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Cormorants nesting on a navigation mark in the Solway Firth |
It’s so good to be back on the water after 11 weeks on
dry land.
We’ve been proper liveaboards again for almost a week now –
although we still lived on board all the time Ravensdale was out on the
hard-standing, but it really wasn’t the same.
I love being rocked to sleep at night, but hardly notice the
rocking by day, except for when it’s blowing a hoolie of course J
Since we moored back alongside the pontoons, Phil has been
busy washing and polishing the bits we couldn’t reach while out of the water,
such as the transom, which was covered by the scaffolding steps, and the highest
parts of the hull that were hard to get to from the ladders we were using.
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Cleaning the transom |
And it looks as though all our hard work has paid off.
Ravensdale is certainly looking much cleaner, tidier and
shinier than she did before we started work on her at the end of February.
So much so that another boat owner here said she looked
“almost like new”, which is quite a compliment given that she’s now over 30
years old.
We have also fitted the davits that I cleaned up while out
of the water.
These are crane-like devices on the stern of a boat that are
used for supporting, lowering and raising a smaller craft.
Securing them in place on their brackets on the transom was
an interesting task, especially as we did it on a fairly windy day.
They are large and heavy, which made positioning them for
the bolts to be slotted through the brackets extremely difficult.
Phil tied a mooring rope onto the first one and turned it
around one of the supports for the bimini - the canvas cover that can be used to
shade the aft deck. I was holding onto the other end, but it was impossible to
stop the davit swinging while Phil was balanced on the bathing platform trying to get
it to sit right on the brackets.
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Fixing the davits |
He decided it was better to tie the other end to the radar
arch, leaving a bit of play in the rope to enable him to position it correctly.
I then handed him the stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers pointing out that
he really couldn’t drop them or they would end up in the water and we had no
spares. Thankfully he managed not to lose any and they are now securely in
place.
Only question now is – do they stay or do they go?
If we keep them, they need new winches as, despite cleaning
up the old ones that were all rusted up, they don’t work properly so will need
replacing.
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The shiny davits that are currently useless |
But there is no point doing that unless we're sure that we
intend to use them.
Before that decision can be made, we need to get a tender as
we've sold the one that was on the boat when we bought it as it was not
suitable for use in the sea.
The dinghy we were considering buying from another boat
owner here turned out to have a slow puncture that we could not locate. It was
also bulkier and heavier than we had wanted so we decided not to purchase it.
So now the hunt is on for a new (or nearly new) one.
We have also checked the depth sounder by dropping a weight
on a rope over the side of the boat. We then measured the rope and were delighted
to find that the length coincided with the figures shown on the depth sounder.
We had a lovely treat yesterday when one of the other boat
owners here offered us a trip out on his yacht.
I was at Lidl doing a bit of shopping when Phil called to
say that if I could get back asap we could go out with him for a couple of
hours. It’s a good 10 minute walk back, but I did it as fast as I could as I certainly
didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
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Maryport from the sea |
For the first time in weeks, there was virtually no wind so
there was no point in putting the sails up.
We motored out, then drifted around
for a while before heading for a navigation mark which has become a popular
nesting place for cormorants.
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Phil takes the tiller for our trip out in the Solway Firth |
Phil took the tiller for much of the time we were out. I got
to take a turn when we were heading towards the navigation mark but handed it
back to Phil before we got there so I could photograph the nesting birds.
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The navigation mark covered in cormorant nests |
He slowly steered the yacht around the mark twice so I could
get a good view of them.
Just wish I had taken my long lens with me as I would have got a better view of the babies in their nests.
We both really enjoyed the experience.
I also got a chance
to put my VHF radio training to good use when I was asked to radio the marina
before we left and when we were about to come back in.
Hopefully next time we go out of the marina gate it will be
in Ravensdale.
Meanwhile, back at the marina we’ve had some interesting
marine visitors.
One day the place seemed to be teaming with jellyfish.
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One of the jellyfish that arrived in the marina this week |
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Two jellyfish just below the surface near our boat |
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A mauve jellyfish beside the harbour wall |
The following day they were gone.
Presumably the brackish water in the marina did not suit
them and they left on the next tide.
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Maryport Marina |
