Malanka

Today was the day that Charlie had to leave us and so it was with sadness that we dropped the canopy started the engine, applied sunscreen and headed back to Stalham to drop her in time for her to get home in good time for rest before school the next morning. The trip through Horning and up the Ant was taken at a steady two donkeys as the journey wouldn’t take that long and we weren’t in a big rush. Fiona and I had decided to see what we could do with regard to a wild mooring later that night and so as we progressed up the Ant we were ticking off all our favourite wild moorings and seeing if the same boat was in there from when we came down on Friday. As usual johnny crows staithe was occupied by the same boat (again) which didn’t come as a huge surprise as this is now such a regular ocurrence. Arriving back in Salham in glorious sunshine, Fiona and I said goodbye to Charlie and then we headed off to Stalham for a spot of shopping. Fresh supplies of coleslaw in the fridge, some more beer and wine in the storage area (secret) we were ready for the off. We said goodbye for a few more days to the guys in the yard and off we were. The plan was for Fiona and I to have a couple of days together and then for her to leave and go visit with Helena and Eliza in Stevenage. Therefore a wild mooring in the glorious afternoon sun was just what the doctor ordered and so we set off with a will to make it happen. Spring sunshine means a mooring on the downriver port side bank, even with all the tree thinning that has been done over the last few seasons. We looked, we pootled and then we moored up in a glorious spot just upriver from Johnny Crows staithe (yes same boat was still there..) Fiona and I sat back, read our books and had a little sipette or two of vino in the lovely afternnon and evening sun. One negative aspect of this mooring was the speed which some boats used through this section, so a couple of times we were bobbing about like an apple in a barrel, so much so that I had to deploy floating fenders against the muddy bank to prevent us hitting it as huge white 45 feet long vessels surged past. After the third such episode, I then took to waving them down and asking them to slow down, some did, and some didn’t make eye contact and just kept going. As the afternoon turned into another fantastic Norfolk evening the frequency of passers by grew less and we could really relax into the evening. We added some tunes to the ambience and just had the most marvellous evening together. As the sun set the temperature plunged and it was soon time to put the top up descend below, sit in the stern well seats and start dinner. We were going to head back to Coltishal tomorrow so we retired early, said goodbye to the world and went to sleep to Silence… was amazing. Coltishal was a good choice as Fiona would be leaving on Wednesday so it would be possible to moor up in Wroxham in the Wroxham Boat hire moorings and watch the world go by a bit later. Our trip to Coltishal was super, the weather was again superb and we loved every minute of the trip up and back down again the following day. On returning to Wroxham we didn’t stop before the bridge we just went straight through, I dropped Fiona at the Boat hire mooring and pre-paid a mooring for later with the guys there and spent the day pootling about by myself before returning at 3pm or so to moor up. After a little bit of moving about we were settled in and relaxing watching the world go by. A special thank you to the guys at Wroxham boat hire for being so understanding and helping me with the canopy which is more than a one man job. Charlie from BA and I had been texting for a few days due to the her maintenance period so I sent him a text inviting him for Fish and Chips from kens a little later in the day. He being a true Yorkshireman agreed, turned up and then bought me my supper. What a gent. Charlie and I chatted for what seemd like 5 minutes but eventually at 11 pm he had to leave and I went to dispose of the trash whilst he went to his van to return to the shed. These moorings in Wroxham are super, the guys there are super and very helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay which will definitely not be my only visit there this summer. The next day I was up and away for 9 am and I simply pootled to Salhouse to drop a mudweight to have some breakfast and chill whilst deciding what to do. I would be solo so no bridges for a while. Fiona had sent me a text with this in the content. I thought that would be a good thing to particpate in and so I made that my goal for my last day floating. After breakfast I bimbled over to Womack for some more mudweighting and relaxing. The hole thing was lovely, remembering at all times of course to have life jacket on when on deck, and maintaining three points of contact at all times and not rushing, and pulling the lines to the central position to facilitate mooring and learning that when solo you do everything, so my fitbit step count went through the roof the day Fiona left, I mean literally trippled. Just goes to show what she does when there. For the rest of the week, I visited all our favourite spots including Acle bridge, Salhouse and all points in between. Ranworth And I even met a few old friends. On the day of the Blackhorse celebration we even managed to make the EDP…. It was soon time to go and head home and it was at that point that reality sank back in on a dreary morning in Rotterdam. I finally made it home after a silly ten hour journey where roads were closed and I had huge queues (Stau) and Umleitungen (diversions) up the wazoo. I made it home tired but eager for my next boating fix.. The spring meet…See you there…. Apologies for the condensed version of the last five days but I simply ran out of time as I am now packing for the spring meet..

The guidelines have changed at least three times in four years whereas the law hasn’t changed in decades. Don’t forget the guidelines can be changed as the result of a committee meeting. Personally I choose the law not interpretation documents liable to variable interpretation depending on which person to whom you speak. That’s simply my view. Our boat is fully compliant with both documents, the law and the guidelines. But not because we have changed over the years with each guidance document but precisely because we haven’t. M

Just do as they say ( they are not asking)? Really? Why not simply comply with the law? That surely is what we should do? This is the whole crux of this debate, compliance to requests are just that requests. You do not have to do as requested. What you do have to do is comply with the law... There is a huge difference that I thought was completely understood! Obviously I was wrong, oh well never mind.

Hi Doug, you and Hele are both very welcome which I hope you know. It was a fun day. Martin and Fiona

Waking on Womack water in the sunshine is an heavenly experience, made even more heavenly by the canvas wheelhouse sides and the new curtains. The sun gently heats the wheelhouse and the curtains prevent the creation of a blisteringly hot greenhouse at 07:30 am. We awoke to more delightful cabin ceiling reflections and some quacking, some little tiny webbed feet padding up and down the cabin roof and some raucus quacks, followed by some more waddling. Fiona and I listened to this duck dance on the roof and both of us smiled, giggled then burst out laughing at the duck antics taking place above us. Today was Easter Saturday and we were off to Coltishal, well off at some point as the bed was very warm and inviting and Fiona had nipped out to put the kettle on. After returning to snuggly duvet warmness Fiona remarked that we have a lovely new galley layout, a lovely new cooker with smoked glass lid and the grottiest whistling kettle possible. Charlie Dolphin had bought us this kettle (red with whistle) nearly 9 years ago when we first fitted out Malanka with plates, glasses and the usual stuff. The poor thing had seen better days, the paint was chipped and the whistle was now more of a subdued warble than the shrill “oi water is hot dopey” one expects from a whistling kettle. With this debate held Fiona and I started a search to determine the kettle’s successor. Whilst this debate had taken place the warble from the galley had gone unnoticed and so behind the galley curtain there were clouds of steam seeking escape via the open galley windows. A while later tea had been made, and various happy local pig products consumed in an oven bottom muffin of course. It was time to leave. Now leaving sounds like an easy thing and you would be correct, however we had placed a mudweight over the stern to prevent “swingage” (was the term used yesterday to justify said action). Removing the mudweight from the bow with the aid of the windlass was an easy thing. Removing the mudweight so delicately dangled from the stern the previous evening was a different prospect entirely. Malanka’s mudweights weigh in at 25kg and when stuck fast, as the little darling over the stern most certainly was, they are immovable by hand. Engine power it was to be then. Charlie moved to the helm position and she delicately moved the boat forwards for about 6 feet then nope not moving, definitely not moving, forget it sunshine we’re not moving. Mud churning, mid-range revs from the 79hp bmc and still no we shall not be moved matey. Charlie angled the boat to the left and added some power and we moved a little, reversed the angle and again the same result, this time with bubbles. Success we were free. I hauled the miscreant mudweight on board in one final heave ho and deposited the disgustingly smelly muddy beast onto the deck onto a quickly deposited tea towel. Shoulders aching and hands burning I decided to deal with that smelly lump later when we arrived in Coltishal. With such a beautiful day playing out in front of us of course it was top down and pootle to Wroxham. So we pootled to horning, there was a little breeze but nothing to stop my shorts campaign from continuing. Heading to Horning The day was glorious quite warm out of the biting breeze and we made our way to Wroxham broad where we stopped the boat mid broad to permit me to dismast the boat and store the mast on the bow. We measured the new airdraft with Phil and after the work done and all the new chines and planking she now sits 6ft 5 inches at the peak of the pulpit rail and just under 6ft 5 inches at the wheelhouse roof vents with the roof down. With the roof up she is just under 8 ft now also. So mast removed and ducks and flowers on the floor of the wheelhouse we headed to the bridge. The bridge was measuring just under 7ft as we were quite near the low water mark but we knew this would not be an issue, and so it proved. The bridge cleared we headed up to Coltishal, aiming for the lock. After a very pleasant pootle upriver and after spotting three kingfishers we rounded the corner by the Rising Sun and headed for the lock. We noticed that the river here was particularly low, which accounted for the current as we passed through the bridge which was quite signifcant. We were making no more than 3.0 mph and could clearly see the bottom. When we arrived at the the lock the water was so low that we made the decision that to avoid sitting on the jutting shelf that’s there overnight we would move back to the common and moor there. We returned to the common, spun in the river and approached the mooring against the flow, gently gliding into a stop. Charlie handled the bow line and I took care of the stern lines. Sorted.. Time to relax and enjoy a glass of chilled rose. During a lovely afternoon we met with Boaters who passed by to say hello and we had a lovely catch up with him. The felties also met a fox terrier and said hello to him too. After a lovely if somewhat warm afternoon it was soon shower time before dinner. We were eating on tonight which was to be stuffed chicken breast with butter rice and green beans. The meal was lovely and the sunset simply amazing. The felties certainly enjoyed it. Once again we had a beautiful day, the weather was as good as it gets in April and we were content. It was time for bed. When Fiona and I had arrived we had purchased three new DVDs fully intending to watch Bohemian Rhapsody at some point. Needless to say the weather was so unexpectedly nice we were failing to stay awake much past 9pm and so it proved again today. Tomorrow we would head down to Wroxham. The day broke to more sunshine and the barometer falling off the high end of the scale, so it was going to be warm again, it would also later prove to be widy enough to trouble Doug of Brundle Navy fame but more about that later. (Sorry Doug……) We had a lazy start to the day as we didn’t really intend to go very far and it wouldn’t take us all day to get to Salhouse where we intended to spend the evening. With that in mind we had breakfast several mugs of tea and turned on the immersion for one of the ladies to wash their hair. The issue of the kettle came up again so we decided to replace the item with a brand new one in Wroxham later on. We had an event free and slooooow bimble downriver, the main incident being application of spray sunscreen iin the wheelhouse, as with most things spray it went almost everywhere except on my forearms which were the intended target area. We were approaching two hours by the time we arrived in Worxham and moored up to the public moorings by the information centre. Charlie elected to stay with the boat so Fiona and I could go do our thing and go to Roys for more food and to find a new whistling kettle. We looked in Roys but decided not to part with a kidney to purchase a new kettle and so we headed to Norfolk marine in the what we thought was a belated hope of finding something inexpensive in the kettle line that whistled.. Success as they had just the item required for the princely sum of 12 of her majesty’s pounds, it was even burgundy/red so it fitted in with the décor. A delighted spring in our steps we returned to the boat to find Charlie deep in conversation with Hele and Doug, we knew that Nipper had her bottom hanging out so it was something of a surprise to see Hele on the broads this weekend. Cutting a long story quite short, Hele wasn’t feeling 100% and so quick as a flash we said, “nothing planned this afternoon? Good let’s go for a trip on the river!” The pair of them quickly agreed, who wouldn’t as it was a glorious day with strong sun beating down. So doggies secured in the wheelhouse, drinkies refreshed all round we cast off and headed for the bridge. VIDEO-2019-04-20-20-28-48.mp4 We didn’t know it until a few hours later but a person unknown to us took a picture from the footbridge that later appeared on the BBC website celebrating the hottest day of the year so far. My brother in the US saw it and texted us a screenshot. All very good fun as we made our way to Ranworth Island at a steady two donkey power to have a spot of lunch. A spot of lunch in an ad hoc situation like this is whatever we have in the fridge chucked on a tray with some nibbles… Shortly after the bridge, I offered Doug the helm and he gladly accepted, where he stayed until we moored side on at Ranworth Island in a little bit of a tricky breeze. We had a lovely chat bimbling down the river, Doug says he was impressed with Malanka’s handling which I have always liked but I don’t have much experience of other peoples woodies so I couldn’t comment. It’s smooth, easy and light to the touch, arent they all like that? Glossing over how many attempts we had to get moored up, all that matters is that eventually we did and we had a wonderful afternoon in the company of three great friends (five if you count the woofs). After lunch we returned Doug and Hele to Wroxham via a “drop and go” at the pilots station then we slowly headed back to Salhouse to drop the mudweight in a favourite spot out of the breeze and sit and watch the sun go down whilst we planned and cooked dinner. Lazing whilst dinner cooked itself. Dinner was roast beef with roast potatoes, green beans and yorkshires with gravy……. Dinner was amazing and the beef provided me with lunch for many successive days of medium rare roast beef sandwiches. We had a most wonderful day, Doug, Hele and Charlie all hopefully enjoying the trip down the river and some lovely company. Definitely something to do again sometime. The next day we would have to say goodbye to Charlie Dolphin and drop her back in Stalham to pick up her car, so we were extra determined to have a good day before she left us.

Thank you you’re welcome. M

And Pally is one of the best diggers after truth I know. We all owe him, all of us. M

Forgive me but if someone didn’t have the courage to dig into chit chat and rumor, without it being a nailed down fact, there would be no expenses scandal, no watergate, no climategate, no infected blood scandal , no wind rush scandal, the list is endless. Criticise away guys don’t stop. That way lies censorship of the self inflicted variety, the worst of all.

What a kind and gentle soul you are my friend. Hopefully your friend returns patched up and we will see you on Friday. Oh and get that boat washed, saw it a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t read the reg numbers........ M

I’m afraid I don’t know all ecologists or even almost all and so I wouldn’t know what to agree with or disagree with. But perhaps you might wish to discuss with the hundreds of ecologists you have canvassed on the topic the relative turbidity’s of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Basin then relate that in terms of productivity. N.B. You will be surprised, I know I was when I found out this fact 38 years ago. Never a good idea to make an appeal from Authority especially one based on a fictional extended quotation, which if you care to research further will soon discover are both logical fallacies. When you presume to say “a healthy underwater environment” ask for which species, the fluffy cuddly ones or the ones that turn the water into a “turgid stew” whatever that is supposed to mean? If what you meant to say was that you would prefer to see the water as clear as it was many many decades ago then just say that, please don’t decorate your desires, as justified and fully supported by me they may be, with fictitious or presumed agreement from “ almost all ecologists”. It lessens your argument as the use of “scientists say” does which is usually then followed by something that in fact not many scientists would or even have said. Clearer which in terms of this debate is perhaps the wrong word, is a better environment for some fish and some plants, however bogs are great too and have a diverse and thriving system in their dark and murky depths. It’s just not recognized as pretty or popular with the BA who have set their criteria as plant diversity and density levels. Clear waters with oodles of plant growth will present a whole raft of new issues the BA currently do not have to deal with with the exception of a few higher reaches. What you are discussing is a reduction in the dispersed algal population. Not great for the algae but fish are more marketable i’ll admit. Give Barton chance and the nitrate / phosphate reduction and control measures will work on their own. The water didn’t become a turgid stew overnight, black water tanks and fertilizer control measures will work. Eventually. You are correct in that high impact immediate actions will not work on their own as the water system soon returns to its climax state after the pressure in one direction is removed via the natural equilibrium of natural systems. To give them a boost “ if that is what we want” is long term and very very expensive. Personally I would prefer to see more dredging with the money available and leave the water system to recover slowly and sustainably ( cheaply) to a new equilibrium climax state all by itself.

lol Vaughan what’s a university expert? In my experience they have a tendency to be a little academically inclined. One of the reasons I left that world behind. M

Always delighted John. It’s what friends are, those that can’t stay calm whilst disagreeing should not hit send... LOL

Because Grendel my friend they have absolutely no idea what will actually result. A few questions first of all. 1.why is there a presupposition that clear waters are preferable? 2. Who decided 1 on the basis of what? 3. As clear and or murky waters have completely different micro ecologies why is it a good idea to suppress one in favor of another unless in an attempt to provide a habit for species not YET resident in the area is the goal? 4. What is the goal of all these projects to introduce apex predators into what are artificial however reasonably stable ecosystems. Sea Eagles to the Isle of Wight, Ospreys and so on? Maybe someone doesn’t like how successful the otters have been or maybe they didn’t figure out how successful they would be. For an Apex predator anything that’s within its weight capability is a target, lambs, small dogs, otters, geese, ducks, wildfowl in general. It wasn’t long ago we were talking about where have all the wildfowl gone and now more raptors ? If as the article claims the initial causes of the algal population levels have now been removed or as they say controlled then why is this necessary at all. Leave it alone it will clear in its own time as anyone with a large pond can tell them, unless there is another reason? Who knows.. Oh well who am I to question? Better to just keep my head down in “open forum” and let my betters decide eh? M

Pally mate your sentiments here I believe are in complete concurrence with the sentiments of not sticking to the law highlighted in the Rangers Purge thread. Compliance to the law when convenient otherwise, well just overlay our own guidance documents to suit our already made decisions. I have seen this personally in many business instances of dealing with people who don’t expect and don’t really know how to deal with people who say NO you’re wrong. The usual appeals to pseudo authority follow, followed by bluster and threats implied or inferred then complete silence after referring back to head office to be told or reminded that guidance is non enforceable and that they’re wrong. Even if that’s not what they were told five hours before when they left home base. Electric posts anyone? M

One can see from one side to the other although the light is not good. It would not be possible to see the numbers of a smaller boat next to a bigger one with any great clarity. Why one would look in such a location when you’re checking for number visibility from other boats and the banks is questionable.

Totally unnecessary

Been done met with let us come and measure them. M

Good Friday morning gently and calmly announced itself with a ballet of reflected sunshine dancing across the ceiling in our cabin, it was the most gentle of awakenings and a beautiful start to the day. Fiona and I had mixed feelings over the day to come, sadness that we had to say au revoir to Christian, but great pleasure in saying bonjour a little later to Charlie Dolphin who was going to join us for the Easter break. There was also some annoyance that we would be revisiting the Eber at the boatyard. Salhouse broad was bathed in the most full glorious, not a cloud in the sky sunshine and it was time to get up and feed the browser who had announced his arrival the previous afternoon with the familiar sound of the fridge door opening and the immortal words, “what have you got in the fridge?” ringing in our ears. Such is the life of a parent methinks. Soon the frying pan was sizzling to the sounds a major local happy pig products breakfast coming together. Oven bottom muffins prepared, bacon crisped, sausages browned to perfection and split up the middle the fully laden steaming muffin was delivered to the wheelhouse and the awaiting ravenous twenty something. Christian wanted to be on his way back to Norwich mid-afternoon and I had agreed to take him in the car as this would be way more convenient that the train which he had used to get to Salhouse station the previous day. We had intended to drop him in Wroxham but as we had to go and revisit the heating that no longer made sense so a leisurely trip back up to Stalham it would be hopefully to meet with Charlie, this however wasn’t to go as planned. We were receiving updates from Charlie and we soon saw that she had set off from her house which is nestled a beautiful village in Essex some 80 minutes or so up the A12. We planned to go shopping on Good Friday to pick up those essential things one forgets the first time one goes shopping for a weekend. So fully fed, watered and content accompanied by Ken Bruce on Radio 2 we set off on our return to Stalham. The weather was breathtaking and so we had dropped the top prior to setting off and liberally applied sun screen to our exposed parts, or rather my exposed parts as both Christian and Fiona were still wrapped up like they were about to leave Captain Scotts tent for the last time. We passed Ludham bridge in full sun and continued our bimble upriver. After a most enjoyable bimble where I did eventually get to sit and let Christian helm, we arrived in Stalham where Phil had already contacted his boys and Roger set to investigating the heating. We also at this point received a rather tragic update from the Dolphin by way of a picture. Oh dear we thought, that doesn’t look good. It turns out Charlie was having some car difficulty and had requested the assistance of a very nice AA man who was doing his best to fix it at the roadside within 30 minutes. Stuck on brake calipers freed up, she was soon on her way again. Well done the AA. Whilst Charlie was wrestling with her rear brakes I took the opportunity to drop Christian, pick up Fiona, go shopping and return to await the arrival of the Dolphin. We had planned to pop up to Coltishal on Good Friday evening however the late arrival of the cetacean meant we would not be in a good place for the river level and bridge height and of course the time taken to bimble all that way. The sky was blue the sun was out and it was warm enough for shorts, what more can you want from April in Norfolk, other than to go somewhere else to enjoy the evening. Roger quickly identified and then of course rectified what the issue with the heating which of course was water in the pipe from our near sinking experience in the shed before Christmas. He cleared it all and the heating worked perfectly. We had a lovely trip down the Ant and down the bure and stopped eventually in Womack Water and dropped the mud weights, one over the bow and another identical one over the stern to make sure we didn’t get too friendly with the trees and adversely effect a pair of nesting Grebes close by. Cruising down the Ant with the felties. When we arrived in Womack there were no spaces available which had been discussed and anticipated due to the early evening arrival. In fact there were no spaces anywhere, not the dyke, the island nor the Staithe. Mudweighting seemed such a perfect solution. Hence the mudweight. We all had a very enjoyable evening, catching up sitting in the sunshine, listening to music, drinking some wine and deciding what to cook for dinner, we decided on steak in the end which was lovely, cooked in butter with garlic and some home-made twice cooked chips courtesy of the new cooker in the galley. Being April, the evening soon drew in quite chilly and we put up the top and closed the sides before all falling victim to the dreaded 9 o’clock I can’t be that tired sunny day in Norfolk impact. Tomorrow we would head up to Coltishal.

he he

Grendel, the contravention is of the guidance document, not the relevant regulation quoted in the notice of contravention that’s the point here. The law is enforceable the guidance documents are not. My own industry has a similar system of guidance from the federal agencies FDA and enforceable laws in the CFR.( controlled by the congress) Code of Federal Regulations. I am constantly having to remind very senior management that the CFR is the law not the guidance document which in the case of the FDA states at the bottom of every page that these are non enforceable guidelines. M

I’m afraid MM, that you shoot but you miss my point entirely, this is not about registration numbers. This is about the BA interpreting their own guidance in a way which the regs do not call for. The regs are the law the BA is not permitted to make it up as it goes along, quite simple really. If you don’t want to oppose the BA making it up as they go along until they do something you personally don’t like, I can guarantee it won’t be long but by then the legal precedent will have been accepted as “ well nobody objected when we did x” . Malanka is in full compliance with both the guidelines and the laws on reg numbers so this does not effect us in any way other than what is clearly an abuse of authority in one case at least that I am aware of. Not being a vindictive person I believe the matter is not being taken further by them, however the principle remains that the regs can be enforced in court, the desires of the current BA management as expressed in their published guidance document may not. It really is that simple. M

There is a reason blind obedience to orders of those with presumed authority was not in favor 74 years ago! That is the principle at work here. The BA are NOT permitted to make stuff up as they go along it’s as simple as that. They and we MUST comply with the by laws, not the whims of the current decision makers in the BA. That is what is being ridiculed here whims passed off as regulations which they ARE NOT. M

So you are supporting the BA on this issue. Oh dear... M

I had always assumed the Rangers rights were to access marinas via the water not to stroll on foot into a covered and locked warehouse. Sorry MM do you really believe the BA would conduct a campaign of harassment as you suggested ? And if you genuinely do believe they would even contemplate such puerile actions, how on earth could you support that organization in any way shape or form. It is the BA who have already thrown their teddies over this issue by deliberately targeting historic wooden boats which have demonstrably not moved their Tags in over 50 years. I notice from the paper they managed to read the reg number perfectly well by the way. We should all take note of what Vaughan is writing, the regs are what is important NOT what the BA persons have decided behind closed doors. The only way to deal with bullies like this is when they step over the line is to stand up to the mission creep otherwise when an idiot is in charge or is appointed ( gosh that will never happen they cry) who knows what will result. No dredging, designing costly carbuncles, useless office moves you name it. M

Hi Chris, Theoretically it’s 1100km one way which is a little shy of 700miles, which is 1400 return. In theory, however my last trip back on the A5 in the Ruhr was unexpectedly shut it turned into a 12 hour nightmare of almost 1300km. Shortest is via Belgium and my bum can’t tolerate the vibration of Belgian Autoroute, as wallonian roads are terrible. French Autoroute ( Peage) is by far the quickest at less than 8 hrs. But de-restricted Germany is only 15 minutes longer but 79 km further and much more fun. Mulhouse is in France we live in Muri bei Berne which in Swiss Terms is middle of nowhere. The drive from my house to Basel is about 1hr 40. So it’s quite a bit more than 470 miles unfortunately. Millie has journey summaries I can post my trip back it was awful M