Unfortunately, all they could show us at the presentation was a series of proposals and sketches, none of which had been put before the board, so we're not sure if they will see the light of day. Hopefully they will.

Pyne's "Island Nation" theme relies a lot on lighthouses and, extra to our front page story, is the suggestion that the theme might include a replica lighthouse "complete with viewing deck offering panoramic views of the show". Sounds good, doesn't it?

Pyne is keen to bring interactive features into the show. And he's keen to bring an element of education into the show. He reckons this is not catering only to beginners and says there are a lot of experienced boating people out there who may have trouble anchoring and tying knots who will find his ideas fresh to look at and fun to learn from.

I'm looking forward to seeing if his desire to bring back the "age old tradition of kite fishing" really works . . .

It's also excellent news that NBS seems, at last, to have been able to get the Guinness Bar replenished from underneath, which is the only way it can be put in the middle of the North Hall.

And I hope the Inland Waterways people - and the 37% of visitors who come to see the feature - find its home taking up the east end of the North Hall works for them. There's no waterways pub, though, which I find disappointing.

The disappearance of the East Hall is good for a couple of reasons.

First, it cost NBS over £720k each year, which is money much better spent elsewhere - in the proposed £2m promotional budget, maybe.

Second, it leaves space for ExCeL to go ahead with its long awaited Phase 2. Jamie Buchan, ExCeL CEO, told me the development - likely to cost between £90 and £100m - has already been briefed out to Grimshaws, a top architectural firm. He expects to go for detailed planning at the end of this year, then on to final costings, which then leads to the search for funding.

If we get the support in terms of future use, we'll continue and build it, " he told me.

And what of the original plan to build Phase 2 with a ceiling high enough for boats to be displayed fully rigged, I asked?

"It's certainly an option we are exploring, " said Buchan.

All will become clear in October or November this, year, he added, which is when he expects to have the outlines of the development.

So where are we now? Well, we've all made our points pretty forcefully over the past three years. And it seems - at long last - there are people up there listening to us.

So now we have two courses of action.

We can sit back and sneer, willing it to fail, waiting for the inevitable.

Or we can applaud all those execs and non-execs who have pushed things on at a tremendous pace.

And we can get right behind them and help them get this London Boat show back on the road.