Living the dream - and our best and worst fishing trip ever

Me enjoying the sunshine on Ravensdale's aft deck at sea

More than 18 months after we sold our house and bought a boat I am still totally loving the liveaboard lifestyle.

We may not be travelling miles to far flung locations, but we’re having fun living on our Neptunus 133 Ravensdale at Maryport Marina, Cumbria, UK, and taking her out cruising and fishing in the Solway Firth.

Now the weather has improved, we’re going out to sea more often, which we certainly couldn’t do with our last home, which was made of bricks and mortar 😊

And this week’s fishing trip was definitely memorable – sadly due to the “one that got away”.

One day, we will probably take our 43ft cruiser a bit further afield, but I really don’t mind either way.

I love our life, which really does feel like one long holiday, especially when the weather’s good and we can live in shorts and T-shirts every day of the week as has been the case this week.

I can honestly say that I'm "living the dream".

It may not be everyone's idea of a dream, but then we're all different. Thank goodness! 😊

Our most exciting and most disappointing fishing trip yet

We considered taking Ravensdale out fishing on Saturday as the forecast looked good, but the wind blew up before the gate was due to open so we decided to wait for a better day.

That's the beauty of us both being retired. We no longer have to do things at the weekend or when I’m on leave whatever the weather.

We can go any day of the week so can wait for the conditions to be as near perfect as possible.

Monday was a lot less windy than Saturday, so it seemed the obvious choice.

Maryport Marina gate which is only open when there's at least 2.4m of water over the sill

It was calmer in the morning, but the marina gate was closed so we had to wait until it opened at around 2.45pm.

As usual, we hung back and let the smaller boats that were waiting to leave the marina go first. We then followed them out into the Solway Firth.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport for our latest fishing trip

It was a bit misty when we headed out. We could hardly see the Scottish hills on the other side of the firth. However, it cleared later and the sun shone through.

Scotch mist - the Scottish hills just visible in the distance

The temperature went up to 15.5C, but the wind blew up to around 9-10mph while we were anchored up making it feel a good bit cooler.

We turned the engines off while fishing again so it was lovely and peaceful.

Phil set up three rods with different bait on each – a peeler crab, a hardback crab and a bluey, which is a Pacific saury that looks like a cross between a mackerel and a garfish.

Phil baiting a hook with a crab

He also tried using squid and discovered the peeler crabs to be the most effective bait.

One of the dogfish Phil caught on this outing

He had lots of bites and pulled in four dogfish, but the highlight of the trip was when he hooked a large starry smooth-hound.

They really are beautiful fish. Like dogfish, they are members of the shark family, but these look much more like sharks.

It took him nearly 10 minutes to get it alongside the boat as it was a real fighter.

The big fish fighting as Phil tried to reel him in

When it got near the surface, we could see that it was at least 3-4ft long.

I took a few photos of it then grabbed the landing net in the hope it would help to get the fish aboard, but it was obvious the net wasn’t big enough to deal with this one.

The elusive starry smooth-hound (the blue boom on the line is about a foot long)

The other problem was that we were fishing from the aft deck, which is much higher from the water than the fore deck.

Phil tried to reel it in and got it about half way up the side of the boat before the 20lb line on the trace he was using snapped and the fish got away.

The smooth-hound just before he made good his escape

Annoyingly he had stronger line on both of the other two rods. Typical! ☹

To say he was devastated would be an understatement as it was the biggest fish he’d ever hooked in his life.

I was pretty disappointed too, both for Phil and because I would have loved to have got a proper look at it and taken some better photos.

I’ve never really been into angling myself, despite Phil’s best efforts to convert me to the joys of fishing.

The first Christmas we were together, almost 20 years ago, he asked what I wanted by way of a present. I asked for a gold bracelet and got a fly fishing rod and a pair of waders! 😊

Yes, I have used them on more than one occasion since, but I still prefer watching him fish to doing it myself.

That said, I was genuinely excited about this smooth-hound and was hugely disappointed when it became the “one that got away”.

But at least I had some photos to prove it really did exist 😊

It was fairly rocky again on this outing, but I took plenty of coffee in a flask, so I didn’t have to boil a kettle at sea as we’ve yet to get a guard for the stove.

We switched the engines back on before bringing in the anchor and they started without any problems.

Phil bringing in the anchor

Phil kept the speed to 10 knots and under on both the outward and homeward journeys and we got back at 6.40pm to make sure we were there in good time before the marina gate was due to close. 

After we got back, we wished we’d gone out on the morning tide and come back on the afternoon tide.

Ravensdale heading for home

And we’re planning to do that one day soon to extend our outing.

By keeping the speed down and switching the engines off while at anchor, we’re definitely using less diesel which means we’ll be able to take Ravensdale out more often.

The following day, we went to a local fishing tackle shop and bought bigger hooks and a bigger, stronger landing net.

Phil also made up new traces using 40lb line and the larger hooks in the hope that, the next time he hooks a big one, he'll be able to land it.

And we’re planning to go out on a “smoothie” hunt as soon as we have suitable weather conditions to take the boat out to play again 😊

Installing a Fishfinder 

Phil fitting the transducer for the Fishfinder

Last weekend, Phil fitted a fishfinder that we were given and have had on board for some time.

He decided that it wasn’t doing any good sitting in its box so set about the job of installing it.

It was very difficult to get the cable through from the in-hull transducer he fitted in the bilge to the unit on the console due to the position of Ravensdale’s diesel tank, but he managed to get it there in the end.

We didn’t have time to read the instruction manual before the last outing, so it didn’t help much on that trip. We will have to check how to use it before the next one.

More than 100,000 page views on my blog

I’ve been totally amazed at how well my blog has been received all over the world.

Last week’s blog post took me past a major milestone - 100,000 page views.

Me writing my blog on Ravensdale's dining table

I started writing it when we moved on board in November 2016, but it didn’t really take off until the post about our first liveaboard anniversary in November of last year when the number of readers shot up from an average of just over 1,000 page views per month to more than 10,000.

Last month's page views were lower than usual as I missed blogging for a week while away on holiday.

However, they've picked up again this month and last week’s post attracted the most page views yet at 6,787 at the time of writing this.

Blog statistics showing the number of page views by month

I started writing my blog as a diary for my husband, Phil, and I as I wanted to keep a record of our life afloat.

I was also writing it for friends and family, who probably thought we’d totally lost the plot when we sold our house and bought a boat - which is probably true 😊

And it's now read by thousands of people across the globe.

I have no idea why people in much more exotic parts of the world are interested in our life on our boat in Maryport, Cumbria, UK, but I’m very glad they are 😊

More people read my blog in the US than anywhere else in the world, including the UK.

The illustration below shows the number of page views so far by country for the 10 countries with the most visits.

Page views on my blog by country so far

I have also been delighted by some of the more surprising places that it’s read, including Afghanistan, the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, Chile, Japan, Niger, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zimbabwe to name but a few.

Sometimes I get negative – or even downright rude comments – when I post links to my blog on some Facebook groups, but I’m not going to let that put me off posting it.

Thankfully there seem to be many more people who enjoy reading it than those that want to poke fun at us or criticise everything we do.

The illustration below shows the number of page views for each of my top 10 blog posts with the dates they were posted.

Page views for my most popular blog posts

And, for anyone who’s interested, links to my three most popular blog posts so far are below.

Switching off Ravensdale's engines at sea for the first time

Winter cruising joys and the misery caused by flooding bilges

Our new docking sticks prove a great success

My laptop set up on the table on Ravensdale's aft deck

I still enjoy writing my blog and particularly so yesterday (Thursday) when I took my laptop out and wrote much of it sitting on Ravendale's aft deck in the sunshine.

Cleaning Ravensdale is a never-ending task

Phil has been busy cleaning Ravensdale again this week.

On Wednesday, we made the 30-mile round trip to the chandlery at Whitehaven to buy some more boat shampoo and teak cleaner for the aft deck.

Phil using rubbing compound to remove marks from Ravensdale's gelcoat

And he spent much of yesterday (Thursday) trying to get marks off her gelcoat before giving her a good wash.

The only trouble was that he forgot to close the windows in our bedroom before running water over the aft deck and it poured in, soaking some clothes that were sitting on the side waiting to be put away and the towel, loo roll and mat in the en-suite head.

The soaked clothes drying in the wind

Thankfully it was hot and sunny, so we hung the clothing, towel and mat out on the clothes line and the wind that was stopping us going out to sea did a great job of drying them.

The power of social media

There has been a hole in the car parking area near Maryport Pier for several months, but nothing worthwhile was done about it until it appeared on Facebook this week.

The hole, which is at least 18 inches wide, is just above the harbour wall running from the new pier towards Maryport Basin.

As with most holes, it started out fairly small and gradually increased in size.

I was concerned that somebody could fall into it and gut hurt so took a couple of photos of it in early April and showed them to staff at the marina, which is nearby.

The hole in Maryport Pier in early April

I was told it was the responsibility of the local council and the marina had reported it to them, so I assumed it was in hand.

Since then, tape has been placed around it and cones stood in front of it, but they either blew away or were removed.

On one occasion, I found a cone sitting inside the hole.

On Monday of this week, someone posted a photo of the hole on a local Facebook group and people started commenting on it, pointing out how dangerous it was.

On Tuesday, I discovered a large metal fence had been placed around it taking up four of the parking spaces in that area.

The fencing erected around the hole this week

Attached to the fencing is a red and white sign saying “Danger Keep Out” and another saying “Mandatory PPE. Hard Hat. Safety Boots. High Viz Vest/Jacket.”

I guess this shows the power of social media 😊

The warning signs attached to the fence

But I’m really not quite sure why anyone needs to wear a hard hat to protect them from a hole in the ground 😊

Breaking-in my new camera

I’ve been trying out my new camera, which is exactly the same as my old one – difference being that this one isn’t broken 😊

I took my camera for a walk around the harbour in the sunshine on Saturday and was very pleased with the results.

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

Another fishing boat in Maryport Harbour

Maryport Harbour in the sunshine

Two more Maryport fishing boats

I’m sure the old camera must have been going wrong for some time as my images seem to be sharper with this one.

I also took lots of photos on Monday’s fishing trip on the Solway Firth, including photos of the other boats that were fishing in the same area.

Two small fishing boats with Maryport in the background

Fishing boat Spurdog just off the Cumbrian coast

Fishing boat Sunrise Allonby on the Solway Firth

Yacht Paladin in the mist on the Solway Firth

And I was really pleased when Tom Watson, who is one of the local fishermen, sent me a message on Facebook on Tuesday to let me know what time he'd be returning to Maryport so I could be waiting on the pier with my camera.

Winsome bringing home her catch of shrimps

Solway Prospector returning to Maryport

Winsome passing Maryport Pier

Solway Prospector heading into Maryport Harbour

They also let me take shots of them unloading their catch of shrimps from Winsome in Maryport Harbour.

Unloading Winsome's catch

Winsome owner Tom Watson carrying a container full of shrimps

Pigeon post

The pigeons that have been nesting in the drainage hole in the harbour wall near Ravensdale have been enjoying the sunshine.

We’d been wondering for some time which was the male and which was the female, but saw the evidence the other day so need wonder no longer 😊

Mr Pigeon perches on the top of the drainage hole after being evicted by his mate

Mr Pigeon spends a lot of time in the mornings when the sun is on the wall sitting in the doorway, but occasionally Mrs Pigeon kicks him out so she can take his spot.

Phil takes far less photos than I do, but I caught him hiding behind Ravensdale while trying to catch a few shots of the pigeons coming and going from the drainage hole.

Phil waiting for the pigeons to fly in and out of the hole in the wall

A visiting pigeon on one of our mooring ropes

Another pigeon with green and red leg tags also visited us the other day. We wondered it he had been taking part in a race and stopped off in the marina for a rest.

A week of wall-to-wall sunshine

We’ve had another amazing week of mainly warm, sunny weather in Maryport, Cumbria, UK.

And to think that when I was growing up in the south of England I was led to believe that the north of the country was a cold, damp place to live.

I’m now beginning to think it was just a rumour spread by northerners to keep as southerners away 😊

However, the wind has restricted our opportunities to take Ravensdale out to play.

Last Friday was dry and sunny with a top temperature of 12.8C (55F) and a top average wind speed of 13mph.

Saturday was yet another sunny day with a top temperature of 14.8C (59F).

Maryport Marina was flat calm on Saturday morning before the gate opened

We considered going fishing as it was really calm during the morning, but the gate didn’t open until 1pm by which time the wind speed was up to 15mph so we decided to save the diesel for a calmer day. 

Sunday started dull and it began spitting with rain immediately after I’d opened all the windows to air the boat, so I had to close them all up again, which was very frustrating. However, it didn’t come to anything.

The sun tried to come out several times, but the day was mainly overcast with a top temperature of 14.5C (59F). The average wind speed went up to 21mph with gusts of up to 30mph.

On Monday, the temperature rose to 15.5C (60F) but it felt cooler in the wind. The top average wind speed during the day was 10mph.

Maryport basking in sunshine on Monday

Tuesday started pretty windy and overcast, but the sun came out by lunchtime. However, it remained fairly windy throughout the day.

The top average wind speed was 23mph, gusting to 33mph and the highest daytime temperature recorded locally was 17.6C (64F).

Wednesday was an even warmer sunny day with the temperature going up to 18.7C (66F), but it was still too windy for us to take Ravensdale out of the marina as the wind speeds were more than 10mph all the time the gate was open.

The wind rippling the water around Ravensdale on Wednesday afternoon

Yesterday (Thursday) was the hottest day yet, but it was still fairly windy. The top temperature was 21.1C (70F) and I had to cover my arms and wear a cap to save myself from getting sunburnt while writing my blog on Ravensdale's aft deck.

And, so far, today (Friday) has been sunny with light cloud. The top temperature has been 17.4C (63F) and the top wind speed 21mph with gusts up to 31mph.

Really hoping the wind will drop soon so we can go out in search of smoothies with the new net and tackle.