Remember the Beale Park Boat Show of the last two years? We had little boats bobbing about the lake with so many interesting things going on and afloat. Remember there were only the small boats we like and none of the others?

Well, they are doing it again and once again the DCA will be there. But we need volunteers to come along, get in free, see the show and do the teeniest bit of manning of the stand. And we need boats. Lots of boats. In the water and on the land. Different boats like a Roamer, usual modern boats, heavy boats, light boats. We can have as many as we like and we don’t pay any more. (“You can’t have a boat show without boats,” the organiser told us, “so we thought, why don’t we encourage people to bring them by not asking them to pay extra for the additional space they take up?”)

The dates are 10th-13th May, although boats can be set up the evening before. The location is on the Thames near Reading.

We exhibited for the first time during ’99. We found it not only successful from the DCA’s point of view, but enjoyable from the exhibitors and visitors angle. We will need boats plus volunteers to man the stand over these four days. If you would like your boat to be on show, or if you can spare some time to help talk to folk about our activities, or if you simply intend to go to the exhibition and are prepared to spare some part of the day to help us, then please get in touch with Ted Jones on 01279 652581 or Roger Barnes on 01749 890723. It’s easy to get there, being near J12 on the M4. Camping facilities are available for exhibitors — or you can sleep aboard if you prefer. Any help you can give or time you can spare will be much appreciated — and you’ll enjoy it — promise!