Hordes of sailors, motorboaters, fishermen and landlubbers alike made their way to the Beaulieu Boatjumble on Sunday to browse an astonishing range of items on sale and bag a bargain.

According the organisers, 10,815 people passed through the gates – a 10% increase on last year and the show’s best year since 2003.

Here’s a letter fromm PBO readers Michael and Ruth Green that sums it up rather nicely…

The Beaulieu Boatjumble is a curiously addictive social occasion, which on arrival feels more like a music festival.

We followed a stream of visitors, all of them armed with nothing more than a spring in their step, and watched them leave like refugees laden with engine blocks, rusty hand drills, coils of rope, grubby fenders and boxes of assorted electronics from an era well before GPS.

In the intervening hours we met up with old friends, nealy bought a bugle and overheard a stall-hokder describe a reproduction diver’s helmet as Better than the original as it has never been wet!’ He took it home with him.

We bought a second-hand extending boathook from the RNLI stand for £5 and returned home very pleased with our bargain purchase and mildly charitable gesture.

As we mused over our day my wide calculated that the true cost of our bargain came to an eye-watering £52.50: entrance fee, diesel, bacon rolls, coffees, then lunch. Plus two halves of bitter, and three RNLI raffle tickets. Can’t wait until next year!

Michael and Ruth Green

Cowes, Isle of Wight

Ed says: We enjoyed it too! Our PBO stand was busy all day, thanks to everyone who cmae to say hello, take out a subscription or buy bits of PBO boating ephemera.

Can you spot yourself in our Beaulieu Boatjumble picture gallery?