Saturday 23rd September 2023
As I had not been to the Southampton Boat Show for a few years and the dates conveniently coincided with an Ocean Youth Trust voyage that ended in Southampton I found an AirBnB in Southampton and stayed the extra day.
Gosh what a tired looking show it has become! Tiny in scale when compared with to pre-COVID times. The usually stall holders were either absent or on stalls a third of the size that I saw on my last visit.
I whizzed round the show, spent some time catching up with old friends on stalls and quickly fought my way through the incoming crowd, yes I really was leaving that early and probably saved a small fortune in lunch.
Following the visit I can't ever see a return one.