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Malanka

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Everything posted by Malanka

  1. Companies have always been able to contact individuals for work outside of hours. It’s a wonderful invention called a telephone. Company issued phones have a quiet and or off button which I utilised every day of the 22 years I was issued with one. Even with responsibilities on more than one continent I still set times when I was available and when I wasn’t. “They” can’t just phone you whenever your boss ( potential Richard Head) wants to. All that these days is written into the CofE and if you sign one with that in… Eyes open and all that ! There needs to be some discourse on the advantages judicious use of technology may provide. Whilst in Canada a few weeks ago my credit card was used to pay a £100 civil enforcement action, and a speeding ticket. Both in Birmingham UK. The bank said we see you’re on holiday obviously not you, continue to use your card whilst on holiday and we will monitor everything for you. Times have changed and will change more. This happens, everywhere, all the time. I’m sure Bronze Age warriors were mightily miffed to come up against Iron swords for the first time, same as the Inca’s with bone vs steel. innovation is what humans do, it’s what permits almost 9 billion people on the planet when experts in the 70’s said we would all starve at 6 billion. I never take for granted what any “expert says” . They are human just like you and me. The world is NOT going to stop changing so it’s sink or swim time. Time and tide wait for no man someone once said…. See this is what not having a floating boat does to me…. Gawd help us
  2. Ok folks to draw this tale to a close only a year late. Please refer to the entries in Malanga/ Silver Jubilee 1 Cruisin ( no G) as this contains the details of the events of Wednesday! Basically I had a few things happen, ended up in hospital (James Paget) many things stopped working ( kidneys and so on), morphine at the roadside was eventful to say the least, hugely high temperature, low potassium. Anyway enough of that. Massive thanks to the guys at James Paget, the ambulance guys and my Son Justin for being there for me and returning Silver Jubilee 1 back to Martham single handed. To make this complete up to Martham with Malanka is now a MUST DO!! Thanks Everyone Martin new photos in never ending story tomorrow!!!
  3. Wowzer Being involved personally in a keel up rebuild/restoration, My mind is boggling although the bank manager has another word for it..! OMG this is so wonderful…. Need details of what the frames are going to be made of ? Any laminated bits ( we are doing that in parts) Hull planks, mahogany analogues ? Balau, Utile, Iroko? Gosh, so many questions…. Martin
  4. Will figure out how to do that better and post some updated old lady having her transom frame fitted pictures. New transom frame is laminated for extra strength and I’m really looking forward to the insert door we are having done. No more legs in the air rear entry for us… See what I did there.. Update soon people, off for a progress report Thursday… Martin and Fiona
  5. Ok have a lovely screenshot of a rather fetching rear quarter.
  6. Or hire the behemoth at 43 feet and its 56lbs sack of spuds style..
  7. Hi All, been rather busy with work the past couple of weeks, VAT paid, dividends paid, tax paid, so here we are. We were awoken from our sleep to a slight drizzle with some blue bits peeking through here and there. By the time dog was walked (Monty has a doggie friend here now), breakfast of champions was delivered by yours truly to the under thirties. This delight consists of the usual Norfolk holiday fare of various porcine products, copious volumes of tea, toast with local butter and some preserves of choice. All washed down with even more tea. We cast off the wooden behemoth and settled in for a steady pootle down to Wroxhan, where we intended to stay for a Kens (fish and chip lunch). The weather was steadily improving in the typical Norfolk way and we soon dropped the canopy, cockpit sides, and enjoyed the June sun warming our bones. It was also drying the soggy footwear from the previous days escapades. Christian was wearing a pair of Dads (that's me) Sketchers as his footwear was still dripping. Well dripping and also gently steaming in the sun, soon the aroma of steaming wet footwear was quite apparent. Such is life...At least I thought we weren't pootling along with various lingerie options dangling from every horizontal surface.. Always makes me smile that one... Well Kens was up to their usual standard so it was off to Salhouse for a swim, well, actually a doggie swim but hey poetic license folks. I will add some photos and a video when my computer joins the 21st century ...oh dear....
  8. Ok here we go. We passed under the bridge without fuss fanfare or anyone really watching, which appealed to me hugely, as the last time I did the bridge Robert was towing Malanka back under the bridge and up to Stalham. The video is fun including the use of the odd swear word. This time we did the bridge and headed up the river, our intended location for the evening was Belaugh Parish Staithe. We were confident there wouldn't be any issues as it was before fishing season. Belaugh is one of those locations which is wonderful for sitting and watching, the sun sets beautifully there! When of course it's out. It also is one of those locations where certain fisherfolk like to occupy the whole of the frontage. Having had a few such encounters in the past, including one in which broads beat were involved, we have now developed a simple strategy, we pootle slowly past and do it slowly enough to inform anyone currently fishing, usually two or three to be fair, that we will be returning in twenty minutes or so and will be mooring up for the evening. This gives the fisherfolk ample time to move their chairs and other extended paraphernalia to one end, or the other of the location. We have only had one set of fisherfolk, who after employing this strategy had not moved a single magot. In these circumstances we have found that 11 tons beats keep net any and all days of the week. One fun aspect of this location is that early doors the next morning, one will be awoken by huffing puffing and various inflatory noises as the inflatable paddle board and canoe folks turn up to launch their craft. This is often fun to witness, and a "thing" we have been considering ourselves. The under 50 portion of the crew went for a walk in the lite drizzle and I sat down in the cockpit, carefully positioned to avoid the drips and draughty drizzle coming in through the huge air vents. Later the same evening I donned suitable attire to cook our tea..... Note the colour match to the T shirt... Next morning we were heading back to Salhouse Beach for a dog swim, and for the kids to go for a pint. Fortunately for all the sun would be out a little later, but we intended to stop in Wroxham for some chips and fish, during that part of the day it rained. When I've finished copying the photo files I will write that bit. Having a job 100 miles from home means midweek I'm knackered. Its also tax time for small business owners so I'll get back to this soon. Oh we went to see Malanka this weekend too, had a super catch up with Robert, we were very impressed with progress and hopefully WILL be making the wooden boat show in August......Not sure how much earlier we will be floating, however this being her 70th year, we will be getting new 1953/2023 T shirts......
  9. Potter should be no problem at all. She would do 6’5” already before more dense planking. I promised to take up to Martham to the lovely folks up there in Windy City. M
  10. We have been dealing with other “non boat” issues however, we are good to go now. Thank you for your words Martin and Fiona
  11. OK welcome back folks, quite a few things have happened since I penned the last tale (poetic license for typing). One big one most of you will be aware of is that Malanka has had a couple of issues of a wood rotting nature. We have found sh#t tons of knot filled pine planking in the hull, the other word for that is not printable. Never having requested, or authorised anyone to install PINE in Malanka's hull, this came as somewhat of a surprise. Anyway that's enough of that it's in the past. We are now having all hull work being done using Utile, which is a mahogany substitute. Utile has a density of 660kg/m3. Pine on the other hand has a density of 480kg/m3. All this wood talk basically means that weight for weight every plank of pine replaced with Utile will increase the weight of the boat by 28% of the weight of the whole plank. In other words a lot. We are not removing all the pine planks just yet, as we want to phase that in over time, however it is the long term plan. No planks anywhere near the water will be left pine, just some of the upper hull planks. (for now). All of this preamble is just to set the scene for boat envy of the highest order, Malanka has been in the workshop for almost a whole year. As such we missed boating and wanted to go and have some floaty fun. MARTHAM boats were the chosen source of said June 2022 boaty fun, and a silver jubilee was the chosen vessel. I was intending to be the skipper with my youngest son as an all week participant, and my oldest son and long term partner as a starting weekend and a few days after participant, leaving on Tuesday. Along with us was going to be Monty the Airedale, Boris was at home recovering from TPLO surgery on his right rear knee. Fiona was to be his nurse, so first week after surgery we went boating yeah.. wooo hooo..... Now here comes the funny part, I don't really remember much about the holiday, pick up was fun, just like back in the day, even the same person as I met when I was 20 something. Disturbingly the Silver Jubilee didn't handle as well as I remember, maybe due to the old engine being replaced with a modern high reving thing. We are spoiled in Malanka, as the 3.8L common rail MAFF approved diesel engine, has torque to burn at tickover, and a huge rudder and prop mated to it. Best fun of course is Potter bridge on a very windy day, on a 43ft long behemoth of the 1960's. We had inches to spare which made me wish we were on Malanka even more. To give her the props she deserved The Silver Jubilees are fine boats. Destination Womack and the Kings Arms, we dropped off the Martham Pilot and plodded off to Womack, needless to say the Mooring was quite busy, but the old woody to the rescue, we slotted her tiny little bottom into a slightly less than 12ft wide space.... Meal in the pub was super as always, Monty made many new friends including 4 beautiful Italian Spinonies, their lovely Mum and Dad, and one wire haired German Pointer (yes all one mad group that Monty fell instantly in love with). Upon returning to the boat in great spirits, and after some mildly competitive rounds of Uno, we were soon heading off to Bedfordshire. Halfway through the night I found myself doing something I then continued to do, every few hours, for the remainder of the holiday. Go for a wee... Settling back into bed shivering I put the chilled feeling down to the cabin temperature which was cool. Erm I may have been just a little mistaken.. We woke to clouds and sun, how unusual for Norfolk in June we thought. Target destination for the day was going to be Belaugh Parish mooring. A beautiful spot half way up the river to Coltishall, and one of our favourites, in which to sit, soak up the sun and watch the world go by. We plodded slowly towards Wroxham hoping the light drizzle wouldn't decide to have a spurt and turn, in earnest, into full blown rain. It did. We stopped in Wroxham Broad to drop the top and screens, as this is not something to do on the move with an inexperienced crew (on this boat). Top and screens duly store, Musto coat on, cap on and grim rain face on we headed to the bridge. We werene excited as we neared our destination as he loves to swim and fetch balls there. More to come
  12. Ok Folks, time to resurrect the old story. Malanka is coming to the end of the first part of her long term restoration. Hull is almost complete, transom frame is about to be started( it’s going to be made of laminated oak). No paint this time, it’s going to be red utile. There’s still lots to do ( cabin side etc) the transom and some keel work. Then she’ll be ready for floating. Not quite sure when but things are moving in the right direction. We are going to bring her to the show in August even if we have to carry her there. Enough for now, please don’t worry she’ll be right sooner than you think. Martin and Fiona
  13. I used to shop with my mum and dad in the ORIGINAL Cooperative store in Yorkshire Street, ROCHDALE. Not Manchester where the dialect is distinctly different, thems aliens in mancunia tha nos. Nowt wrong with the divi as it was called….. Ardent Rochdale boy….. Martin
  14. Hi All, not going to post the video however we have just had word some of the structural cross beams and a lot more ribs will need to be replaced. We are crossing everything and hoping that’s the last bit of bad news. She will truly be a very lucky old lady to have met Charlie. We are very excited to get her back floating whenever we can. Anyone interested in having a refloat party somewhere once she is floating again. I’m thinking gazebo lights and some barbecue style fun. Anyone up for that. HINT, it will be cold lol 😝
  15. Love this bit pre-heat , who has preheat….. he he he
  16. Malanka

    Delilah

    Hi Guys, Zak was a lovely dog and Boris liked him in a very big brother kind of way. Boris is 11 this week and recovering from TPLO ( cruciate knee ligament renovation) he now has six pins in his leg holding it together. Monty has learned to swim too. When we get our boat back you can come say hi to the boys and get a big soggy wet kiss dog fix…Remember following us through Ludlum with the top up? Squeaky bum or what… Lovely to see you both back on the forum. My job situation has changed too in that I now have one lol and so does Fiona, all the best to you both.. Martin, Fiona Boris and Monty
  17. Robert from Sutton towed Malanka all the way from upside of Wroxham bridge all the way to the wet shed. We used a bow tow with a bridle. Worked very well indeed. Malanka is over 11 tons. Martin
  18. The height marker downstream of the bridge was laying back at a relaxed 15 degrees a few weeks ago thereby reducing the apparent bridge clearance. I find the one above the bridge to be quite good. Malanka is 8ft all up and I have never risked 8ft on the gauge. Remember it’s not the same height front and back nor left to right either. My main concern with pinballing new hirers who over correct all down the river is putting the 12ft wide boat through a 14ft wide hole, especially with tide under them.. M
  19. Malanka

    Breydon

    If the posts are confusing or missing on one side look at the other side and stay 30mtr away. Someone once said ( allegedly) “everyone is created equal” except they aren’t. Wishes and wants don’t change reality, it is what it is, inconvenient though that may be for the less challenged. I find that helping works, rather than anything else, sometimes I even get a thank you…
  20. One seal will do bog all to the ecosystem of such a large body of water, oh I forgot the false system set up by and for fishermen/women. The fisher people are the disturbance to the ecosystem to be perfectly accurate not seals which umm err are natural fish predators. Anyone who has ever seen even a small boating lake drained will know the weight of fish available to expert predators far exceeds that available that anyone else could catch. When discussing ecosystems a robust approach is usually the best. Population dynamics is not easy to grasp, and contrary to current politically driven drivel in the press most ecosystems are not frail in the slightest. They evolve, they respond they continue that’s how they work… Nor in the UK are they natural in the US sense of the word, and haven’t been for thousands of years. Rant over
  21. I smirked because as we were chatting it became clear my first class ticket ( always bought 5 months in advance), actually cost significantly less than his business class one. That happens a lot if you know what you’re doing.
  22. Yes Neil they did two twenty foot planks. They had swirls that would lift, so they were rejected ( sent back) Chris is really great a super chap M
  23. Lol I’m the new Chief Operating Officer for small start up high tech medicines company. I’m pretty sure they won’t like me calling it a job. Thanks as always Martin
  24. The old woody is currently clogging up half the shed and her port side is currently supporting hundreds of boaty bits that look better leaned up against something rather than just lying on the floor. Robert is doing a fine job and I must say despite the expense it is wonderful to see Chris caressing bits of wood and eulogising about them… We are getting some new oak ribs and all bits associated too, we are very excited to see her finished and floating however we are months away from that at this moment. I hope you get sorted soon Neil sorry for being a bed blocker
  25. Is this the bit where I admit to starting a new role on Wednesday next week. I’m doing my best to do S O D all until then. I must say I am never ever going to ignore mid back bilateral pain again EVER.
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