Boat Show

Yesterday we went to the London Boat Show at ExCel in Docklands. To be honest, there wasn't much to see for narrowboaters, although we did have a good look round the chandlery, clothing, engines, and electricals. There were a few narrowboats (including two OwnerShips boats) outside in the Royal Victoria Dock, dwarfed by vast Sunseeker gin palaces and (even more) by HMS Westminster. The dock is a huge body of water, and the view west towards Canary Wharf and the City is fantastic.

Once we'd seen all we wanted to, we repaired to the more comfortable surroundings of a hotel bar just across the square for a cup of tea, before meeting up with Richard and Sue from Indigo Dream. They travelled in convoy down the Thames to the dock at the start of the show, and were moored at the western end.

We spent a very pleasant hour-and-a-half or so with Richard and Sue (and Lou and Blue) chatting about a whole range of topics including their tidal trips on both the Thames and the Severn, and (it goes without saying) toilets. It was great to meet them, having read the blog for so long.

It was dark by the time we left the boat, and we caught the DLR from Royal Victoria back to Canning Town, then the tube to Canary Wharf, where we'd booked a hotel. Today, we've been doing some more exploring and lots of walking, but more about later in another post.