henryf
Well-Known Member
What on earth is wrong with you?
You of all people, who come on here and post can surely have nothing to complain about. As a boat owner or a regular on here you will be able to tap someone up for a ticket and if you've bought something in the last 10 years or shown any serious interest in doing so you should hopefully have a manufacturer plying you with not only a ticket but also a cup of tea and a chocolate HobNob.
Thursday saw all manner of riff raff from these hallowed halls descend on ExCel to the point where you couldn't stop for 5 minutes to have your shoes cleaned, your skin exfoliated and your nails polished without some old friend saying hello.
As the day turned into early evening several well known manufacturers opened their doors and their drinks chillers up to pretty much all and sundry. VIP passes were swapped like Pokemon cards in a school playground to ensure everyone got to join in. The reality is of course that it's a pretty small world so no-one was turned away.
I ended up chatting to the chairman of Fairline who, despite the fact that I have Princess tattooed on my left buttock seemed keen that we all had full glasses. He did say though that the "Disney" preceding Princess surprised him but he was impressed with how I depicted Droopy, the seventh dwarf. "Very clever how he moved as I swayed from side to side."
Onwards for a few impromptu halves of shandy just to be social before being driven home by a Yachtist. Oh, not before treating a 50 something West Country love god to his first ever Maccy Dee's. He was amazed you could walk in without a reservation
Yes, some of the girls rented for the show didn't have a clue who I was and tried to put up a bit of a fight when walking onto boats despite the fact I'd just stepped out of the hospitality area but all it took was a friendly word explaining that I was an owner and all was well.
I dressed up for the occasion to make it easy for people to recognise my inner wealth and general good humour. Sunseeker virtually dragged me onto the new 65. It really isn't hard. You don't have to bullshit anyone, tell them what you've got and where you keep it, talk intelligently when discussing the finer points of their wares and you will be allowed to roam around to your hearts content.
I took a 65 foot flybridge out in a force 10 with a very angry sea and lived to tell the tale, I got farted on by an old mate I haven't seen for ages who was filling himself up with Guinness whilst chewing the fat with Britain's boat racing gods and I witnessed Andy59 volunteer to cycle all the way from Lymington to Chertsey then back down to Southampton where he insists the drinks are on him. Damn fine fellow that Andy.
I even came away with a new hand held compass for the boat - but more of that later. If you thought the stabilising binoculars were clever you ain't seen nothin' yet folks.
I met old friends, made new friends, met people I didn't know I knew and I never even went to see Richard for a MBY bottle of beer. Next year......
Henry
You of all people, who come on here and post can surely have nothing to complain about. As a boat owner or a regular on here you will be able to tap someone up for a ticket and if you've bought something in the last 10 years or shown any serious interest in doing so you should hopefully have a manufacturer plying you with not only a ticket but also a cup of tea and a chocolate HobNob.
Thursday saw all manner of riff raff from these hallowed halls descend on ExCel to the point where you couldn't stop for 5 minutes to have your shoes cleaned, your skin exfoliated and your nails polished without some old friend saying hello.
As the day turned into early evening several well known manufacturers opened their doors and their drinks chillers up to pretty much all and sundry. VIP passes were swapped like Pokemon cards in a school playground to ensure everyone got to join in. The reality is of course that it's a pretty small world so no-one was turned away.
I ended up chatting to the chairman of Fairline who, despite the fact that I have Princess tattooed on my left buttock seemed keen that we all had full glasses. He did say though that the "Disney" preceding Princess surprised him but he was impressed with how I depicted Droopy, the seventh dwarf. "Very clever how he moved as I swayed from side to side."
Onwards for a few impromptu halves of shandy just to be social before being driven home by a Yachtist. Oh, not before treating a 50 something West Country love god to his first ever Maccy Dee's. He was amazed you could walk in without a reservation
Yes, some of the girls rented for the show didn't have a clue who I was and tried to put up a bit of a fight when walking onto boats despite the fact I'd just stepped out of the hospitality area but all it took was a friendly word explaining that I was an owner and all was well.
I dressed up for the occasion to make it easy for people to recognise my inner wealth and general good humour. Sunseeker virtually dragged me onto the new 65. It really isn't hard. You don't have to bullshit anyone, tell them what you've got and where you keep it, talk intelligently when discussing the finer points of their wares and you will be allowed to roam around to your hearts content.
I took a 65 foot flybridge out in a force 10 with a very angry sea and lived to tell the tale, I got farted on by an old mate I haven't seen for ages who was filling himself up with Guinness whilst chewing the fat with Britain's boat racing gods and I witnessed Andy59 volunteer to cycle all the way from Lymington to Chertsey then back down to Southampton where he insists the drinks are on him. Damn fine fellow that Andy.
I even came away with a new hand held compass for the boat - but more of that later. If you thought the stabilising binoculars were clever you ain't seen nothin' yet folks.
I met old friends, made new friends, met people I didn't know I knew and I never even went to see Richard for a MBY bottle of beer. Next year......
Henry
