London Boat Show - Cheer yourself up

Is it me or has the show got shorter. 2016 and 2017 I think the show ran for 10 days. Please correct me if I'm wrong. This year it runs from 10th to 14th. Is this a sign of the times and the show has had its day??? I used to go to this show every year up to 2015 and then stopped. For me it it ceased to be a boat show as I had noticed the boat sections were getting smaller and smaller and started to merge with a bike show and then a camping show and whatever other show was going on during those dates. Boats and accessories were being replaced with 4X4's and ornaments and things that had nothing to do with boating.

Having been to the Southampton show a few times I don't think I will be persuaded to return to London any time soon.
 
alandalus11 said:
Is it me or has the show got shorter. 2016 and 2017 I think the show ran for 10 days. Please correct me if I'm wrong. This year it runs from 10th to 14th. Is this a sign of the times and the show has had its day??? I used to go to this show every year up to 2015 and then stopped. For me it it ceased to be a boat show as I had noticed the boat sections were getting smaller and smaller and started to merge with a bike show and then a camping show and whatever other show was going on during those dates. Boats and accessories were being replaced with 4X4's and ornaments and things that had nothing to do with boating.

Having been to the Southampton show a few times I don't think I will be persuaded to return to London any time soon.
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Well we went last year and had a very good time. It is a breath of fresh air this time of year in my view

Dennis
 
It's a good thing we all have our own points of view. You have yours, I have mine. If you're going this year Dennis, hope you have a lovely time.:encouragement:
 
SWIMBO and I are going on Wednesday, though only because we’re in London on other business and it’s a convenient distraction from work. We’re not expecting any of the (few) sailing boats on display to suit our circumstances as future buyers, but a few interesting events in the theatres make the low ticket price one that we’re willing to pay.

Our only major boat show disappointment arose from what has been marketed as the ‘second-hand boat show’, which supposedly runs concurrently with Southampton. The location was given as Swanwick Marina. On visiting an unspecified broker therein, we found that the second-hand boat show consisted of little more than an additional parking attendant and two banner-clad gazebos sheltering agency staff promoting third-party marine electronics. On seeking further information, we were advised by the brokerage office that all viewings are by appointment (as per any other day).

When is a boat show not a boat show, I wondered.
 
TJ1982 said:
Our only major boat show disappointment arose from what has been marketed as the ‘second-hand boat show’, which supposedly runs concurrently with Southampton. The location was given as Swanwick Marina. On visiting an unspecified broker therein, we found that the second-hand boat show consisted of little more than an additional parking attendant and two banner-clad gazebos sheltering agency staff promoting third-party marine electronics. On seeking further information, we were advised by the brokerage office that all viewings are by appointment (as per any other day).

When is a boat show not a boat show, I wondered.
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I have to say ditto to that.
 
Bigplumbs said:
It starts next week and I think it is a great way to cheer yourself up if you suffer at all from the winter blues. Link below also gets you in for £7.50 which is a bargain in my book.

I love to go to see what I will never be able to afford :)

https://nbs-london.yourticketbookin...&utm_term=ADVANCE TICKETS Two tickets from 15

Book away and enjoy the show

Dennis
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Not visited for for a very long time, like you say for £7.50 it's got to be worth spending a wet January afternoon indoors.

Many thanks for the link.

Simon
 
TJ1982 said:
Our only major boat show disappointment arose from what has been marketed as the ‘second-hand boat show’, which supposedly runs concurrently with Southampton. The location was given as Swanwick Marina. On visiting an unspecified broker therein, we found that the second-hand boat show consisted of little more than an additional parking attendant and two banner-clad gazebos sheltering agency staff promoting third-party marine electronics. On seeking further information, we were advised by the brokerage office that all viewings are by appointment (as per any other day).

When is a boat show not a boat show, I wondered.
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This has never been my experience with either Sea Ventures or Ancasta during the Swanwick Used Boat Show, as both brokers will gladly carry out viewings on any boats on their books, without having to make a prior appointment, so I'm not sure which brokerage office you went to??
 
AllanG said:
This has never been my experience with either Sea Ventures or Ancasta during the Swanwick Used Boat Show, as both brokers will gladly carry out viewings on any boats on their books, without having to make a prior appointment, so I'm not sure which brokerage office you went to??
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Well, perhaps they were having a particularly busy day. I can only comment on that one occasion, since that was (and is) our one & only experience with either of them.

Our disappointment arose from the misrepresentative advertising of the second-hand boat show, rather than the brokerage offices per se. Indeed, on learning that we'd driven for two hours to visit the 'show', the guys at Sea Ventures were somewhat sympathetic to our position. That neither of the brokers were doing anything different to that undertaken on any other day simply reinforced our view that there was no second hand boat show and it shouldn't have been marketed as such.
 
AllanG said:
This has never been my experience with either Sea Ventures or Ancasta during the Swanwick Used Boat Show, as both brokers will gladly carry out viewings on any boats on their books, without having to make a prior appointment, so I'm not sure which brokerage office you went to??
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Couple of times I've been when looking for a boat I just turned up, told whichever broker had the boat I was interested in and was given the keys and a request to ask for anything else I needed to know. All the boats, probably 50-60, had ladders tied on and I spent as long as I liked aboard those of my choice. One broker did accompany me on one occasion with a very expensive boat, which I subsequently bought. All the brokers I met there were extremely helpful.
 
I'm going probably Wednesday or Thursday evening at this stage.

It's easy for me to get to (live inside the M25) and why wouldn't you want a boat show in your capital? Canberra excused from that one as the Sydney boat show is very good.
 
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