A dozen TMYC-ers got up very early (well for me anyways, and not even a tide to catch) to board a BA flight from Heathrow to Dusseldorf.. Everything was very seemless with us arriving at the boat show for lunchtime. Especially good that some ‘temporary’ members – Paul and Marnel from the RYA courses came with us. Marnel’s Dad, Alan Waters, has been a member for years.

Well, what a lot of boats!! This boat show has some 17 halls. It had enough Sunseekers to fill a marina, more propellers than the Channel on a busy day and enough pictures of sailing boats to fill the National Gallery. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little but you get the general gist.

After the boat show we meandered to our hotel. Unfortunately when we arrived they had a ‘technical problem’ and the water was ‘off’ until 5pm! We decided to wander the local streets. The hotel was at a major crossroads on the outskirts of the city. The nearest shop was Woolworths! There was a little kiosk/bar on the edge of the hotel. We bought our bottle of water and got back in time for the water to come back on. Things got even better when most of us decided it had been a long day and a meal in the hotel was favourite. The food was great.