Malanka

It’s not the one that allegedly got closed down for money laundering, people trafficking and a host of hygiene violations.

The one that used to have the plastic chairs but now only does take away and only accepts cash. its husband and wife operation and one reception guy. It’s always good but it’s 20 mins to wait so we call. Cant remember the name. The lemon chicken is to die for. M&F

Not to forget the clearance is at a certain width above the water and the arch of the bridge it is not to the keystone height. Being only 10ft 6 wide has its advantages. M

Sorry folks got caught up in buying a new lawn mower.. We awoke Friday morning to frantic bed spinning from the two woofers with us and a little bit of doggie chat, a sort of howl come wuffle sort of squeely noise which Monty (Airedale 8 months old) makes every morning. In addition, the sound to which we fell so gently asleep last night was alas still pitter pattering away on the cabin tops and canopies in a kind of mocking ha ha we’re still here sort of way. We tried very hard to lie in, even just a little bit, but the Airedale tail when wagged vigorously is a weapon not to be ignored so after two or three face lashings and a spilt overnight fruit drink debacle courtesy of Monty the pup, we gave up, got up, got dressed, all the while dodging flailing tails and VERY cold noses being applied in places cold noses should not be applied, we donned our wellies and waterproofs (gosh did we look sexy or what) and took out both enthusiasts for a walk (there is no other word for an excited Airedale other than enthusiast, there just isn’t) We had brought dog toys to chase too as that is an essential element of dog walks in Stalham for Boris (Airedale 6 yrs old, brick out-house construction, and when sitting he is ten toilet rolls tall – just don’t ask, a picture will explain everything- honestly it will) The two Hairy enthusiasts made a disorganised B line for the field opposite the yard and then after being let off they proceeded to seek out any furry creature not intelligent enough to have already left the vicinty. Their huge, but still attractive in a doggy kind of way, black noses glued to the soaking wet grass, their nnow soaking legs moving at light speed in pusuit of absolutely nothing other than a latent scent left by the nocturnal occupüants of the field. Happily for all any and all creatures were now smirking at the silly dogs running enthusiastically about the soaking wet field, warmly ensconced in their burrows and other furry creature abodes. After the frantic field action we decided the two enthusiasts may like to go visit with the very nice people at Richardsons just down the road, so poo bags in hand we set off for Richos to see what’s what on Good Friday morning. We wandered about watching the preparations for the coming weekend, people packing, unpacking and everyone in blue looking very purposeful for such an early hour. We talked with some folks who stopped to say hi to the Aire loons and discovered over 100 boats going out Friday and over 90 going out Saturday, so well done to Clive and his band of folks in Blue. So chit chats finished, breezes all shot, we plodded slowly back to Malanka to sort out what we were going to do today. The pre determined intent for the day was to take the doggies to the beach to give Monty his first taste of the beach and the sea side. Living in switzerland the opportunities for sea water exposure are somewhat limited. The weather was unfortunately not really suitable so we decided, ok well it was decided, OK Fiona and Helena decided, that they had to go shopping whilst I sorted out the usual niggles with a boat recently returned to service after a winter out. Phils guys had done the most stellar job in polishing and primping and preparing Malanka as they always do, so it was mostly chat to the guys in the yard (honestly its not just gossiping, it isn’t I promise) and get all the electrical appliances back on board and functioning, remove all non essential fishing gear to shoreside storage and visit the wetshed cupboard to retrieve doggie life jackets, fold down chairs and anything else requested by whoever tells me to get stuff. Boris a bit disappointed with the weather and looking decidedly miffed. When we visited the shed Justin and I ran into Charlie on B.A. who is our shed sister, they were there doing some last minute maintenance before she went out for Easter. Needless to say the ten minute “pop” to the shed was a teensy weensy bit extended and poor Justin took to utilising the fold down chairs on the quay heading to grab a few Z’s whilst waiting for me to finish whatever very important man discussions took so long to discuss. Anyway with everything all caught up we headed back to face the “why did that take so long” music inevitably heading our way. My plan was simple blame Griff. Easy……Phew easy escape there, and relaaaax. Our plan such as it was, was quite simple, arrive, relax all day Friday, have a chinese take away Friday night (getting to be a tradition), don’t rush off anywhere too early, chat to Phil Saturday morning, fix any issues we find then depart Saturday morning /early afternoon to somehwere. We were heading south later in the week as we love it but tides and slack passages were a tad early for Sunday after such a long Journey on Thursday so that would wait until Monday which was till early but entirely doable. Jeff and Steve of “cooking on the broads” fame were moored behind us so Fiona and I visited with them and Austin the guide dog for the afternoon. Monty thought Austin was amazing and they got on like a house on fire, Boris and Austin are old mates so they just ran, barked, woofled, and sniffed whilst the younger enthusiast remined the two older doggies what it is to have boundless energy and unlimited enthusiasm for life. Several proseccos and some other drinks and snacs later Fiona and I wobbled our way back to Malanka and decided that the boys could walk to the take away as neither of us was in a fit state to speak never mind drive. The welcoming warmth of the coal burner in the saloon of Corsica had lulled us into a false sense of security, and we passed a most pleasant afternoon chatting with the guys and playing catch up, and consuming more prosecco that we realised. Boy did we need that cold air to make it back to Malanka later on. Pic boris.msgPic boris.msg So after a great afternoon doing nothing at all with two of the nicest folks you can meet, and if you havent yet met them yet, I’m sure any and all would be welcome to say hi. We headed back to frowns of disapproval from the offspring. Yes I know its usually the other way round but hey we were on holiday…. So heating on, lights on, music on, we enjoyed a very relaxed evening filling Malanka’s noooks and crannies with all the provisions we had bought that an extended cruise would require. We employed both Roys and Tesco ( I love the Roys “pot luck” offcut bacon selection btw). Soon it was time for the boys to head out into the rather inclement weather for the take away (it was pouring cats and dogs) leaving the rest of us to prepare the table, plates, assorted sauces and condiments, various alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks to be ready for the eagerly anticipated food delivery. The sounds of canopy zips opening and then the delicious mix of aromas from beef chow mein, kung po chicken, egg fried rice and prawn crackers preceded the boys into the saloon. All decorum thrown to the four corners of the room we fell to voraciously consuming our take away like ravening beasts and when fully sated we sat back and gently crunched on the remaining prawn crackers wondering whether that last piece of kung po chicken and that last chicken ball didn’t actually need to be left in the tray. We were truly stuffed to the gills and after a very successful day doing not much and going nowhere we washed up and sat back to discuss which of the many lovely spots we intended to visit tomorrow afternoon after leaving Stalham. We knew that Alex and Lorna were meeting Steve and jeff at Ranworth (they were coming in the car) so we thought we would just maybe swing by there and say hi as well. It was alex and Lorna who saved us when the transmission broke in Brooms last summer. Next Installment, broken tv’s and the “on / off” switch, Ranworth with alex and Lorna and the breakfast of champions..

He he Aristotle hence the new Lexus, there is nothing quite like driving a soft comfy sofa disguised as a car to eat up those the miles. I have back, shoulder, knee and foot troubles, Fiona is blessed with a very dodgy hip too, so when it comes to cars, comfort comfort comfort are the usual considerations. It's also a lease, so its not that hard on the wallet either. Very good offers in Switzerland at the moment as nobody wants one. All the better for us. 15 hrs duration with 12 hrs driving does still do me in a little bit though. Boy did I need that prosecco when we hit Stalham. As I am sure you will agree if you mentally divide it all up into bite sized pieces and then tick each one off one by one, the total soon gets swallowed up and hey presto you're there already..

didn't take pics too busy driving and not getting arrested but we do have video of Loddon and Horning to come be patient young padawan.

Malanka Tales. Well folks I haven‘t done any of these for quite a few years now but Fiona reminded me a while ago that it’s kind of fun and people liked to read about our adventures and so I said “ok lets do it for this easter trip”. If you folks still like to read them then I will get back into writing these things up as they happen. As usual with all Malanka tales in this one just to tease you all, there are great meets up with friends (Hail Alex and Lorna and Jeff and Steve) there is action, adventure, two boat rescues (I kid you not), two thwacks, from different brothers on the same trip no less (sorry mate it was only a tap- Deep enough to compress the wood planks and almost throw Fiona and Helena off their feet!! A tap indeed mate…..), sun (honestly there was some), rain , hail , wind, low bridge crises, excellent food (Sorry Jeff), great pubs, New Inn Rockland, excellent as always and the Ferry inn at Stokesby, again excellent as always. One thing I can say is that on this trip the two hostelries mentioned went out of their way to be accommodating and just so very welcoming, it was lovely. Other equally impressive hostelries are of course available on our magnificent Broads and will be mentioned / praised in due course when we visit them over the season. Those familiar with these tales will remember that I always start at home, except this time home is a little teeensy weensy little bit further away than in the past. Total journey distance is 1235km one way, not quite the 6 hrs 40 mins door to door from Belgium anymore. The details will come later but the total time for this trip was 15 hrs. Leave our house 06:35 UK time arrive boat 21:35 UK time. Not bad with two dogs, four adults and a 5 month old baby. OK enough with the waffle let's get started. Preparation for this greatly anticipated trip started on Wednesday with Fiona dropping the two dogs not going on the trip (Scooby and Bootsy) to the Hunde Hotel and then visiting her friend Olivier (very suave Swiss guy) at the Lexus dealership where we leased the New lexus from in January. This is the first such trip for the new car too, so an extra bonus worry to consider. The purpose of this garage visit was to have our new roof bars and roof box installed professionally for the first time we used it. I am all into risk reduction and this new fangled shiny new Thule thing is all grab bars and self opening lids, way too complicated for a poor science guy like me. Roof bars and box fitted Fiona returned home with suitable tales of woe as to how difficult the men at the garage found fitting the lexus roof bars to the lexus car! Just as I anticipated disaster number one alleviated. I arrived home from work to feverish packing and preparation activity and two very anxious looking woofers prowling near the door just so we don’t forget to take them with us. We had decided to prepare our “pack ups” for the journey in advance to prevent having to get up to do it stupidly early and also to avoid buying yuchy horrible motorway sandwiches in France, so we cooked a mound of lovely Swiss sausages and decanted gorgeous salt and vinegar flavour crisps into smaller Ikea bags for the journey. The sausages were made into huge sandwiches with Swiss “Alpen Bröt”, which for the uninitiated is an amazing Swiss bread that is truly scrumptious and healthy with it as well. Various sauces were added, “how can you eat that disgusting brown sauce (HP)” was the cry when mine were made. Others added barbeque sauce and or lettuce and soon the task was complete. Sandwiches placed in bags in fridge and cool bag prepared for the morning. We find this is essential as a few times in the past we have come home to mouldy smelly sandwiches that we forgot to pack…. Doh !!! Transfering the beautifully packed bags into the box was the next task, my dismay at the ever growing pile of “absolutely essential” baby stuff in different bags growing by the minute. Cutting this bit short we got it all in. Ahem we crammed it all in. OK we stuffed every nook and cranny of the box with sh..... Stuff. Early to bed as half six get up will turn into half five get up when we arrive at our destination so up the stairs to Bedfordshire and the land of nod awaits. Thursday morning dawned, wet, dull and very cold. Oh joy… Everything in the car? Check, all dogs in back, check. Passports ? tickets ? Money? All check so off we go. Only 1235km to go or to put it another way 767miles 692.4186 yards remaining. We decided to avoid the pit of the universe which is the Basel border post and so chose a more rural route which takes us across Switzerland and over or rather under the mountains via Biel, thus avoiding Basel. This was rather uneventful if beautifully picturesque, when we entered France it was like being transported back to the 18th Century and we expeceted Napoleon to come striding through these dillapidated and deserted French villages his army at his back. We soon found the autoroute we required and took a ticket at the peage and started to eat the miles. Half way across the french countryside we had just payed the last peage and immediately in front were approximately 6 or 7 french Duanes. One of whom fixed us with a stare and pointed for me to pull up next to them. “Avez vous les Papiers pour la Vehicule?” she asked after asking if we spoke French, we replied that we do a little. All the words in my head unfortunately were in German not French so my hesitation and stumbling over my answer raised her suspicions a little. Well we searched and searched and searched some more and we didn’t have them. OOOOH shhhh bother dash it. Luckily Fiona was on the ball and said “we don’t have the documents because in Switzerland you are not required to carry them in the car, however, we do have the insurance certificate which of course requires the papers to be obtained in the first place”. So heart in mouth we handed this green document over to the officers. They then asked if we lived in Switzerland to which she replied we do and then asked me for for my Swiss I.D. They took these rather tatty looking pieces of paper with my photo, residency status and date of residency grant and asked me verbally what they could read on the documents. Satisfied we answered all their questions they then told us to carry a copy of the documents in future and let us be on our way. So instead of being in a French police station we were again eating up the miles. Huge sighs of relief and where’s the nearest loo I need to go change my underwear. We stopped a total of three times before we arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal and checked in the woofters with the folks there, a few anxious moments when the machine wouldn’t detect Monty’s chip but the use of the older model solved the problem and away to check in we went. We had made good time and got ourselves on an earlier train so just time for a quick pee for the doggies and for the humans too and it was time to board. Totally standard crossing with no issues and we were in folkestone by 5:45 pm. “Almost there” was the thought in my mind, just the M25 and the QE2 bridge to hold us up and we would be happy. For about ten seconds, as the first matrix sign above the M20 says. Severe delays M25 J1-3, just the ones we want. Never mind google lady to the rescue and we were soon off piste and going down all sorts of single track roads one after another to get us to the bridge using the minimum of M25. This little endeavour saved us at least 45 minutes of queuing and we were soon heading for the A12, we figured by the time we get to the latter stages of the journey the slower nature of this route compared to the M11 / A11 would equal out. The other reason to use this route was to stop for some FOOOD. We had been going for nearly 12 hrs by this point and we all needed some solid food to pep us up for the last push to Stalham. We used to live in Maldon near Whittam and so we pulled off the A12 into Whittam and headed for a chip shop we know and love to get our supper. Dogs walked and us fully satiated with chips , pies , and battered sausages, we fuelled up the car “again” and set of for the final run into Stalham. By now the weather was truly wretched and it was bitterly cold at 4 degrees but we felt good with full tummies and not far to go. No events on the last part of the journey and we arrived at the boatyard to find Malanka in her usual spot (thanks to Phil and his merry band). We turned on the eber and the lights and unloaded the box, the dogs ran back and forth encouraging us to get on with it and finally we were done. Car parked, canopies closed, lights on, heating on. Relaaaaax and open that wine.. The familiar smells of combined diesel, wood polish and old wooden boat soon consumed us and it was time for bed. We planned a long lie in (at least I did) and quickly fell deeply asleep listening to the pitter patter of rain hitting the cabin roof and the more staccato sound of the rain hitting the canvas canopies. Next morning we hoped for a lie in but unfortunately the doggies don’t know about BST and CET and so at 07:15 their time (06:15 BST) it was “get up mummy get up” woofles and then noooo you can’t ignore me licks and spins on the bed. Oh poo it’s time to get up. Friday in Stalham to come. Hope you liked the first bit.

Just get better you loon we miss you xxxx m+f

So Tim, you gonna be at the spring meet up or what? Get well soon you rumbunctious old git. No slacking, no back sliding, get better dopey, no more near misses with the reaper and stop with the strokes it's getting boring. We miss you........ M&F

Oh timmy timmy timmy, You simply can't be left alone for five minutes without another right Royal (geddit??) cock up heading your way with gusto and plashing one timbo time after time. Blood pressure . Check Rotator cuff. Check Chest pains. Check Angina. Check Mini Stroke. Check Arythmia. Check New meds. Check then chuck Medics. Check more different opinions than fleas on a dog. What's the difference between God and a Doctor. God doesn't believe he is a doctor. If that didn't make you smile then you're a boring old git. Get better soon.

It's sooo funny: When it's hot it's global warming / climate change When it's cold it's global warming / climate change When it's dry it's global warming / climate change When it's wet it's global warming / climate change Anyone spot what's a little odd here? Naa dont 't worry the science is settled, (God help Gallileo /Einstein et al) so stop talking about it and spend loads of other people's money fighting thermodynamics. No altermative opinions on mitigation necessary /required or tolerated. Irony is such fun....

The issue is not what is supposed to be in the water and therefore in the hose. The issue is simply things that shouldn't be in the hose or the water if left there in sunlight may grow although this isn't what promotes bacterial growth that's the resultant heat (from light), nutrients and you guessed it water. In the UK we have some of the very best tap water in the world in terms of contamination, when we attach a hose to it all bets are off, especially if numpties drop it into the broad or drag it across the sodden earth near the hose. Funnily enough the level of bacteria and other microbes in mineral water are some of the things that make it taste nicer than tap water (same applies to beer by the way). All mineral water in bottles either plastic or glass has many times the permissable limit for tap water of microorganisms in them. Add in the plasticisers (which chemically resemble oestrogen which is a mostly female hormone ) which leach out (be careful with that word it has legal meaning) even under normal storage and its yahoo what am I drinking today. We have a simple philosophy with Malanka, we fill up only at places where it is very unlikely that the hose end has been dropped into the water which excludes Womak (too slow anyway) Salhouse, and most of all Ranworth. We do not start the filling until the water is consistently running cold indicating all static water in the hose has been flushed (most of it in any case) then we drink the water in the tanks and would you adam and eve it we have zero issues with tummy bugs. Admitedly our tanks (two stainless saddle tanks one either side of the wheelhouse connected by an equalising pipe) are newly fitted 6 years ago. But basic precautions work wonders. The only thing we use the water a Ranworth for is to wash the dog when he has dived onto a half eaten fish. My word that stank...... We do not use any sterilising tablets. One problem with that philosophy of sterilisers and apologies to those that do, is that by using them (the tablets) you create the very problem you're trying to eliminate. Most water tanks and water /static systems in general are under what's called a climax autogenic succession population (apologies for the science talk) i.e like a forrest of oak tress there's only what can survive long term in there. As soon as you disrupt that status quo, the playing field gets flat and its open season on the things that grow fastest. This is called an allogenic succession and is externally driven. These fast growers are the nasties we don't want, they cause tummy bugs and they smell bad. So once you have them you either wait a long time for them to naturally be competed out of existance by the slow but steadies which we tolerate easily, or you have to re-treat every season to get rid of them again. Think of it like this. Toilets not used for many months don't smell, or believe it or not ones used but not cleaned for many months also doesn't smell either. Its counter-intuitive but true. Add some lovely cleaner someone persuaded you to buy, usually bleach based and smelling of lemons, and hey presto add to loo and flush that expensive cleaner right down the loo. Smells like lemons for a while then the most god awful propironibacteria spp (love urine grow fast) start to arrive and the bog smells like a rampant armpit. So say the men at Diversey Lever, buy some more lemony stuff and get rid of that smell, so flush and repeat flush and repeat. He he it's classic extended quotation and a logical fallacy. Tell you there is a problem, give you the answer to the problem they tell you you have, then charge you money for helping you out ... A winning strategy every time, Rentokil, Lever Bros, you name them. My concluding sentence written after 20,000 or so other words many years ago were: What better way to make money than to sell you a product that creates the situation where you have to buy more and then flush it down the loo. Genius..... Fascinating stuff I'm sure you will agree. M

He he smuggymcsmugface here. We even have snow ploughs and gritting machines for the pavements. Its quite illuminating how having now lived in four countires, how it is self evident that the UK has swallowed hook line and sinker the elf and safety jobsworth," I'll be damned if I cant find a reason to stop you enjoying yourself" culture. The other countries simply went "Stuff that B*ll"cks that's simply ridiculous," and have simply carried on as normal, you know, like we used to do. Our childrens school in Germany encouraged the kids to bring in their sleds to enjoy the snow slope in the school yard. They had organised snowball fights when it snowed, they stopped and banned it when it started to melt to avoid ice balls. But the atttitude was what can we do to enjoy the weather not OMG its snow and its cold and wet, lets keep them indoors. By the way Germany is the most litigious country per 1000 capita in the world, even more so than the USA. We had to have compulsory child insurance , compulsory window insurance, compulsory bike insurance. The best bit was all of those were in household policies and cost peanuts. In CH we have legal protection insurance which pays legal bills if I have to take someone to court.... Smuggymcsmuggson

To get us back on topic: Alert: Total smuggness warning............... I should be working but there are workmen types all up and down my corridor hammering, sanding, banging, drilling, you name it, all in the name of "new toilets". We even have the CEO / my boss coming over from San Francisco today to open the toilets tomorrow ( I kid you not). We will have wine and eats (an Apero for those who like all things Swiss) So my brain is being assaulted by so many sounds I can't concentrate and so decided to add my two pennies to my day today. Awoke to bright sunshine, streaming through the shutters which we close at night in the winter and close during the daytime in the summer. A slight dusting of the white stuff maybe two or three cm all over the car and road and so on, the little flakes were still drifting down as I looked down out of the landing window assessing what minus nine looked like this morning. No clouds but snow, but hey this is the Berna Oberland so who cares it's Switzerland right? Not as cold as it has been, we had minus 16 earlier in the winter but no worries it's lovely and cosy warm in our house. Had tea and toast for breakfast (Alpen Bröt) which is yummy and very healthy. Packed lappy into bag and headed for the car, doors opened easily, swept snow off car and started the engine. Bitterly cold breeze blowing but its ok I'm a northern boy and was borne to weather like this. After a few minutes warming my bottom with the heated seat I decided to set off to work, no snowmaggeddon headlines in the papers, no schools closed because the little darlings may get wet or god forbid cold! Nobody not making the effort to get to work at all, in fact this never happens here, they just get on with it. Funnily enough the trains work, the buses work and the planes work too. Our snow tyre equiped car is stable, steady and fully capable of coping with whatever weather we get given. Try them they are worth the expense even in the wet too. On my way in (22km by road) I found my mind wandering and wondering if Köln Bonn Airport (Konrad Adenauer Airport if you're old enough) was still open for business, I had no reason to think not as they bought at bargain prices the snow clearing equipment sold off a few years ago by Heathrow Airport due to the fact that some twonk in the Moron office / Hadley centre / CRU said cold weather and snow in particular was a "thing of the past", and children would "soon" grow up not knowing what snow is anymore. I wondered if this useful idiot was still employed by said agencies. I think probably yes but I don't really care. He made these remarks (and yes he has a Phd) on March 20th 2000 and since this leading "expert" made his forecast in the year 2000, the Northern Hemisphere has had five of it's six snowiest winters on record. Smug in the knowledge that my roads will be cleared and my trains will run on time, I head off to my office and the day ahead. These headlines never used to happen in the sixties, seventies or the eighties, so what has happened? Why has the stoic, "calm down and carry on" spirit been replaced by snowmaggeddon, fear of everything weather related, heat , flood , cold, and the desire to hide from what the ever changing nature of the weather has been handing us for hundreds of years. I know its climbrexchangeit. There I have invented a new bogey word..... See you all soon at the May meet up, or sooner if you're out and about over Easter. Bring out your winter woolly warms it may or may not be cold, warm, wet, dry, sunny cloudy, windy, windless, or any combination. But who cares we are BRITISH and we can cope with anything, or so someone once said. Someone is now sanding ...GGGrrrrrrrr Sounds like a million angry wasps. M

Socrates, my soon to be friend. I would be proud to have you moor next to us. I Meercat more than most as we have had some interesting impacts over the past 8 seasons. Once five times on the trot by some odd mooring evolutions by the same boat. Can’t wait to nosy about Broadland Grebe and will be happy to show you our old lady. I may even polish the chrome bits. Hopefully you will be there and next to us. Oh and the snoring is the dog honest !!!! Truly would I lie. M

Grendel mate I always found that Marthams we’re happy to turn around early or ASAP if they could. Always very helpful. Earliest I believe was 11 am once. In summer time too. They are lovely you’ll love it m

Polly mud weight in Malthouse is fine. Plenty of options there. Then we can either join early and wait or just arrive pick up and leave. Leave about 12:30 is ok with us ! any other time suggestions welcome of course ? Last time we did this we rafted in Malthouse for a short period so everyone could get to know each other. Drinks and snacks don’t you know x .... lol don't be scared people it’s fun . Don’t worry if it raining or windy we can give that bit a miss . We all know it’s never windy on Malthouse now is it ??? He he

Crossed the channel from Le Havre to Chichester in a moody 29 summer of 1983. Was fine whilst helming ( we were in a force 7 across the deck, safety harness et al all day and all night. Youngest daughter ( I was bf to the oldest) stripped her left index finger of skin down to the bone and up to her wrist with a self tailing winch. She was screaming the place down, I was off watch and shaken awake in the bow cabin. Ten seconds later I was heading over the side in the pitch dark mid channel. The only other excitement was picking up a lobster pot in the dark and being swung round like a cork in a bucket. Enjoyed sailing and that was the last time ever being sea sick . Was sick every day sailing for two weeks and this was the longest section and heading home. Never been seasick since. in Maldives whale watching everyone else on the two story dhony was puking accept me and the three crew. Must admit to smirking just a bit. M

Great thread which I am following with rapt attention. I really can’t wait to see Broadland Grebe in Beccles at the show. Be nice to meet yet another pair of totally besotted barking mad loons aka wooden boat custodians. We have been down this road, Mals transom was removed not by a power washer but by Phil’s thumb which penetrated into the galley and started an investigation which resulted in new wood. Hardly a surprise veterans will mumble but it was new to us, so total sympathy and empathy from us. Not to be a pedant but Malanka was never all varnish and all her screw heads are doweled, having said that she was privately built and never in a hire fleet. She still has her lump which replaced the original petrol engine many years ago. 3.8 l bmc. It’s huge, but very economical and with a 1:1 Drive cruises along at tickover most of the time. I must admit to huge jealousy over your hands on ability , this is our 8th season and loads of work done all admired by me but not done by me. I’d like to claim that distance is the reason but it’s not ability is. Great project and we can’t wait to mosey around ( ok nosey around) and say hi ?. M&F

And very probably arriving Friday too but we won’t go to salhouse until Saturday with a nice train behind us lol . If there’s only two of us if anyone wants to come from Ranworth to salhouse with us pm me. M&F

We would be very happy to of course. Will get to polishing straight away . maybe just Fiona and I as then I get to drive the sexy lady from Coventry. Germany here we come wooo hoooo M

Super Super Super... Love to see the drip trays under the windows, ours were noted by Paul R once when he received the grand tour, he said its nice to see real ones, that actually have a function..... You now have to get used to showing everyone around the refurbed boat.. (yes please please) See you in 2018. Where in the shed are you now by the way? Quick advice, get some more fenders for the bow, you may need them when moored.... M

Yes it was a bad one we couldn't get out of the back or front doors of the house as the snow was drifted waist deep against both of them. My student house the systern froze on the loo....This year in CH is a traditional one lots of snow and more coming, every day next week. The sexy lady from Coventry is tucked up asleep in the garage till the spring or a sunny winter but not frosty day. Waaay too much torque for a wintery drive ..LOL

What's wrong with the totally green large leaf and index finger? Works for the Scouts ...lol

Ours reads somewhere in the region of £2.50...lol Ours only tops up the batteries for the bilge pump, we don't do tube heaters and radiators etc. mainly cos it's a pain in the bottaahhm to get from here to there in the winter. All exciting stuff like curtains and leccy things are removed, she is just a hull at the moment. Got some neat new canvases for the wheelhouse we can't wait to try out though. Inside privacy screens in the same colour and material as the canvases. Last Journey across Europe was last Sunday (yes in all that snow) and it took over 11 hrs to do 886km. Two idiots in RWD cars not knowing how to drive the things nearly took us out in Belgium. The perfect driving experience may well be so but in the snow it takes some skill which they obviously didn't have. As Griff would say "should have been born ooop north melad". Not to derail but watching these loons slip and slide up the slight inclines on the motorway was quite amusing until one of them looses it and flashes across from the on ramp going way too fast outside of a Finish rally and nearly takes us out with a sideswipe. Winter tyres and two tons of four wheel drive saved us. And I was born and learned to drive ooop north to boot. Anyone remember the winter of 1981/2 ... M62 closed hundreds of truckers stranded at the Birch services, 14 and 20 ft high snow drifts.... Our response, figure of eights in RWD cars in the snow filled local tennis club car park....Super fun............ Merry Christmas from Snowy Switzerland (Bernese Oberland) Martin and Fiona