Some inland boats will be located in the same place in the North Hall paying full normal show rates with no subsidy from NBS, he said.

‘But we need the narrowboats back at ExCeL, so outside in the dock there will be inland waterway craft on pontoon moorings at a cost of £1,000 for each boat,’ Rimmer told me. ‘Since announcing this to the trade, most spaces are taken – 15 narrowboats, three wide beam boats and a pair of hotel boats are already booked in. The Association of Pleasure Craft Operators (APCO) will also be outside and there will be an adjacent information centre with some hospitality.’

We are looking for outside sponsorship from the major players in the industry - not from NBS – for the pontoons and the transport to the show, although it is hoped that many boats will come down by water Rimmer went on.

The other major phase of the operation is to bring down 20 to 30 traditional ex-working narrowboats to London, offering owners free moorings in the dock and other benefits, to create a further colourful spectacle.

As at the waterway shows, they will do a parade of boats around the dock, maybe not every day, but certainly at weekends.

‘We are asking for assistance from NBS for this,’ he explained. ‘It’s hoped that the historic boats and some of the trade entries will come down to the docks in convoy to create maximum publicity for the show.’

Inside the show there will be big screens showing what’s happening in the dock and leaflets will be handed out to encourage visitors to go outside. he whole object will be major publicity for the ExCeL show using the byeline: ‘The greatest collection of narrowboats in London Docks since the War’.

British Waterways (BW) has offered logistical support and although it probably won’t interest the Sunseeker buyer, we want to encourage the visitors who normally go to Crick and the IWA National and the public with an interest in waterways, to come down to London, said Rimmer. In effect we want to bring back narrowboats, a central feature and help ExCeL 2008 to go with a zing.

Anyone wishing to be involved can contact Ed Rimmer on 01386 421281 or 422118.