ran the waters of the Piddle. And they connect the river to the Anglo Saxon communities of the world, through their punishment of transportation to Australia and travels to Canada. The waters of the Piddle have truly changed the world.

(*) to quote Nigel Molesworth "all the fakts are corect for a change" see:
http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=563
http://neal.oxborrow.net/Thomas_Hardy/Hardyplacenames.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Piddle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy

Russian invasion of the Thames

Yes thats right these are the Russians which are invading and occupying the Thames - zebra mussels. According to the BBC there is an explosion in their growth triggered by warmer water. Its not a minor issue - they are classified as an invasive species in parts of North America.

These zebra mussels were first found in the Thames as far back as 1824 no doubt having fallen off one of the thousands of vessels using the great docks of London. The docks were so busy then that in 1800 when 1,775 vessels tried to dock where there spaces for only 545 ships there were delays of one or two weeks (*).

Yet another reason to try to combat climate change to stop the warming of our planet!



(*) history lesson from Peter Ackroyd's Thames.

Peter Ackroyd's Thames

I'm currently reading Peter Ackroyd's Thames.

It is an amazing book, packed full with the history and stories of this great river. Like a magpie he has gone through entire libraries of books looking for every possible link or quote that refers to the Thames over the past centuries and millenniums.

His style is very rich and very colourful - prose as purple and rich as a bucket of port. And sometimes his love of the mystical and theatrical overflows, threatening to overwhelm the more practical and mundane.

For example he says that the great palaces were built by the river to be "near the ultimate source of power .... the river that blessed the monarch". But surely the motivation for their location is more likely the benefits of river transport, access to water, a place to dump waste, and proximity to the industry that springs up along it banks (and of course those river views)?

And I'm not sure he's always right - for example his claim the increase in tidal range around London Bridge from 3 m during Roman times to the current 6 m is "simple" - its the sinking of the south-east of England. But that would only effect the relative level not range - which I always understood was due to the constriction of the river as the embankments were built on either side.

But I'm certainly enjoying it and would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone interested in the story of this sacred river.

Celebrity Sailing

What's this? Super celeb ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney "Macca" in a dinghy?

Of course its good to see the world's "the most successful musician and composer" afloat. But after selling 100 million singles couldn't he afford something a bit bigger?

One theory is that he just wants to get close to the water, to feel the kick of the rudder and spray in his face. The other of course is that he has started economise, knowing the mega divorce payout he is facing from his ex, Heather Mills.

So what is he sailing - anyone recognise it?

The river at night

This turned out to be rather an expensive picture.

I had this theory that when the wind is light the majority of the waves you see during the day are echos of the wakes of boats that might have gone by long ago (plus the effect spurious wildlife). This explains how the river looks so calm and soothing in the early hours of the morning.

So after getting back at 1am after seeing the film "Into the wild" (recommend) followed by a discussing with my brother about the meaning of life over a glass or two of red wine, got out the digital SLR and headed back out into the cold.

I had even bought a mini-tripod: alas it was too short to get a clear view, even when perched on a table. So in the end the Canon 350D + Sigma 70 - 300mm lens were balanced on a mini-tripod on a chair on a table, in the dark, late at night. At some point there was an almighty bang and the camera was found on the floor with the lens now not zooming :(

However the good news was this unlikely combination of props had been just about stable enough to take the long exposure above, that shows what I hope you will agree is a pretty flat river with only the minimum of waves on it.

Hurrah!

Sailing to New Zealand aged 102

Amazing story of 102 year old Eric King-Turner who is about to emigrate to a new life in his wife Doris's home country, New Zealand. They are travelling there by ship - maybe to remind him of the old days in WW2 when he served on HMS Invincible.

There's no holding back this old sailor - they got married 12 years ago, when he must have been about 90!

Good luck to them in their new life.

Watching the river

There is a hypnotic fascination about watching moving water.

A couple of nights ago I couldn't help but wonder at the stillness of the river in the early hours of the morning during a 3am raid on the kitchen.

So much of the waves during the day are not the result of wind or river flow but traffic. The abstract above is the wave from the first boat of the day spoiling the calm and creating this perfect wake behind. This wake will echo and scatter off the banks, bridges and moorings for at least an hour, added to by later boats and even the ripples produced by river birds as they land, wash, fish and take off. The Thames remains slightly disturbed all day long.

But at night, especially on calm days, the river is as flat as the proverbial mill-pond, flowing slowly yet still. One day I must take a picture to reassure myself this theory has evidence behind it and isn't the result of a half-asleep half-awake dream.

Running Aground

Not a good New Year for the Master and crew of the 90,000 tonne container ship Cortesia which is currently hard aground on the Varne sandbank (more here).

The Varne bank is unfortunately slap bang in the middle of the south (or east) bound lane of the Dover Strait's Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). So every day there is a steady stream of vessels passing to its left and right - but most of them seem to be able to miss it. It is marked with a southerly cardinal at one end and a buoy the other, and is clearly shown on the charts.

At its centre the depth is merely 3.3 metres - despite being well offshore. We are currently in a spring tide situation so low water will have been especially dangerous - but that also means the high tide will get weaker in the days to come.

There was also a running aground in the program "Three men in another boat" on the Beeb last night. Griff Rees-Jones was sailing his classic 49 footer from London round to Cowes with two fellow comedian semi-celebs (for real - note no fiction label to this post). While teaching them to raise the main they ended up momentarily aground.

However I'm a bit suspicious. I can see that commissioning editors might worry about the lack of drama and Griff (who I once saw in a techy shop on London's Tottenham Court Road) saying don't worry, he'll fix a few "incidents".

Hence he finds a very sheltered place (The Swale), with gentle bottom (mud), at a good time (rising tide), at low speed (last recorded comment was to slow down), and, knowing the boat has a centre board that can be raised, heads slowly into the mud.

If you are in the UK you can make your own mind up by watching it here.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and will have a good 2008!

I'm rather chuffed at making Tillerman's top 10 blogs for 2007 and good to see those hard working sailing celebrities getting the recognition they deserved (and I have a funny feeling they might be off again soon).

Also good to see Messing About in Sailboats getting on the list - one of my favourites and I'm going to borrow Adam's two resolutions, which were to join a sailing club and do more for the environment.

Another fav blog on Tillerman's top 10 was Frogma with stories of kayaking or canoeing in NY - which might be another thing to try in 2008 (but in London obviously).

So a big hello to all readers of this blog and thanks to all those blogs I've read and enjoyed during 2007!

After Christmas

This is Santa's dirty little secret, this is the post-Christmas boat. Barges loaded with empty containers waiting their turn to dock at London's Western Riverside Waste Authority off Smugglers Way (honest, that is its address).

Empty containers ready to be filled with used wrapping paper, Christmas card envelopes, gift labels, tinsel, present boxes, wrapping ribbon, used rolls of sellotape, inkless pens, broken daleks, empty boxes, pages containing completed or not completed lists, plastic bags from Sainsburies, Tescos, Waistrose, Selfridges and a thousand other shops, uneated roast potatos, sprouts, carrots, the carcass of the turkey, plastic bags used to hold the veg, string bags to hold the clementines, empty bottles of cranberry and red current jelly, used batteries, batteries that have some life in them but what the hell, the plastic bowl the Christmas pudding came in, empty milk bottles, juice bottles, wine bottles, champagne bottles, beer bottles and tins, cream bottles, brandy butter, used napkins, dead candles, corks, unwanted presents, sofas to be replaced in the sales, stale ends of bread, the remains of salad that made everyone feel a bit queasy, that quiche (don't ask!), receipts (so tough if you wanted to return or change that present you already have/didn't want/doesn't fit), newspapers, the old razer now replaced with a new one, shirts absolutely ruined, broken plates, bowls, glasses, shattered Christmas tree decorations, burnt gravy, toast that no wanted, empty marmalade jar, several thousand clementine and banana skins, those little plastic envelopes washing machine and dish washer tablets come in, empty deodorant sprays, shower gel bottles, last year's phone, a printer no one knows how it works and a cable that no one knows what its used for, that old router that isn't fast enough any more, cat and dog food tins, empty bags of crisps (chips), stale biscuits and buns, couple of Christmas cards got the message wrong so had to start all over again, piles of the usual junk mail, empty tubes of pringles, silver and red foil that was around a chocolate Santa, empty (alas) boxes of chocolates, turkish delight, nuts, figs, tin foil splattered in Turkey fat, ..........

Give the Earth a year long Christmas present - and recycle!

Crisis in Pakistan

I try and avoid politics on this blog (as it leads to flames which are best left in fire places) but can't ignore the news from Pakistan.

Having visited Karachi in the autumn I've followed with interest what happens in this turbulent land, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a tragedy not just for her family but the country.

There was mixed views from those I talked to about her - some attended the welcome back rally (where those bombs killed so many) while others remembered how she left under a cloud of corruption.

But all will have been appalled by this outrageous act of violence. Where will Pakistan go in 2008? What will happen to the elections?

They are entering turbulent times and can only hope they all weather it to calmer water in 2008.

White Christmas in the London Fog

Fog not snow turned London white today. A thick dense whiteness sat all day on all the houses, offices, shops, roads, rivers, bridges, towers and palaces of this old and great town.

It was rather wonderfully atmospheric. Biking back from delivering presents to my two godsons over in Chiswick, people would be shadows that appear out of the murk, Hammersmith Bridge materialised glowing lights followed much later by the hidden iron work.

The Thames path was deserted. It felt like being a kid again, biking home through country lanes, with the only sounds the geese of the wetland centre and distant church bells.

Happy Christmas everyone!

ps as I'm sure to have lost the bet with Turinas I propose to give the necessary donation to Shelter, as it must be horrid to be homeless over Christmas when its so cold - unless he has another suggestion!

Piracy hits Liverpool

One of the great maritime cities in Britain, Liverpool, has suffered the first act of attempted piracy in nearly 200 years.

No this is not some April fool, but yes it is a bit of a stretch to really call it piracy. As you can read here in an article in the sensational soar away Sun one of the less than competent scousers was caught and the other made off with nothing.

So less blood or victory and much more of a hot-water bottle type of pirate!

Circumnavigating: power vs sail

The time is getting close for the start of the Earthrace's attempt to beat the world record for racing around the world under power. According to this story they need to break the current time of 74 days 23 hours and 53 minutes set by Cable and Wireless Adventurer in 1998.

I've previously posted that the eco-benefits of biofuels are to say the least dubious, but at least it seemed they would be the fastest round. Now that is in doubt - as it could well be that sail remains faster than power.

For Ellen's time of around 71 days is quicker than C&W Adventurers's, and her record is currently being smashed by Francis Joyon on IDEC.

Look at his latest position from their web site:


Joyon is thousands of miles ahead of Ellen - nearly a week ahead. And his trip is truly the eco-friendly voyage, using not just wind for power but also solar panels for power.

This is sensational sailing - and he is alone, not able to go off watch like the crew of Earthrace.

Multi-hulls maybe out of the Olympics but there are showing their worth down in the southern oceans.

Xmas Lists

I like to read the FT on Saturday morning, and today in the Mrs Moneypenny column I read how some of her readers sent her some dressing gowns.

Now that is an interesting idea - readers of a column sending its writer some presents!

Of courses there's an interesting ethical issue here about undue influence and editorial neutrality.

So I'm glad (or sorry) to reassure you that this blog hasn't received any gifts from any of its readers.

However if you are just about to head out into the cold to get JP something my eye has been caught time and time again by the lines of the Class 40 yachts. The picture above is of the yacht Friends of the Earth which was owned by my friend Jonathan but he is alas selling it so no chance for a spin. There's a lovely piece in this months Yachting World about sailing them and they look an absolute blast.

Really, really wouldn't say no!

Ok - a bit ambitious and I'd happily settle for this calender from Sail 4 Cancer:
Some lovely photos and for a good cause :)

Ouzo Again

Back again to the story of the loss of the Ouzo and its crew (above).

I read this article on the BBC web site that one of the defence arguments for the master of the Pride of Bilbao was that there was a "close encounter with a yacht, but .. it was not Ouzo and that the boat sailed away safely".

So we're meant to believe there was another close encounter on the same night with a similar boat that was not reported despite the deaths and hubbub of the story in the news?

Well its possible - like its possible the Harry Potter film I'm watching now is a documentary.

Its just I don't believe it.

Ouzo Verdict

The verdict came out today on role of the crew of the Pride of Bilbao in the loss of the Ouzo - and it was not guilty. This was despite the fact that the yacht was clearly within at most a couple of feet of the ferry with its walls of steel and swamping wash.

Of course it is necessary to prove beyond reasonable doubt to find someone guilty, and those high standards are there to ensure that the innocent do not suffer, and so it is right that if there was such doubt that the verdict can only be, as it was, not guilty.

However what I don't understand is the figure above (taken from the BBC web site) which shows the defence's claim that the sinking could be due to the tanker Crescent Beaune and happened at 01:40 after the encounter with the ferry at 0107 but further back towards port.

Maybe the figure is wrong, but the only way the Ouzo could have been at that position would have been if it had been returning to port, which would only be plausible if it had been damaged in its encounter with the Pride of Bilbao.

So is he defence's argument that though they damaged the Ouzo in a close encounter and didn't stop to assist, that is ok as the yacht would have been still afloat? Which to me would be admitting to poor seamanship even if not manslaughter.

Does anyone know any more details of the arguments other than this from the BBC site?

Solo Transat for Charity

I was hoping to catch up with an old sailing friend called Tristan at or around the Earl's Court Boat Show, but alas not a pip from him.

Turns out he has probably the best excuse ever - he's just set off to sail across the Atlantic single handed to raise awareness for prostrate cancer. This is the latest of a series of expeditions, most recently his singled handed flight across the Atlantic.

So if (as we all hope) he makes it across the Atlantic he will be one of the few people to have both sailed and flown across. Rather worryingly one of those known to have done this was Steve Fossett, missing since 3rd September. And also rather worryingly there have been number of emergencies on the ARC.

My thoughts will certainly be with him and remembering when we first met - which was actually doing the ARC back in 2003. On those many hours on watch we'd chat about everything from philosophy to Frasier. I even remember as we sailed the very waters that he now sails alone how he talked about coming back, maybe skippering a boat.

So well done Tristan for going for it and fingers firmly crossed for a safe crossing.

Earls Court Boat Show Update

All week I've been getting a steady stream of emails from various yachting companies and sailing schools I've signed up to over the years. Those exhibiting at Earls Court above (*) are joining the push for punters using two-for-one or even free tickets.

They've also got links to various clips of highlights of the boat show over at Sail TV - you can watch by clicking here.

If you want to go and see this for yourself my advice would be to contact any company that's exhibiting and see if there are any of those free tickets left.

(*) As you might notice this photo of Earls Court is not actually during the boat show but that of a small but perfectly formed singer from down under. Unfortunately the ECBS web site's photos are only available in a format that's even smaller than she is!

Boat Show Shocker

This is what the Earls Court Boat Show looked like this afternoon. Empty.

The organisers were promising exhibitors 200,000 visitors, but attendance on the first day was just 900.

Nine hundred people, all day. What will it be like tomorrow, Monday, when most people are back at work? I hope those manning the stands have books to read and the Wifi works.

Its a shame as it could be a good boat show. There's the indoor marinas, there's lots of boats and exhibitors, bars, bands, massages, Santa abseiling down from the ceiling, and all the usual suspects exhibitors.

Plus there's a couple of specials. There's the Gypsy Moth (which won't be at Excel):

There was the Top Gear amphibious car made out of a converted Triumph:

Then there was the James Caird, that Shackleton sailed across the wilds of the Southern Ocean after Endurance was crushed by the pack ice:

But the famous atmosphere of Earls Court was dead. The champagne bar (below) was deserted, as were half the other bars and stands. If you want to see a boat or talk to an exhibitor then there is no queues anywhere. I was the only non UKSA staff on the Gypsy Moth

After the show closed the organisers got the exhibitors together with an open bar upstairs on the second floor. Having manned the Blue Spirit Yachting - recommended for all your yachting needs - stand for all of 10 minutes (and almost sold a day skipper course in that time) I went along.

The organisers were upbeat, talking about quality rather than quantity, and how this was the best attended of any new exhibition. But there was no doubt that the issue of "foot-falls" was at the top of everyones mind. Many of those exhibiting are small companies and such poor returns will hurt them hard.

But there are many that want this to succeed. Even if Excel has the copyrights and trademarks of "The London Boat Show" many yearn for the days when the cosy halls of Earls Court sheltered the boaties of Britain during the winter.

If you're in London, go. There's lots to see and no danger of crowds or queues. I think the exhibitors will be very glad to see you!