Day 1: Scoping out boot Düsseldorf

- January 23, 2020

One of the entrances

Yacht silver and wood accessories

We arrived early Saturday morning, our flight from Dublin having departed at 7 am - ungodly. We'd spent the night at the Clayton at Dublin Airport and left our car there. It's a two-hour flight and one-hour time difference, so we were in Düsseldorf precisely at 10 am, took a train to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express - won't stay there again, but it was popular with boat show attendees and exhibitors), dropped off luggage and took another train to the boat show. We didn't know the lay of the land yet but hopped a tram, got off when others did and ended up at exactly the right place to check-in with Press credentials.

Hall 17 - big sail boats

German Frers' Euphoria

We then went in search of boats. Hall 15 first, Hall 16, then Hall 17. We quickly learned we needed to sign up for an appointment to view the yachts. Our primary objective was the see the Ovni, the Allure and the Garcia, boats we knew were available in the 40-foot range with lifting keels. That's our next boat aspiration. All three were there. We didn't know there was a Southerly on-site also or we would have booked that, too. It was impossible to get aboard on Saturday. Too much demand. So we arranged to see them on Sunday.

Saturday we managed to get aboard German Frers' new venture, one of the Euphoria luxury yachts. We walked right past German himself, although I wasn't certain at the time. I wish I had shaken his hand and told him how much we had loved his Frers 41. The Euphoria was stunning but just a bit out of our price bracket.

We had lunch in Hall 16 and having arrived just before 1 pm, stood in line for ages awaiting a chance for a sandwich, which happened to be very good. Then back to the show. We scoped out the next few exhibit halls and found that they were chockablock with water sports equipment. We roamed around ogling the foiling kiteboards and torpedo-like motor scooters.

Radical new Swan club racer

Alex with the Swan's keel

Catamarans were very popular

We were worn out by 4 and decided we'd been awake long enough - since 4:30 am. So we asked how best to get to the Altstadt, or old city. We were told to hurry because a football match was just about to finish and after that, the crowds would be enormous. We made it to a pub in Altstadt just in time and got ourselves a tabletop to hang onto while a waiter brought us beer after beer. It was a lovely creamy local craft beer served from battered old barrels. So cool. They continue to bring beer and mark your coaster until you cover your glass with your coaster and they calculate your tab.

We decided to stay there for dinner and got one of the last two seats. They seat you wherever there is space and you ask permission of those already seated. It was a good menu, and we ordered more beer. I had a special slow-cooked beef from cattle fed on the malt dregs from the brewery. Delicious. Alex had his matjas which he has talked about for 20 years. Cold herring in a cream sauce served with warm potatoes and bacon bits. A couple of schnapps later, we were on our way home. Just a few stops on the train.

We had a drink at the 'bar' at the hotel and the guy charged us more than €30 for two double-vodkas. Highway robbery. Never again. We slept well that night.