The mysterious song of the sirens and a semi successful smooth-hound hunt

Phil with the biggest smooth-hound he caught on our latest fishing trip

A strange and eerie sound that we only hear while out at sea or lying in bed at night has been puzzling us for weeks, but we think we’ve found the cause at long last.

I was convinced it was the sound of mermaids singing in an attempt to lure unsuspecting fishermen to a watery grave.

But it seems there was a much more down-to-earth explanation.

Or at least, we think we’ve found the culprit.

If it happens again, I’ll know I was right the first time 😊

Meanwhile, we’ve been out hunting for the elusive giant starry smooth-hound that Phil lost a couple of weeks ago that is affectionately known as "the one that got away"

Single figure wind speeds tempted us out of Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, to go fishing again on Sunday and this time we took a friend along with us.

Although we did warn him that he'd be in big trouble if he caught the smooth-hound with Phil’s name on it 😊

Song of the sirens

Phil was fishing from Ravensdale's aft deck when we first heard the strange sound

Lately, I’ve been hearing mermaids singing while out fishing and during the night while moored up - or at least that’s what I think I’m hearing 😊

Thankfully, Phil could hear it too as I thought I was going mad, but we had no idea what it was.

It was a strange noise - like a cross between a whistle and ethereal panpipe music or, as Phil described it, like someone rubbing their finger around the top of a glass.

We’ve never heard it during the day while in the marina, just while lying in bed at night.

It kept me awake a fair bit on Saturday evening and, for once, it was still doing it when we woke up on Sunday morning, so Phil got up straight away and went to investigate.

He was fairly sure it was wind blowing across the top of the rod holders that he’s recently fixed in an upright position on the guard rails around the aft deck to provide storage for his fishing rods.

Fishing rod in a rod holder

He tipped one of them backwards to see if that helped.

It didn’t, so he tried stuffing kitchen roll in the rod holders both with and without the rods, but it was still happening.

On Wednesday morning, it actually happened while we were on the aft deck, so we could hear where it was coming from. It seemed to be emanating from the rods, rather than the rod holders. Phil slackened off the lines and it seems to have stopped.

As it was an occasional occurrence, we can only think it’s dependent on the wind coming from a certain direction, so all we can do now is wait and see if it happens again.

I’ll be very glad if it doesn’t happen at night anymore.

However, I won’t mind at all if it happens when we're out on the water as I found it quite romantic – just as long as Phil doesn’t respond to the bewitching song of the sirens 😊

Smooth-hound hunt

We missed the chance to fish for mackerel with one of the local fishermen on Saturday because our windlass was out of action.

On Sunday morning, we discovered he was going out in search of mackerel again but, by then, we’d already offered to take a friend on our smooth-hound hunt.

Not that we minded too much as we really wanted to get that smooth-hound 😊

Ravensdale heading out of Maryport Marina

Sadly, it was not to be this time – his smaller brother or sister maybe but definitely not the one that got away - which was a bit disappointing.

Less disappointing was discovering that the fisherman who went in the opposite direction in search of mackerel hadn’t caught a single fish, so we really didn’t miss much there.

We’re planning to follow him out one day though to find out where to look for mackerel when they are around.

The gate opened around half an hour later than we’d expected on Sunday and we headed off to our usual fishing spot to look for “the beast”.

Leaving Maryport on our way to our smooth-hound hunting ground

Phil caught two smooth-hounds, the largest of which was almost 5lb, a smallish thornback ray, a small tope and lots of dogfish. Thankfully, most of the dogfish got away before he could land them for which he was very grateful.

One of the smooth-hounds Phil caught on our latest fishing trip

A thornback ray

A small tope

The new bigger landing net wasn’t really needed for the size of the fish he caught this time, but the extra-long handle meant I could easily get it underneath them while fishing from the foredeck.

Our friend also enjoyed the outing and caught a couple of small smooth-hounds and lots of dogfish.

The weather was fine and dry with very little wind, so we set up the table we usually only use in the marina on the aft deck and ate our lunch al fresco. It was the first time we’d done this while out on the water.

Phil waiting to eat his lunch on Ravensdale's aft deck

Previously, I’ve just taken out rolls or sandwiches that we usually eat sitting on the aft deck lockers or the superstructure if fishing from the foredeck.

Most of the time we were out fishing it was fairly calm and the boat was fairly steady, but it rocked around a good bit as the tide turned and the wind stopped the boat from turning around for a while.

Once it turned, the rocking settled down again.

The only other rocky patch was when another friend, who has a boat a similar size to ours but considerably faster, passed us several times at speed. It enabled me to get some good photos of their new boat, but his wake made fishing a bit difficult for a while.

Our friends' Sealine 42 Statesman passing Ravensdale

The same boat makes a turn before coming around again

While the guys were fishing, we got a message from Mic, another friend who is also a member of the marina staff, to say the water level was dropping faster than expected and the marina gate was likely to close about 30 minutes earlier than we’d previously been told.

We were just about to start packing up anyway as we tend to start thinking about returning an hour before the gate is due to close.

This gives us time to make sure the engines start, to bring up the anchor and to get back to the marina from the place where we usually fish.

The plan is that it also allows time for starting up the generator if the engines don’t start on the starter batteries (although there’s no reason for us to think this would happen) and for any variation in the time that the gate closes.

As it happens, we would’ve been back in time anyway, but it was good to be informed that the gate was likely to close early.

Ravensdale passing Maryport lighthouse on our way back home

Thankfully, the windlass worked well when Phil went to lift the anchor, in fact, it sounded better than it had on previous occasions, presumably because it had been topped up with oil.

While the chain was coming in, it was pulling to starboard, so Phil asked me to push the throttle on the port engine down slowly to bring it round. I did as he instructed and it worked a treat.

And we were safely back in the marina before the gate closed.

Windlass repairs

The windlass packed up while Phil was bringing in the anchor to go home after our fishing trip on Thursday of last week.

Phil had a look at it the following day. Initially it wouldn’t move at all.

Phil trying to sort our windlass problems

He managed to free it off, so he could operate it by hand, but the switch still wouldn’t work, so we called our marine electrician, who came over to do the job on Saturday.

It seems one of the fuses had blown.

The windlass fuse that stopped working

As we didn’t have a spare and were unable to get one immediately, he moved the good fuse from the negative lead to the positive lead and put it back together. It’s now working just fine. Apparently, we don’t need a fuse on the negative lead.

There was also very little oil in the windlass, which may have caused the fuse to blow.

We’d been unaware that it needed the oil topped up as the filler cap was broken off flat with the outer surface making it invisible and impossible to open.

The electrician was aware that it was there and prised it out.

Phil then topped up the oil and made a new stopper for it, so we can keep it topped up in the future.

New windlass cover

The new windlass cover I made this week is based on the design of a carrier bag from Morrisons supermarket 😊

The new windlass cover and the Morrisons bag that inspired the design

The Sunbrella canvas leftover after repairs to the flybridge and bimini covers has been waiting for me to turn it into a cover for our windlass for some time.

I was waiting for a rainy day, so I wouldn’t feel I was missing good weather, but we’ve had great weather for the past month – not that I’m complaining 😊

I was also trying to work out how best to do the job as the windlass is an awkward shape.

I didn’t have enough fabric to make more than one, so I had to get it right first time.

Another, more recent, excuse for not getting on with the job was that it was pointless making a cover for the windlass until it was fixed just in case it had to be replaced and I would’ve wasted my time and the fabric.

Once the windlass was working again, I couldn’t really put it off any longer, so I measured it up then decided to see whether a Morrisons carrier bag would fit over it and it did, almost perfectly.

Me sewing the new windlass cover

I used the bag as a basic pattern, shaping the opening of my version so it was longer at the higher front of the windlass and lower at the back.

I then threaded a drawstring through the seam around the open end of the bag and it is a snug (OK, snuggish 😊) fit.

The new windlass cover in situ

It will certainly do the job and hopefully stop the surface of the windlass from becoming any more pitted than it already is.

Refuelling Ravensdale

We saw on the news that the price of fuel was rising steadily so checked whether the marina had put its prices up yet.

We were told it had not, so we decided to top up Ravensdale’s 1,200 litre fuel tank and were delighted to discover that it only took 360 litres to fill her up.

Our current mooring means we only have to move about three boat lengths to reach the fuel berth as it’s on the hammerhead on the neighbouring pontoon.

Ravensdale and the Maryport Marina fuel pontoon

However, the filler cap is on the opposite side of the boat to the way we normally moor up facing into the prevailing south-westerly winds, so refuelling means going past the fuel berth and turning the boat around then coming in facing the other way.

We disconnected Ravensdale’s mooring ropes and set off for the fuel berth then noticed that Reg the marina foreman, who was waiting for us by the fuel pump, was signalling a problem.

It was at that point that we realised we’d forgotten to disconnect from the shore power ☹

The cable was becoming taut and there was nothing I could do from the boat to free it.

I pulled the plug out of its socket at our end, but the cable is attached to the stanchions around the aft deck with cable ties to stop it becoming a trip hazard, so I couldn’t release it quickly to throw it ashore.

Phil managed to pull Ravensdale in towards the pontoon a bit and hold her steady in the channel. This wasn’t easy as the easterly wind was trying to blow the stern away from the pontoon and towards the harbour wall.

Meanwhile, Reg made his way around to our hammerhead to unplug us.

Once Ravensdale’s tank was full, Phil drove her down to the other end of the marina where there’s room to spin her around in her own length and came back in facing in our usual direction with Ravensdale’s port side alongside the pontoon.

It’s good to know that she’s all topped up and ready to go whenever and wherever we chose to go next, but my guess is that it will be back out to the smooth-hound hunting ground 😊

Thankfully, the electricity bollard on the pontoon and our cable were undamaged and the electricity worked fine when we plugged back into the shore power when we returned to our current berth.

The temporary warning note about disconnecting shore power

Phil is now planning to wire up a warning light, so we can’t do it again. Meanwhile, we’ve put a note on the console to remind us to check it.

Replacing the cleats on the bathing platform

The broken cleats on Ravensdale's bathing platform

Phil was going to replace the broken wooden cleats on Ravensdale’s bathing platform with the new ones we bought some time ago but hadn’t got around to fitting.

However, when he went down onto the platform to do the job, he discovered that what looked like screws holding them on were actually bolts with nuts on the underside.

At this point, he decided it would be easier to change them from the dinghy so he’s waiting for a calm day when we’re not planning to go out to sea to do the job.

Shrimp hunt

Phil ready to set off on a shrimp hunt in Maryport Marina

“Come for a shrimp hunt,” he said.

“There are loads of them swimming around in the marina today,” he said.

“It’ll be fun!” he said.

So, I grabbed my polaroid sunglasses and joined Phil, who was carrying a bright blue child’s fishing net and a small bucket, on a walk up and down the pontoons looking for little shrimps.

Meanwhile, all the shrimps disappeared and it was beginning to look as though the first one he caught was going to be the only one.

Phil trying to catch a little shrimp

Four small shrimps and a tiny eel

However, as we were heading back to our boat with our pathetic haul of a single small shrimp, he netted three more and a tiny eel.

The eel has been released, but the shrimps will be used as bait on our next fishing trip.

Phil has now mended our prawn net, which had opened up so that anything we caught was escaping again, and we’re hoping to catch some more in there.

He also repaired one of his fishing rods which had lost one of the guide rings that holds the line, so it’s ready for our next smooth-hound hunt.

Phil mending our prawn pot

Impromptu photography lesson

I love taking photos but I’m not very clever when it comes to using the correct camera settings.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that Phil calls me a “machine gun photographer” because I fire off hundreds of shots in the hope I’ll get a few I’m happy with.

Phil has tried and tried to teach me how to set my camera settings to help me get better results, so far without much success.

Photographer friend Jan Fialkowski, who has taken two lovely sets of photos of Ravensdale returning to Maryport Marina for us, came on board for a coffee for the first time this week.

Phil and Jan on Ravensdale

Jan was interested to see Ravensdale’s interior and unsurprisingly the conversation soon moved on to photography.

I explained that I have real problems getting sharp images when I take photographs from a moving boat out on the water.

Jan gave me some tips, but I have a horrible feeling that the same thing will happen to the information as has happened to when Phil has tried to help me with this.

Try as I might, I cannot retain this information. It just seems to go in one ear and out the other.

So, if you’re reading this Jan and my next set of photos taken at sea are equally blurred, I’m really sorry. I was listening, honest, I just seem to have a blind spot for this subject 😊

One of Jan Fialkowski's photos of Ravensdale

Most of the photos I’ve taken this week have either been of sunsets or other people’s boats while we were out fishing so I made a concerted effort to get out to capture the reflections of some of the fishing boats in Maryport Harbour yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

Some of the boats at Maryport Marina

Sunset over the Solway Firth

Maryport Marina at sunset

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour at low tide

More fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

Another corner of the harbour

Boats coming into Maryport Harbour

A trawler bringing home its catch

Maryport lighthouse at sunset

Maryport Marina’s new look

Painters at work on transforming Maryport Marina

The marina building is getting a facelift.

This week, workmen have been pressure-washing the exterior walls and treating them with fungicide.

And yesterday (Thursday) they started painting them bright blue.

It looks a bit strange at the moment, but then it’s only half done and the colour is already beginning to grow on me 😊

It reminds me of the open air swimming pool where I learnt to swim as a child.

Weather watch

Amazingly we’ve had yet another mainly dry, sunny and warm week for the fifth consecutive week.

We have had a bit of rain this week, but only during the night.

Calm water at Maryport Marina last Friday evening

Last Friday was warm and sunny with a top temperature of 20.5C (69F). The highest wind speed recorded locally was 7mph.

We had rain overnight and Saturday started overcast. It was the coolest and least summery day of the past week with a top temperature of just 14.2C (58F) and a top wind speed of 14mph.

It rained overnight again, but Sunday morning started dry and brightish, if a little overcast, but the sun managed to break through later in the day. The top temperature was 16.8C (62F) and the highest wind speed was 8mph.

Sunshine lighting up the lush green fields along the shores of the Solway Firth on Sunday

Overnight rain was followed by another warm, sunny day with a top temperature of 19.6C (67F) and a top wind speed of 14mph.

Tuesday started a bit overcast with a cool wind, but the sun came out late morning. The daytime temperature went up to 17.1C (63F) and the top wind speed recorded locally was 11mph, but it felt windier here.

Wednesday was another bright, sunny day with a top temperature of 15.5C (60F). The highest average wind speed recorded at St Bees Head was 9mph but again it felt windier here.

The sunset reflected in the still water at Maryport Marina on Wednesday evening

Yesterday (Thursday) was also warm and sunny with a top temperature of 19.1C (66F) and a top wind speed of 10mph.

Maryport Harbour in the sunshine yesterday (Thursday) afternoon

And today (Friday) has been dry and bright with the highest temperature so far sitting at 16.9C (62F).