Februari 6th was the start of the Belgian Boat Show 2010.  The days before, Bert and Glenn worked hard to prepare the Felicity II-part of the Longitude stand but after a late night of work on Friday, that Saturday morning everything was perfectly arranged for the third Belgian Boat Show visit of Felicity II.

We would like to thank the hundreds of visitors we welcomed on our stand during the 9 days of the show.  Many people listened in awe as we enthusiastically told our story of our past adventures and were amazed that Bert is planning to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in such a small boat.  The was even paid a visit by some boat-builders and naval architects.  Some were even offering their services for the project beyond 2011 ...

Friday February 12th, the 'Nacht van de Yachting', the Boat Show was open until 22h.  That night, the Longitude stand was extremely crowded.  Not only did we organize a reception, but so did the Tall Ships Races , Zachte Kracht  and Sailing for MS .  And Maxime Huard , another Belgian sailor with the ambition to sail the Transat 650 in 2011 also presented his project to the public.

Amidst of all this buzz we did find the time to present the program of 2010 to the big crowd present that night.  Also, Jan Parys from Soresma addressed the public, announcing their support for the project.  Hugo Callens from Elegis took the word as well and enthusiastically explained why Elegis as a law firm supports the Sailing Across!-project.

During the Belgian Boat Show we took the opportunity of the boat being in a warm and dry surrounding to continue the winter maintenance of the boat.  The keel was in quite a bad shape, but after a few meters of sanding paper and a few grams it now is in very good shape again.  Two layers of primer, with in between another few meters of sanding paper for optimum smoothness, were applied to the hull as well.

Sunday February 14th (yes, that is Valentines day ...) the Belgian Boat Show came to an end.  At 18h00 the doors closed for the visitors and the gates of the halls opened for the exhibitors to leave.  We had improvised a spray paint cabin around the boat and during the next lung-poisoning hour and a half we applied a first layer of antifouling.  While that layer was drying we started taking down the stand.  At 21h30 a second layer was spray painted on the hull and we started preparing the boat for transportation.

A quick snack later we were probably the last people to leave Flanders Expo that night.  At 23h30 we set off to Nieuwpoort, where some final chores would be performed on the boat before leaving for France.  Driving the 2-ton trailer behind our modest mini-van through the fresh snow that night was no sinecure, but at 2h00 we managed to get there.  3h00: back in Ghent, where Glenn finds out that the lock to his appartment is blocked.  4h00, Bert arrives home in Antwerp.  7h00: alarm clock sounding.  8h30: at our desk, trying to concentrate on our job ...

That way the 2010 Belgian Boat Show came to an exhausting but satisfying climax.

A big thanks goes out to the hundreds of visitors to our stand during those 9 days.  Also, without the support of the people from the other Longitude exhibitioners, things would have been a lot less enjoyable.  Falke, Dorien, Marlies, Katrien, Karlien and Pieter: thanks for your help during the reception on Friday!

Last but not least, we would also like to thank Pit De Jonghe, without whom we would not even have had the chance to be at the Boat Show!