It's an oft cited legend within the dating world that if you want to find a Saturday that will remain dry, find out when the next Original Dating Boat Party is.
Last year was perhaps our greatest triumph. The Jubilee Boat party was the Saturday prior to the Jubilee itself. We got 27 degrees and blazing sunshine. The Queen? Let's just say she didn't.
Our last boat party, replete with 200 balloons, 50 prizes and 250 singles did make us think, for a short time, that perhaps we'd fallen out with the great one in the sky. A grey sky threatened to unleash something wet upon us as we arrived at 11am to set up. But as people arrived around 1:30pm she decided to be kind after all and opened a lovely bottle of sunshine in our honour, yet again.
So we set sail, past the Houses of Parliament and then out through the city, viewing the Tate Modern and the Shard, under Tower Bridge and East to the Millennium Dome. Locks were opened by various keys, prizes were handed out, matches were made and the band didn't play Waltzing Matilda.
People tried out mini speed dating sessions on the bottom floor, much dancing was done on the top floor and plenty of people simply lounged on the large outdoor sun deck. I believe the word I'm looking for is triumphant.
If you haven't been to one of our boat parties before, you really should. The ice breaker is very straight forward. Guys get two keys and girls get a lock. Meet as many people as possible and see if you can unlock each other. If you do, come to us and enter a prize draw lucky dip for one of 50 prizes. Win or not, you get a new lock or set of keys and off you go again.
So there you have it. And due to popular demand, we'll be running more large events this year than ever before while still holding our regular weekly speed date nights. If you've ever been to one of our events before, we'll make sure you're kept up to date and if you haven't, keep an eye on our website and sign up to our email updates.
See you all soon. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Here's a glimpse into our May boat party. Warning we made the vid ourselves so it's a little cheesy!
WORDS BY JOHN DAVIS