Three storms in one week – an ex-hurricane and first two named storms of the UK season

Me checking the wind speed on Ravensdale's aft deck

The past week was even windier than the previous one with three storms affecting this area over five consecutive days.

Overnight Monday into Tuesday, we caught the tail end of Hurricane Helene and Storm Ali battered parts of the UK, including our home port at Maryport in Cumbria, UK, throughout the day on Wednesday.

The worst storms we’ve experienced since we moved on board Ravensdale in November 2016 have been mainly during the hours of darkness, so it was quite interesting to be able to see what was going on for a change.

It also meant we were able to spot any problems with other boats in the marina and report them to the marina staff, hopefully before any serious damage was caused.

The Met Office then issued a yellow “be aware” warning for heavy and persistent rain during Storm Bronagh, which was due to arrive in this area late yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

It didn't get here until later in the evening, but, when it did, it definitely made its presence known with torrential rain and a howling gale.

Thankfully, our 43ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser escaped all three storms pretty much unscathed.

An exceptionally windy week

Forecasters warned that we would be hit by the tail end of Hurricane Helene on Monday evening and that it would last until midday on Tuesday.

But, thankfully, it was nowhere near as bad as we were expecting.

Big waves on the shore at Maryport on Monday afternoon

Phil checking the wind speed on the pier

The wind really started to get up during the day on Monday and it was pretty strong when we took a walk along the coastal path and onto the pier during the afternoon. The highest reading Phil managed to get on our anemometer from the pier was 31.9mph.

Monday night was considerably less windy than was initially forecast when the Met Office issued a yellow “be aware” warning for wind for this area from 6pm on Monday evening until midday on Tuesday.

The warning was updated during the day on Monday, removing Maryport from the area that was expected to be worst affected and the highest average wind speed recorded locally overnight was 25mph, gusting 40mph.

Tuesday was a very windy day with the average wind speed reaching 32mph, gusting up to 44mph, and we were very surprised when the marina gate was opened at around 5pm causing the boats to rock quite violently.

The wind kept up throughout the evening and into the night, peaking at 30mph with gusts of up to 41mph.

We could hear it was pretty wild outside and the boat was rocking well, but it didn’t really affect our sleep.

The wind became much stronger on Wednesday morning with the arrival of Storm Ali – the first named storm of the UK storm season.

The noise caused by the wind and creaking fenders was really loud.

Our boat was rocking violently, but nowhere near as much as some of the yachts around us that were heeling over to about 45 degrees and riding up over the pontoons.

A yacht scraping against the side after its fenders were blown out onto the pontoon

Their fenders were coming out above the pontoons and being blown around by the wind, so they were not protecting the boats in any way.

One fender on a yacht near us was blown up onto the aft deck.

The sail cover was ripped open and hanging off on another yacht and the sail was beginning to unfurl.

And a small motor boat’s cockpit cover broke free along one side and was flapping in the wind.

The cockpit cover on a small boat torn open and flapping in the wind

We reported all these things to staff in the marina office before walking round to The Aquarium on the harbourside for our lunch.

The wind was so strong that, at times, it made walking difficult.

On our return to the marina, after lunch, we could see that the sail we'd reported seemed to have been secured and the motorboat cover had been removed and was tucked away inside the boat.

We then walked around to the shore to see the effects of the wind on the sea and it was really wild.

Phil checking the wind speed on the coastal path by the seawall

The south-westerly wind was blowing us along the coastal walk at the top of the seawall and we were being sandblasted with grit off the beach, which stung any exposed skin.

Even at low tide, the waves were being whipped up by the gusty wind

The sea was white with foam and spray was being blown off the top of the waves as the average wind speed reached 51mph, gusting 69mph.

Foam and spray turned the sea white

And, unsurprisingly, my hairban, which was supposed to be keeping my hair out of my eyes so I could see where I was going, blew away - never to be seen again.

Spray blowing across Maryport pier due to high winds

While we were sheltering behind the lighthouse taking photos of the rough sea, two female police officers in a police van pulled up beside us and warned us to be careful.

“Stay safe,” said one of the officers. “If you go in, we won’t be coming in after you.”

We reassured her that we weren’t going to be taking any risks as we had no desire to end up in the water and they went on their way.

Walking back along the side of the marina, the wind was in our face. It was still full of grit, so our faces underwent the sandblasting treatment and it stung like crazy.

It was really difficult walking into the wind, so we were bent forward and moving much more slowly than usual.

On the way back, we stopped to look at the boats in the marina and were pleased to see that Ravensdale was rocking considerably less than most of the others.

When we got back, Phil decided to clean the windows, which had become opaque due to the salt spray that was being blown in the wind.

Phil cleaning Ravensdale's windows during Storm Ali

It seemed a bit crazy cleaning the windows in a gale, but it did give us a clearer view of what was going on outside.

During the afternoon, Phil heard banging outside and looked out to see that the sail of another yacht had broken free of its bindings and was flapping violently so he reported it to the marina and staff secured it with the help of another berth holder who happened to be passing.

A sail that unfurled in the gale force wind

Phil would’ve offered to help the staff member, but it made more sense for him to be assisted by someone who knew what they were doing with sails.

We had a couple of squally showers during the afternoon, but there was no significant rain.

The wind started to drop off a bit from about 3pm onwards. However, it remained pretty gusty well into the evening.

And, Phil gave Ravensdale a good wash yesterday (Thursday) morning as she was absolutely covered in salt after the storm, so much so that it left white marks on our clothes if we brushed against the side of the superstructure while getting on and off the boat.

Phil cleaning off the salt spray from Storm Ali

The Met Office issued a yellow "be aware"warning for heavy and persistent rain marking the arrival of Storm Bronagh yesterday afternoon. It started raining at around 3.30pm but it didn't last for very long. It started again at around 8pm and, this time, we got the heavy and persistent rain we'd been promised.

The boat was rocking well when we went to bed last night and the strong northerly wind caused the water to slap against the transom, which is right next to the head of our bed in the aft cabin, so it was a very noisy night.

The top overnight wind speed recorded locally was 34mph, gusting 53mph.

When we got up this morning (Friday), we discovered that Ravensdale's VHF aerial had come loose and been blown over onto the flybridge.

Ravensdale's VHF aerial resting on the flybridge cover

Thankfully this was the only damage we suffered during all three storms and it was easily fixed.

Quiet mooring ropes

Washing our mooring ropes and soaking them in fabric softener seems to have done the trick.

Despite another week of very windy weather, they haven’t been creaking anywhere near as much as they did before they were given the fabric softener treatment.

And, if they were ever going to creak, they would definitely have done it this week as the boat was rolling and yawing in the strong winds.

Ravensdale's mooring ropes are much quieter than before they were washed in fabric softener

We can still hear them creaking at times, but nowhere near as much or as loudly as they did before.

This may also have been helped by trebling our bow and stern mooring ropes before the big winds arrived.

Where’s Wally?

Wally the whale gulper pump

As regular readers of my blog will know, the wastewater pump for the shower and the washbasin in the en-suite heads on Ravensdale is affectionately known as Wally - by me that is, not Phil. He thinks I’m totally bonkers 😊

It’s a 24V Whale Gulper 220 shower, drain and waste pump so I started referring to it as Wally the Whale Gulper.

While we were getting ready for bed on Sunday evening, I realised that I hadn’t heard Wally for some time. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I heard him working and mentioned this to Phil.

He lifted the inspection panel in the floor at the foot of our bed to discover that Wally had stopped working and the wastewater had been going into the bilges.

As it was late, we agreed not to put any more water down there overnight and Phil would sort it in the morning.

On Monday morning, he lifted the panel in the flooring again and set about pumping out the water and cleaning out the aft bilges with Bilgex.

Phil pumping the water out of the grey water tank

Last time Wally went on strike, Phil just had to give him a bit of a prod and he started pumping again but that didn’t work on this occasion.

He removed the fuse to check whether it had blown but it was fine, so he wiped the fuse and the connections then put it back in.

Thankfully, this was all that was needed to get Wally working again so we’re thinking that the problem must have been caused by damp.

Leaky windows

Captain Tolley's penetrating sealant

We’re really hoping that the windows that started leaking when it rained after a long spell or warm, dry weather in the summer have now all been fixed.

One window, affecting the dinette and the forward cabin, proved the most troublesome.

Water continued to come in despite Phil’s best attempts to stop it.

On a recent visit to Maiden Marine chandlery at Whitehaven, we bought a product called Captain Tolley’s penetrating sealant, which claims to offer “unique capillary action for unparalleled penetration into hairline cracks”.

It has to be applied at 30-minute intervals, so Phil followed the instructions around the window where we had a persistent leak and it seems to have done the trick.

We will definitely be buying some more so we have it handy for any future leaks.

Phil applying the sealant around the leaking window

The other leaks that developed after the warm weather during the summer were all fixed as soon as the problem occurred and have not let any more water in since.

Wi-Fi update

Our new mobile Wi-Fi box

Our new Vodafone mobile Wi-Fi system works well, but we quickly discovered that we would reach our monthly 50GB data limit in considerably less than a month if we used it all the time instead of the marina Wi-Fi.

So, we're now using the marina Wi-Fi whenever possible and switching to the mobile Wi-Fi when we lose the marina connection.

It will be interesting to see how much of the 50GB we get through by the end of the first month using it in this way.

But, what it does tell us, is that it wouldn't work as our sole source of Wi-Fi unless we changed the way we use it.

Commute to work

Apparently, I now work in the local Lidl store or, at least, that’s what my mobile phone seems to think 😊

Commute notification

Over the past week, I’ve started getting regular notifications about the time it will take me to commute to work despite the fact I retired from my job as a regional journalist two years ago next month and haven’t done a day’s paid work since.

For the first couple of days that the notification appeared, I just deleted it.

However, when it kept turning up, telling me my commute was going to take me either four or five minutes that day, I just had to open it to see what it was all about.

And, according to Google maps, it seems I now work at Maryport’s Lidl store.

I can only think this is because I go to Lidl more often than anywhere else – I obviously lead a very exciting life 😊

I’m also wondering whether there will be a pay packet waiting for me the next time I go shopping, but I guess that’s too much to hope for 😊

Marina wildlife

The swan family has been turning up for regular feeds again this week.

I often feed them in a corner between our pontoon and the hammerhead on which we're currently moored as that's where they sit and wait for their food.

The swan family waiting in the corner created by the pontoon and the hammerhead

This is probably because it's directly opposite Ravensdale’s saloon so they can try to attract our attention and see that we're on our way out before we emerge from inside.

The only problem is that the yacht moored up on the inside of the hammerhead has a number of ropes and an electricity lead crossing the spot where they like to wait.

And the lead has started getting on their nerves. One of the adults repeatedly picks the lead up with its beak and drops it again as if trying to move it out of the way and the cygnets are now copying this behaviour. I haven't managed to get a photo of them doing this yet as I never seem to have my camera with me at the relevant time.

It’s quite amusing to watch apart from the fact that I don’t think they’re very happy about it, but there’s really nothing we can do to sort it for them as there's nowhere else that boat could plug into the shore power.

The swans and cygnets enjoying a feed despite the annoying blue lead

Of course, I could be wrong about their motivation for picking up the cable. They could just be playing with it.

A cormorant spent some time diving for fish in the marina on Monday.

A hungry cormorant in Maryport Marina

And the pigeons seem to have returned to the drainage hole in the harbour wall close to Ravensdale.

It’s been weeks, if not months, since we last saw them in the hole, but they've been around regularly over the past few days.

The pigeons back in the drainage hole in the harbour wall

Perhaps they were looking for somewhere to hide from the weather. If so, they will be out of luck as water pours through the hole into the marina from the road above whenever it rains.

Photography

The wild weather we’ve had here in Maryport this week should’ve provided some excellent photo opportunities and I'm very disappointed by the images I have to show for it.

If I’m making excuses, I would say that it was impossible to stand still let alone hold a camera steady when the wind was at its worst. I thought I had upped the shutter speed sufficiently to deal with this, but obviously not enough ☹

Salt spray and the fear of damaging my camera also played a part.

Waves whipped up by strong winds on Monday afternoon

I've taken my camera with me while out walking over the past week but haven’t gone out specifically for the sake of taking photographs, except during the stormy conditions and I’ve already explained why that was less successful than I would’ve liked.

Grasslot shore at Maryport in Cumbria

The Scottish hills across the Solway Firth from the entrance to Maryport Basin

Maryport beach at low tide, looking towards Flimby

Maryport Marina

Autumn arrives with a vengeance

It seems summer is well and truly over ☹

Meteorologically, autumn in the UK began on September 1, but we often have good weather well into September, so I prefer to believe the astronomical calendar, which says it begins on the autumn equinox on September 23.

Either way, as of this coming Sunday, it is definitely autumn, and the weather already seems to have made the transition.

The past week included what was probably the longest sustained period of high winds we’ve experienced since we moved onto Ravendsale almost two years ago.

Last Friday started wet and windy. The rain stopped mid-morning. It was then cloudy with sunny intervals until a heavy downpour early evening. The top temperature recorded locally was 14.9C (59F) and the top average wind speed was 22mph, gusting 31mph.

One of the sunny intervals at Maryport Marina last Friday

Saturday was cloudy but bright with occasional showers. It was fairly calm first thing with average wind speeds of just 3-9mph between 6am and 11am while the marina gate was shut.  

The gate, which is only open for about two and a half hours either side of high water, opened just before 2pm but by then the wind speed was 15mph so too windy for us to take Ravensdale out on the water.

Looking out of Ravensdale's windscreen during a heavy shower on Saturday

We had sunshine and showers for the rest of the day with the temperature reaching 14.7C (58F) and a top wind speed of 15mph.

Saturday night into Sunday was a very windy night with the average wind speed peaking at 34mph and gusts of up to 49mph.

We had a bright and very breezy start to the day on Sunday.

Towels drying in the wind on Ravensdale's aft deck on Sunday morning

This was followed by sunshine and light cloud. The highest temperature recorded locally was 15.7C (60F) with average wind speeds of up to 16mph.

Monday started dry, cloudy and relatively calm. There was light drizzle for a while around 2pm followed by a dry afternoon. The top temperature was 16.5C (62F) at 6pm and the top average wind speed was 26mph, gusting 37mph.

Overnight Monday into Tuesday was warm for the time of year and the wind was less strong than expected. The top average wind speed overnight was 25mph, gusting 40mph and the lowest temperature was 14.5C (58F).

We got up to a very windy morning on Tuesday as the tail end of Hurricane Helene made its presence known. The air felt damp, but it never developed into rain. There was a lot of cloud, but the sun managed to put in a brief appearance and the highest temperature recorded locally was 16.2C (61F). It remained windy throughout the day with a top average wind speed of 32mph, gusting 44mph.

The sun came out for a while on Tuesday but the sky remained heavy with cloud

The wind carried on blowing throughout the night with a top overnight average wind speed of 30mph, gusting 41mph. And it started to go up dramatically when Storm Ali reached this part of the UK at around 8am on Wednesday.

Strong winds blowing foamy waves into the entrance to Maryport Basin

The top wind speed during the storm was 51mph, gusting 69mph with a top temperature of 16.3C (61F) at midday, which was also the windiest part of the day.

Strong winds created choppy conditions at Maryport Marina on Wednesday morning

Wednesday night into yesterday (Thursday) was a fairly windy night but it didn’t seem too bad after the previous day. The highest average wind speed overnight was 34mph, gusting 46mph at midnight.

Yesterday morning was relatively calm and bright, but it soon clouded over to give an overcast day. The temperature peaked at 12.4C (54F) and the highest average wind speed was 17mph at 9am. The wind speed decreased throughout the day.

Last night (Thursday/Friday) was another very windy night with very heavy rain, and, so far, today (Friday) the weather has been a mixture of sunshine and showers. It was still very windy first thing - 32mph gusting 41mph at 9am - but the wind speed had dropped considerably by early afternoon.