We spent our time progressing the clearing up of the boat and preparing it for winter, albeit with the ongoing entertainment of the boat show build going on around us. Monday morning saw a step up in activity levels from the exhibitors, with many more inhabiting their stalls. The entrance road was complete chaos with boats being delivered, and then the trailers that were were on being pushed out, sometime by hand. There were also a remarkable number of diesel engines being delivered and set up on the stands, all requiring heavy lifting equipment of one sort or another.
On Monday evening we went out to eat with Marco, and he gave us a lot of information about the show. Apparently it started as a kind of boat jumble for the residents of the marina, and just grew and grew. Then one of the other local shows started to get expensive, so both exhibitors and the public stopped going. Now the Biograd show is the largest in central Europe having capitalised on the demise of its local rival. It must bring a lot of business into the town.
On Tuesday the activity level picked up another few gears, with people rushing to be finished before the carpet went down along the main arm of the marina. Once this happens you can't take vehicles over it any more.
Over these days, we watched as many of the charter boats were moved out to other marinas and demonstration boats arrived. Some were boats were moved from behind us, which gave us a much better view out to the islands for a while, but then other boats were brought in and we lost it again. The various pontoon bridges were put into action, and one that seemed to be finished had to be moved away again as not all of the boats that needed to be within it had arrived.
Wednesday, the show opened and all of a sudden there were a many more people about. We are amused to people watch a bit. There were all sorts, from couples with babies in push chairs, dreaming of having a boat, to an older couple, him in blazer, white trousers and white shoes, and her in an evening dress and stilettos. One of the greatest points of interest seemed to be the fireboat that is moored right next to us. Even though it is not part of the show, many folks stopped to look at it.
We decided that if we pushed on, we could finish closing up the boat and putting the cover on, and move to the apartment that we have for the next couple of days. This would give us Thursday to visit the show just like any other punters, there are a few things that we want to investigate. Putting the cover on is a bit of a challenge, as we have to remove the passerelle first and show it before the cover is fitted. This means that until some kind sole loans us a plank, I am marooned on the boat. Anyway, we have carefully measured the distance form the boat to the shore, to ensure that one of the available passerelles would reach, which it did perfectly.
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| Another candidate for my questionable boat name competition |
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Miles 2022 – 1478
Steve (and Tricia)
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