Southampton Boat Show has something for everyone, with 500 exhibitors and exclusive products. Europe’s largest Show marina attracted a record 127,000 visitors in 2007, and this year – the 40th edition, looks to be just as popular.

History of the show – Southampton has a wealth of maritime history and is the country’s premier cruise port, with more luxury ships arriving and departing than from the rest of the UK put together. The first docks in Southampton were built in 1838. Since then many liners, such as RMS Queen Mary, Aquitania and Queen Elizabeth have had Southampton as their home port.

Southampton Boat Show is an annual boat show held every September since 1969 in Southampton. The Boat Show has been a ten-day event since 1997. Alongside London Boat Show, Southampton Boat Show is one of the two major boating shows in the UK. Both are organised by the British Marine Federation.

Ellen MacArthur sailed into Southampton for the boat show aboard her new trimaron B&Q, one of its first public displays in 2004. The 2005 event featured a makeshift beach with sand being imported to the event. The 2007 event offered the chance to see HMS Bounty, the ship featured in Pirates of the Caribbean. Exhibitors at the Southampton Boat Show consist mostly of boat builders, boat owners, chandlers, sailing companies launching new products.

What to expect – The ‘Try A Boat’ feature is 40% bigger in 2008, and is completely free. The Hydropool Marina is Europe’s largest show marina, covering 3km and holding over 350 vessels. Some of the most famous and historical boats feature at this years show, including Tall Ship Jeanie Johnston, Westerly Oceanranger and Katie Miller’s Yacht Racing – Hot Socks. Ladies Day – 18th September allows visitors to shop and dine on Restaurant SO40 and sip champagne on the Sunseeker Champagne Bar. Also see a special ladies day fashion show. Dinghy Sailing – Children can try dinghy sailing for free at Southampton Boat Show this year. Try the H2O Zone where you can go canoeing, kayaking and dinghy sailing. You can also watch demos by the professionals.

Getting there – The show is open from 10am until 7pm every day

Organisers recommend visitors travel to the show by public transport.

The PSP Southampton Boat Show is located around Mayflower Park/Town Quay, Southampton, SO15 1HJ.

Southampton Bus Station is a 5 minutes walk from the show entrance. The closest bus stops to the Showground are in the Bargate / High Street /T own Quay area. There is a free ‘City Link’ bus that runs between Southampton Central train station and Town Quay which is near Bugle Street every 15 minutes.

Southampton Central is the closet mainline station. Use platform 4 exit to walk to the Boat Show. It’s a 10 min walk to the Showground or you can take the free City Link bus to the Town Quay.

There are 10,000 parking spaces throughout the city centre both in public and privately owned car parks.

Cost – Adult tickets are £17.50 in advance and £20 at the gate Children (5-15) go free with a paying adult 60+, students and disabled visitors pay £15

Having a boat is a lot of fun. You can go fishing with your family and loved ones. But how to take care of your fishing boat is not a lot of fun. You’ll need every little muscle you have because it is a big task. It is better to have a checklist of what to do before you go check the water out with your fishing boat.

Here are some of the tips:

First and foremost, you, being the owner, must know how to clean your boat in a smart way not in a hard way because some owners go beyond when it comes to taking care of their boats. This only means that you should develop a routine effective enough to clean you boat, and be a habit or a ritual before going to the water. They seem to do more time cleaning and polishing the boat than actually spending it on the waters cruising and fishing with their loved ones. It can be said that one important aspect of owning a fishing boat is keeping it clean. You don’t need to spend long, backbreaking hours to keep it looking new. You just need to be equipped with the necessary tools and products that can help you clean your boat efficiently and it must be on a regular basis. It doesn’t hurt having a little bit of the elbow grease because the benefit of this is that you will preserve your boat’s looks and protect your precious fishing boat from the entire ruthless marine setting.

Always do an inspection all throughout the boat. Clean your deck and the entire hull by using a detergent that has a mild cleaning power. A good quality marine wax will do the trick by applying a coat on your boat. Always polish and clean all metal parts of the boat. All hinges, latches and the likes must be lubricated using the best corrosion inhibiting lubricant you can purchase in market.

Your below deck must be checked – like the float switch operation and bilge pump. Not to forget to lubricate and check seacocks.

It must be known that before every trip it is an essential item to check is the batteries. These must be fully charged and the acid is full. Problems only occur because of the over charging of the batteries. The over charging reduces the battery life because it boils out the acid.

Not to forget to throw away wing nuts and junk used lock nuts and the washers on terminals. Check all wiring for deterioration and insulation damage. Always clean, repair or replace all things on your boat. Check gauges and all electrical or electronic units for proper function. Check for extra fuses.

Over a long period of time, bad fuel and oil hoses could cause leaks and let air into the system. By visually inspecting all hoses and connections, you can avoid problems. It is the easiest way to take care of your boat. Just replace the clamp and the hose if any of these come out hard or loose at the connection. When every connection is fixed, pump the fuel and oil bulb up tight and watch out for any drips. The oil line and fuel must be tight.

Before your first trip, always check the engine mounting bolts and steering cables because it is important to ensure they haven’t backed-off. The steering cable should work with ease in both directions. Be sure to grease the cables if it’s difficult to maneuver in either direction. You should change cables if they are still hard to turn even when greased out.

It is good to inspect your lower unit to check for any indications of water in the oil and make certain the oil level is filled.

Haul the propeller and check for any fishing line that may be enveloped around the shaft. This will cause the oil to come out and water to come in because of the cut in the shaft seal. Before you replace the propeller, be sure to lubricate the prop shaft splices.

While on the boat, the very important element to check is the wiring. If it has been eaten by crawling insects, the wiring should need replacing and yet your job is not done, because you can wait for electrical failure or even in a worse scenario, your boat could catch fire if the wires are not carefully checked. Inspect terminals for rust; clean and lubricate.

Different boats require varying amount of care and repair. Boats specifically designed for sightseeing and private charter – i.e. continuous use are generally far more robust with steel hulls, reams of fender and engines capable of continuous operation.

Prettier boats on the Thames in London generally require more attention to remain looking so! Wooden hulls require more frequent maintenance and less fenders, and rubbing strips mean more opportunities for damage to be caused. The small RIB’s are great having basically inflated tubes around them, but hit one of them to hard and it will be punctured…

Fibreglass is about the worst material as it is light and easily scored, broken and shattered. This means where most boats can take the odd nudge here and there and come away with merely a few grazes a fibreglass hull tends to require a lot more attention!

Grounding can also cause obvious problem with a hull and propulsion system especially if their isn’t protection built into the boats hull.

The more traditional type of propulsion, i.e. a propeller, has occasional problems picking up stray ropes which then wind themselves around the boats prop shaft often melting into a lovely lump before halting the prop!

Waterjets are a very safe and powerful means of propulsion used on all shapes and sizes of craft from the London Jet Boat, which does spins and zips about the river, through to the river buses continuously serving London’s commuters. The nature of a water jet is that it sucks in water and pumps it out to create drive for the vessel which of course means any floating debris also gets sucked in. This can cause problems when for example a log or plastic lid gets wedged in the inlet and restricts water flow. Often back flushing can solve, but when it is well and truly wedged divers are required. In fact divers have a lot of action on the river.

Generally these problems rarely cause affect to clients on charter and crew are well trained in dealing with almost any situation including things like loss of steering, electrical faults and loss of power.

In-terms of annual maintenance boats generally go to dry dock where they are taken out of the water and given a full overhaul including re-painting inside and out, deep cleaning, new fender and rubbing strips as well as inspections to ensure all is well both above and below the water line. Often refits such as new wash rooms and new dance floors are also done during the dry docking period.

The boats on the river Thames in London are among the best kept in the World. Europe’s legislation on standards and safety are led by that of the boats on the Thames in London. You can be assured you are in one of the safest places in the World when aboard a Thames passenger boat!

When it comes to boating, it is worth to note that it is even possible for people to build them at home. There are several ways available by which you can build them at home. Among several ways available, the best way is the Internet. There are several sites on the net providing you the guide on how to make the boating accessories and even the whole masterpiece on your own. You can have these guides or books even for free and with the help of them you can prepare your own boat. But before starting to prepare them, there are several things that are important to consider. You should understand very clearly, that the thing you are going to prepare is not just a toy rather it is an asset that is going to prove helpful afterwards, even in the long run. The safety measure is the most important point to consider while preparing it as else it can lead to severe problems. Another important thing to consider is to make sure to use only the best quality material and the last but not the least, it is important to understand each and every thing that is written in the guide and then only you should start accordingly.

So in this way, you can prepare several boating accessories at home. Boating is even proving as a great business now-a-days. People prepare various boating accessories and sell them in the market and they get good profits from them. There are several events organized that are helpful in bringing the business up. Every year many popular events are organized to make this business more attractive and successful. These are events that are considered to be a paradise of boating. In these events you can find everything related to boating and even you can buy or sell the second hand boating accessories. There are several good names associated with boating when it comes to selling used vessels that are sold here. In such an event the dealers get benefited by having the best return for their money and the buyers get the benefit of having good utility thing at less cost. It is the success of such events only that they are said to earn the maximum amount of revenue. So, if you are a boating lover and want to have the best pleasure of boating, then you must look for such boating events.

Gaining a comprehensive knowledge of boat motors is important, as it allows you to decipher what is wrong in case of malfunction. Recognizing a problem early on will allow you to avoid both physical and financial risk.

All three parts of a boat motor must be kept in good shape. If either the engine, propeller, or drive system fail to work properly, the motor will not run.

The drive system on motor boats may be inboard, outboard, or inboard/outboard (also known as a stern drive). The drive system controls the transfer of the engine’s power to the water and directs the thrust. An outboard system places all parts of the motor together in a housing located on the outside of the boat.

The entire unit swivels to change direction. The outboard motor is lightweight, often portable, and takes up little to none of the boat’s interior space. However, the weight of the motor can cause the boat to ride low at the stern and the cutout space where the motor is carried can make the boat prone to taking water in that location.

An inboard drive system moves the engine inside the boat, close to the center of the hull. The inboard location of the engine creates better balance in the boat. However, the inboard engine is generally heavier than the outboard system and critical interior space is reduced.

In a stern drive, or inboard/outboard motor, the engine is located inside the boat as with an inboard system. However, the rest of the motor is located outboard. This minimizes the loss of interior space while maintaining the balance and low center of gravity of the inboard system. The major disadvantage to this system is that the motor is more complicated, and therefore more prone to failure, than either the inboard or outboard motor.

The engine is perhaps the most important decision that must be made about motor boats. The most popular engine is the four-cycle internal combustion gasoline engine. This type of engine is sufficient for any boat up through a mid size family cruiser.

The engine is roughly equivalent to that of a heavy-duty truck engine. Remember that a gasoline engine must always be well ventilated to prevent fire or explosion. Two cycle engines are still available and are quite lightweight, but require adding oil to the mix. They tend to smoke and leak and are no longer considered ideal.

Diesel engines are in many ways superior to gasoline engines and are the engine of choice for large ships and commercial vessels, as well as some versions of the sports boat. They burn more cleanly and won’t explode. However, the initial cost is much higher than that of a gasoline engine.

The final component in most boat motors is the propeller. At one time, choosing the proper propeller was a mysterious art best left to professionals. Now it is possible to choose your own. Propeller selection is still complicated, and it is best to consult with a professional or discuss your choices with experienced boat owners in a boat forum.

Take the time to make yourself familiar with boat motors. Doing so will allow you to successfully combine the components you need for a smooth running boat. If there is something you do not know about boat motors, consult an expert.

However for enjoying boating there are several things that the person should keep in mind. They are as under:

To begin with the first and the most important point you need to take care is of the safety. For enjoying boating it is important that the boat you are using is of better quality and all the boat parts are purchased from the genuine store.
Like boat parts are important, in the same manner there are several accessories that are considered very important while you plan boating. Some very useful accessories include Personal Flotation Device (PFD), sunscreen, sunglasses, Wetsuits etc.
Another important thing to consider is to bring all the safety kits with you while boating. It is sometimes possible that because of any problem in any of the boat parts you can get into serious problem. So it is important to keep some of the important spare boat parts as well as repairing tools in handy so as to prevent problem afterwards.
It is important to have some knowledge of application or the use of some of the boat parts. It is so because in the event of small problems you can do the repairing by your own.
If you are along with your kids, it is important to make your child or children wear Personal Flotation Device. It is often seen that some people ignore this advice and that results in tragedy afterwards.
To wear PFD is not all sufficient, it is also important that it should be of proper size.

These are some of the points that are important to keep in mind if you want to experience the real charm of boating. It is also clear from the above points that boat parts play a very important role to help you enjoy boating with full pleasure.

So, it is very important to buy best quality boat parts as well as other accessories from the best store.

WaterwayStore is one such place from where you can get the best quality boat parts as well as other useful accessories. There are several reasons why you must buy boat parts as well as other boating and fishing accessories from WaterwaySores. Some of the reasons are listed below:

Large collection: The best part while shopping at WaterwayStore is that here you would find the largest collection of the boat parts as well as boating accessories. In addition you can also have all what is required to enjoying fishing.
Reasonable price: Another reason why to shop at WaterwayStore is that, it not only provides the best as well as the unique collection rather it also offers the best prices.
Reliability: Reliability is another factor that makes it necessary for the people to come to WaterwayStore. If it is the case of boat parts or the pre-owned boats; one can totally rely on WaterwayStore for best products.
Goodwill: What matters most for WaterwayStore is the goodwill. So they are more interested in customer’s satisfaction than to earn money.

So above are some the points that clear why WaterwayStore is the premium choice for most of the people.