Dear Islander,
Well I thought the new London Boat Show at the new location, in the docks at Custom House, a great success and from speaking to a couple of people from Mallorca they certainly agree.
You can´t argue with the figures, with an estimated 213,500 visitors compared to the figure released at Earls Court last year of 145,000 people, this represents a staggering upturn of 47%!
My reservations regarding the floating exhibited yachts on the Thames outside the Excell centre were confirmed as, on the pre-view day it was very miserable, very windy and wet- bloody awful!
However other reports say that on the good days it looked fine and I was reminded by at least one broker that if someone shows interest in a boat in grim weather he’s likely to be a very hot punter!
The only drawback I could see (and was voiced) is that accommodation next to Excell is not too hot and in the evening the area dies a death.
I would suggest that a hotel in central London and commuting in and out of the docklands is best.
One visitor stayed at and recommends the Tower Hotel which is very convenient for the tube and docklands light railway straight to the show with the added bonus of the river ferry, again straight to the show.
As you will see from the front cover story the inevitable is happening on the costas with increased prices due to the impending America’s Cup developments- oh dear all this could have been here!
It’s unbelievable that Malta can get away with a reduced VAT liability just before joining the EEC (page article in news section) but it appears to be perfectly legal and I’m sure that if I was in the market to flag or re-flag a boat I’d be very interested indeed!
On the subject of saving money, if anyone is heading to Greece the letter from Gouvia marina will be of interest.
This month will prove very interesting around the Palma Boat Yard as the Junta del Puerto are releasing the new bases for the concession that Boat Yard Palma holds until later this year. I hear there will be a number of sealed bids being prepared.
Lastly, referring to the front page story in the last issue, I would like to make it plain that these ´frauds´ relate to the marinas controlled directly by the Balearic port authority and not the private ´concessioned´ clubs such as RCNP, Club de Mar, Puerto Portals, Alcudiamar, RCN Pollensa etc. where it is perfectly legal to sell and rent the moorings privately.
Regards
John Rule