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Water Rat.

By Water Rat.
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Water Rat. Rising Star

Water Rat.

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We did. It was fun, the IWA made a great effort, as usual, with a great stand selling books and stuff. Well done to them. CaRT? Nowhere to be seen. Why is this? I do feel they should make use of the boat show and try to bring inland boating to peoples attention. We were really excited to see the valiant little Sea Otter tucked in with all the other flash stuff. The only serious prospective purchaser we met was looking for a narrow boat

 

We browsed around the boaty stuff, lots of lovely rope, I even bought a fid to learn splicing - well it is the new year! And, lots of shoes and waterproof jackets so technical you could probably sail to France in one with out the yacht!!

 

A good day - even though the mediocre beer was £4.80 a pint.

 

Anyone else going?

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RichardN Proficient

RichardN

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Anyone else going?

 

Oh yes, forecast for Friday is winds of 7 mph gusting to 16 mph so going by boat biggrin.png though HW is just after 8am so it will be a 6am start sad.png which I think means that we will going through the Thames Barrier in the dark, never done that before!

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Richard Fairhurst Rising Star

Richard Fairhurst

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CaRT? Nowhere to be seen. Why is this? I do feel they should make use of the boat show and try to bring inland boating to peoples attention.

 

The London show costs a great deal to exhibit at: not just the exhibitor space, but staffing it for a week, setting up, transport etc. BW could rarely justify the expense on its own, and I doubt that's changed with CRT.

 

BW did sometimes mount a joint presence with the Environment Agency, the British Marine Federation's inland associations, and so on. But I suspect right now the EA has less marketing budget swilling around than even CRT!

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Water Rat. Rising Star

Water Rat.

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The London show costs a great deal to exhibit at: not just the exhibitor space, but staffing it for a week, setting up, transport etc. BW could rarely justify the expense on its own, and I doubt that's changed with CRT.

 

BW did sometimes mount a joint presence with the Environment Agency, the British Marine Federation's inland associations, and so on. But I suspect right now the EA has less marketing budget swilling around than even CRT!

Perfect for volunteers perhaps?

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LEO Influencer

LEODonate to Canal World

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Sorry, but someone seems to have tried to clone your forum name, and is now called Water_Rat and is posting some pretty stupid comments about CMing in London.

 

I thought W_R was a bit cheeky, no one can replace our WR!!.

 

L

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OldGoat Veteran II

OldGoatDonate to Canal World

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Once upon a time, O best beloved, there was a place towards the end of the Kensington Canal (?) known as The Court of Earls, wherein annually all sorts of folks did congregate to marvel at the diversity of boating products to view and buy:-

Rowing boats,

dinghies,

sailing boats,

river cruisers,

narrow boats (broadbeams hadn't been though of then)

large plastic things

vintage boats,

boats with engines so large that you could only wonder who would use them.

 

Upstairs in the gallery and adjoining halls there were many, many stands selling affordable boaty and other stuff. Not only that but a huge diversity of food and confectionary was on sale at reasonable prices (not to mention the Guinness bar on the ground floor)

 

Everyone loved it -because there was so much to see and do and you could get there by train, bus, even walk

 

It came to pass that the sages at the BMF decided to move the show to the uttermost parts of the city into a large shed where there would be no transport and no "character" to give the show a buzz.

 

So, verily the number of visitors declined over the years and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth by people who were not interested in ginormous "Palazzi di Strega"..

Such a shame.

 

 

 

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Scholar Gypsy Veteran

Scholar Gypsy

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Here's a nice bit of recognition for the IWA, see press release:

 

"The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) has received a special award from the organisers for its loyal attendance at the London Boat Show. IWA was a founder exhibitor when the event was first launched 60 years ago, and hasn't missed a year since."

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David Mack Veteran II

David MackDonate to Canal World

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Everyone loved it -because there was so much to see and do and you could get there by train, bus, even walk

 

It came to pass that the sages at the BMF decided to move the show to the uttermost parts of the city into a large shed where there would be no transport and no "character" to give the show a buzz.

 

 

You still can. The DLR stops right outside . It really is a very accessible part of London these days. See http://www.excel-london.co.uk/visiting-excel/

 

And you can go by boat, which you couldn't to Earls Court. We did the trip in 2006 and 2008.

 

Approaching Excel:

pic045.jpg

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RichardN Proficient

RichardN

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And you can go by boat, which you couldn't to Earls Court. We did the trip in 2006 and 2008.

 

Approaching Excel:

 

 

This year's annual trip is out on Friday leaving Bow at 6am, wind forecast is good so if anyone else wants to take their boat through the Thames Barrier in the dark then I am sure you can still apply for a place via the St Pancras Cruising Club.

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Water Rat. Rising Star

Water Rat.

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Sorry, but someone seems to have tried to clone your forum name, and is now called Water_Rat and is posting some pretty stupid comments about CMing in London.

That is definitely not me! I am 'Water Rat.' Anyway I only ever post very sensible comments.......................

I thought W_R was a bit cheeky, no one can replace our WR!!.

 

L

XX

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Scholar Gypsy Veteran

Scholar Gypsy

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This year's annual trip is out on Friday leaving Bow at 6am, wind forecast is good so if anyone else wants to take their boat through the Thames Barrier in the dark then I am sure you can still apply for a place via the St Pancras Cruising Club.

 

Real time blogging from RichardN here.

 

I have never seen Bow Creek looking so attractive...

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RichardN Proficient

RichardN

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Posted (edited)

Not me Gov, that's Sue that blogs!

But here are some photos, hopefully not too big for people:

 

These are the CrossRail works on the Limmo Peninsula towards the bottom of Bow Creek

 

reduced4-p1030035.jpg?w=1024

 

A view back at the Dome

 

reduced4-p1030060.jpg?w=1024

 

 

Approaching the Thames Barrier

 

reduced4-p1030087.jpg?w=1024

 

There were some great sweet smells coming out of the Tate & Lyle works just past the Barrier on the left. And there were the bacon rolls as we went cruised down the Royal Docks ....

 

Does boating in January get better than this?

Edited by RichardN
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RichardN Proficient

RichardN

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I am perhaps still on a high after a great cruise yesterday morning (such a antidote to the 6 hour work meeting that followed) but here is a link to a set of photos taken by a guest on the first boat with a mobile phone and I think they are stunning. Photos here: http://sdrv.ms/1gUxBDj Phone cameras seen to be close to overtaking dedicated cameras?

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roggie Community Regular

roggie

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Sorry I couldn't join you this weekend! Currently sitting on Salar on the Slough Arm pretending I'm in the Royal docks! the sound of aeroplanes in the background helps a bit. Hope the return goes well, perhaps the weather will be kinder next year for me. Still cruising through London and back in January even for a aborted Thames trip was worthwhile.

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