Friday 11th September and the start of Southampton Boat Show, so it was down to business for some of us. Simon was at Goodwood Revival for the long weekend and I was at the show, luckily I had Dick Pizey on hand to help me for two days, as he enjoyed helping me at London, he agreed to come along and see how the two shows differ.
We had a good first day, with a few orders for accessories taken.
Saturday 12th
The sun was shining, and many people were coming through the gates. Sam Llewellyn come over to say "hello" to us. It is always lovely to hear stories from past and present Drascombe owners.
The delightful Brad visited the show today, along with several thousands of other visitors.
In the evening, Dick and I met with Chris and Fiona Jeckells for an early celebratory 1st anniversary meal at TGI Fridays, even before leaving I had a swift G&T, followed by a lovely cocktail with my meal, and some wine later, now for those who know me, I am not a drinker, however after starting to learn to sail, things soon changed. The evening was fun filled and lots of laughing, even a few tears with laughing from yours truly, looks like there will be a repeat next year.
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| The naughty step |
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| Dick on a Lugger |
Oh we did have some fun when we went to TGI Fridays with some friends
Sunday 13th
Dick headed home to earn some brownie points, while Stewart was at the show before me to put the sails up, and get the stand ready, yes, I had a slight headache, but still had a smile on my face.
Hannah and. Matt, along with Lauren and Kyle come along to the show, it is lovely to think that our girls come along to the show, even after all of these years, there is still lots for them to see. Now we have the next generation with Kyle, this is his second Southampton Boat Show.
Looks like Kyle was having some fun at the show
Some interesting enquiries, sun shining but a quiet afternoon of visitors through the gate.
Monday 14th
Simon was back from Goodwood, and was straight down to the show, this was a welcome break for me, as I had plenty of office work to do.
Tuesday 15th
It is great how Simon and I can share the workload of the show, after being at London for five days earlier this year, it certainly gave me the confidence to get out there and talk to the people who are
interested in these lovely boats, I have even been told that I have really come out of myself since taking up sailing, nice compliments, but I am still me at the end of the day, happy and smiling and have time to listen to all the stories. Hannah along with Joe and Alisdair visited me today.
Todays visitors were Niall and Nigel Wardrop from Scotland and members of the DA
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| Niall, Me and Nigel |
Tonight we went out with some other exhibitors, Alex, Birgitta, Ronan, Ian, Simon, Sandy along with Hannah, Lauren, Kyle and Simon, we had a lovely meal at an Indian restaurant, socialising is so much fun, with lots of laughs.
Wednesday 16th
Sadly, not the best of days to be at a boat show, the rain kept lots of people away from the show.
Thursday 17th
Weather has improved, but attendance is still down. Martin joined Simon today on the stand.
At the yard, we have been busy with refurbishment work on a Lugger which we collected from and will be delivering back to Scotland when completed.
In the evening the girls joined us, along with Nick, Fleur, Ross and Lyndsey for a meal out, we have made some great friends during our time at the boat shows over the years, and it is always lovely to be able to spend an evening with them.
Friday 18th
Hard to believe that we are one week into the show. I joined Simon on the stand today and there were a fair few people coming through the gates.
We spent some time talking to one of our customers, James Landale, James is Deputy Political Editor for the BBC, and was telling us of the enjoyment his family have with their Lugger.
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| James Landale |
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| Rum and Ginger Beer time !! |
Ahh, today I am looking after Kyle while Mummy works, so it is down to the boat show.
For a 13 month old little boy, he is certainly easy to entertain, and always smiling.
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| Someone is being cheeky today |
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| Kyle has packed his bag and is going around doing quality control on the boats, to find which one he likes the most. |
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| 3 men on the naughty step today |
I took him down to the pontoon as I was interested in the new Shrimper 21 ( after Dick come back
drooling over the brochure last week) we saw Peter and after asking him to hold Kyle, we got on the boat to have a good look around, and was pleasantly surprised. It certainly has been thought about, especially with supplying what the customer wants. Time to go back to the drawing board, maybe it is about time there was a new Drascombe.
The afternoon was busy, with some very good enquiries.
Sunday 20th
The last day, and some are feeling a little uhh, too much drink Alex :-)
All of the excitement of the past 10 days must have caught up with me, as I fell asleep in the chair, hoping I wasn't seen, but too late, a few photos were taken, oh dear, this could be fun!
With a good amount of accessories sold, a brokerage boat sold, several boats booked in for winter work, or refurbishment, we can safely say we had a good show. Now to the office on Monday to type up quotes, and obtain a few shipping prices.
With the boat all packed up, and the stand dismantled, it is all over for another year.
Thanks to all the customers, new, old and potential for coming and talking to us, I walked into the show with a smile every day, and left each evening the same. A smile and a friendly "hello" do not cost anything.
Here's to London in January 2016
Sharon xx
This was left outside our stand on Sunday morning. Just because I was not at the show for 9am, it didn't mean that I was not working from 7am answering emails. I do love the Scottish humour.
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