LIBS

[mcgarry1]

i went on saturday and it was good, EXCEL is as the name suggests, excellent. lot's of walking though, but just one thing struck me, i wantes 2 things, a mast gate for a dinghy and a windproof lighter. i found only 1 windproof lighter which cost 15quid and none of the "specialist" chandelries knew what a mast gate was! i ended up buying some other things, though, which i can't work out wether i wanted or not and enjoyed talking to all the dinghy stall keepers about tips and hints on sailing my new 505!

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[tony_brighton]

Major dissapointments were:
- the lack of boats on the water
- the over-priced food and drink.
- DLR need to run more show specific trains (coming from the Lewisham direction there advice was to change twice).

Otherwise I thought it was a big improvement - more space and easier to get around.

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[Bejasus]

Didn't find the lack of boats on the water, a big issue. Can't really see the difference as the thing is only tied up to the pontoon anyhow.

Food & drink a little overpriced, but only to be expected.

Thought the DLR was excellent and the fact that we had to change 3 times at Westferry(1 minute wait each time) in 4 journeys in & out of the City, was not really a problem.

All IMHO of course.

Thought the show and the venue was excellent. We visited twice in 2 days.

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[Shanty]

Visited the show on Friday, because of the late opening. Busy but not overcrowded. With hindsight should have taken two days - so much to see, so little time. Despite doing some planning beforehand, seemed to spend a lot of time walking - need to actually use the plan next time.

RYA lounge for lunch was excellent. Recommended

Made the big mistake of getting into a discussion with two RYA bods just before closing time. Got reprimanded for not being in favour of jetskis. Apparently, they are a good thing, & I was well off message. Looks like the RYA as governing body / national authority now tells us what to think as well as what to do. Will I maintain my membership - not sure.

Anyway, after about an hour of this, I escaped, and ended up in the Foxes place just outside the West entrance looking for something to eat. No impressed, not recommended.

Would I go again - yes, but with some caveats:

Spread it over two days
More effective planning
Don't get ito conversation with RYA bods
Avoid Foxes


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