The pros and cons of living on a boat…and our Sunday litter pick

Ravensdale basking in the sunshine at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, this week

Next month, it will be three years since we took the life-changing decision to sell our house in the Scottish Highlands to buy a boat and move on board.

We’re still very glad we were brave enough to follow our dream, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few things we miss about having a house.

As this week has been fairly quiet and uneventful it seemed like a good opportunity to put together a new list of the pros and cons of living on our 42ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser.

Although some of these are personal to us and other people’s experiences will be different, I hope they will be of interest and helpful to anyone considering a similar move.

Meanwhile, we got so fed up with the litter that had accumulated on one of our regular dog walks that we decided to clear it up ourselves at the weekend.



The "pros" of boat life

One of my favourite photos of Ravensdale returning to Maryport taken by Jan Fialkowski

You may be surprised to notice that some things appear to be both pros and cons.

These points have both good and bad aspects and I couldn’t decide whether the pro outweighed the con or vice versa 😊

Ravensdale out on the Solway Firth. Photo by Carl Weaver

1.    We have a boat 😊

There was no way we could have afforded a house and a boat so selling our house enabled us to realise our dream of owning and living on a boat.

2.    I no longer have to work so every day’s a holiday 😊

I realise this wouldn’t necessarily be true for others but selling our house and getting rid of our mortgage enabled me to take early retirement and I love it.

3.    We can take our home on holiday with us

There’s no need to pack to go away.

When we throw off our mooring ropes, everything we need is already on board.

Ravensdale during our holiday in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, in May of this year

4.    Meeting lots of people at the marina

We see and speak to many more people here than would’ve been the case if we’d stayed in any of the houses we’d owned over the years.

Marinas are very sociable places to be and there’s always someone willing to stop for a chat.

5.    You can choose your location and neighbours

If we decide we no longer want to be in Maryport, we don’t have to sell our home to move, we can move our home instead.

The same is true if you end up moored next to someone you don’t get on with or who is a noisy or otherwise bad neighbour.

In the first instance, you can ask your marina if you can move to another mooring.

If this isn’t possible or you really want to get right away from them, you can always move your home to another location.

6.    There’s always something to do on the boat (or should that be listed under cons? 😊)  

There’s no way anyone could ever get bored living on a boat as there’s always something that needs doing.

Our “to do” list seems to get longer and longer despite our best efforts to beat it.

7.    Being rocked to sleep

The rocking motion that becomes the norm when you live on water is very relaxing – except when it becomes violent during a storm, but even then, it’s interesting.

A compass jellyfish at Maryport Marina

8.    Feeling closer to nature

The weather and tides become an integral part of everyday life and we’re able to observe a wide range of birds and marine creatures without leaving the marina and often from our own boat. And we get to witness some amazing sunsets.

A beautiful sunset that we watched from our boat while out on the Solway Firth last month

9.    Having very little stuff is a great feeling - We sold or gave away most of our belongings before we moved on board and it’s very liberating.

It’s surprising how little you really need for day to day life.

Although I have to admit we still have too much stuff, both on the boat and in the small land-based storage unit that we’d intended to do away with in our first year as liveaboards.

In fact, we’ve probably paid more to store it than it’s worth now ☹



The "cons" of boat life

Phil stressed out during one of our many attempts at sorting out storage on Ravensdale

1.    Less choice of marinas than we’d expected

We never intended to stay in one place for so long.

The plan was to get Ravensdale seaworthy and do the various courses we wanted to do in Maryport, Cumbria, UK, then maybe spend a short while here before moving on.

However, when we started looking into possible places to go, we discovered that a lot of marinas won’t have liveaboards.

2.    Lack of storage space

Although under “pros” I mentioned that “having very little stuff is a great feeling”, there are still things we want or need to store on the boat for which we can’t find room.

We have a small amount of stuff in the marina’s storage container and a 50 square foot storage unit about eight miles away from us and finding what we want can be a real pain despite my best attempts at keeping lists of what’s where.

One of the two hard-working dehumidifiers on Ravensdale

3.    The constant battle against the high humidity

Thankfully we do win this battle, but you can never let up on it.

We have two dehumidifiers – one in the aft cabin and the other lives in the fore cabin but is moved into the saloon if it starts to steam up.

The dehumidifier in the aft cabin (AKA our bedroom) is put on for an hour after we get up in the morning and a similar length of time before we go to bed.

The one in the fore cabin is run in there or the saloon as and when needed.

And, during the winter, an electric blanket also helps to warm and air our bed.

4.    No garage/garden shed

Other than the storage aspect, it can also be a pain not having anywhere to do certain jobs that one would normally do in their shed or garage.

5.    Difficulty in drying washing/wet gear in bad weather

Our weekly washing is dried in the tumble drier in the marina’s launderette, but any items of clothing that can’t be tumbled, hand washing and wet jackets and waterproof trousers can be a real pain to get dry if bad weather means they can’t be hung out on the washing line.

Trying to get them dry in the boat usually involves running dehumidifiers for prolonged periods, which uses a lot of electricity.

Watering our tiny cactus garden is as close as we get to gardening now

6.    Not having a garden (although there are times when I would list this as a “pro” rather than a “con”)

We both enjoyed gardening and miss being able to grow trees, bushes, flowers and vegetables.

However, we don’t miss having to mow the lawns, weed the flower beds and water the garden during long dry spells.

7.    Not having constant hot water

I’m sure there are plenty of liveaboards with a constant supply of hot water but leaving our water heater on all the time is very heavy on the electricity.

We tend to put it on for an hour first thing in the morning and an hour before our evening meal, only putting it on at other times of the day if we need hot water for a specific reason.

The switch for the domestic water heater

8.    Lack of space to dress and undress in comfort – Although we have an island bed (we insisted on this when looking for our liveaboard home), the space on each side of the bed is still fairly narrow. Whenever we stay anywhere away from the boat, the extra space in which to dress and undress is always a welcome treat.

9.    No full-length mirror (or maybe this is a blessing 😊)

It’s a pain not being able to see what an outfit looks like before leaving home, especially when you’ve bought something new or you’re trying on something that you haven’t worn for a while.

That said, we tend to live in the same type of casual clothes most of the time, so it doesn’t really matter too much.



I've just realised that my lists of pros and cons have totally coincidentally ended up exactly the same length but I don't think that means they cancel each other out as the pros definitely outweight the cons 😊

And I purposely haven’t looked back at the last blog post I wrote on this subject more than 18 months ago to see if my views had changed as I wanted to record my current views on the subject.

I’m not even going to do it now just in case I get tempted to change or add something to this list.

I’ll go back and read it after I’ve published this week’s blog post and may compare the two next week if there’s enough of a difference to make it worthwhile.


The past week

Sunday litter pick

Me collecting litter on Sunday

We were so fed up with the amount of litter we see on one of Ruby’s regular walks that we decided to do something about it.

Over recent weeks, an increasing number of empty drink cans, crisp packets and empty bottles have been accumulating along the paths on the grassy area on the marina side of the sea wall on our walk to the lighthouse and back.

For days, we’d been saying it wouldn’t take long to clear and meaning to take a black bin bag to gather it up but kept forgetting until we got there the next time.

But, on Sunday morning, we asked the member of marina staff on duty whether the marina had a litter picker we could borrow, and I took that and the bin bag along while Phil walked Ruby.

I collected a good bag full of rubbish, including quite a lot of broken glass.

There was also an empty plastic sunscreen container, so somebody was obviously looking after themselves but had considerably less concern for the environment ☹

We’re just wondering how long it will be before it gets in the same state again.

There was also a lot of dog mess that people hadn’t bothered to pick up.

We always pick up after Ruby, but I just couldn’t face picking up after other people’s dogs and, to be honest, it would’ve taken hours to clear it all so we’re just going to have to be careful where we step.

However, we know this isn’t going to easy as Phil had to shampoo the carpets on Ravensdale again last weekend – just a week after they were last cleaned - because he managed to step in some dog mess and walk it indoors ☹



Marina gate

Maryport Marina sea gate closed and holding water in the marina at low tide

The marina gate has been operating normally since the new cable was fitted last Friday.

When I wrote last week’s blog post, the broken cable had been replaced but the tide was still up, which meant we hadn’t seen it in action.

So, it was great to see it closed and keeping the water in the next time the tide went out.

It really is good to have Ravensdale floating around the clock again rather than settling down into the mud every time twice a day as happened for a month before the cable was fixed.


Deck furniture

Our table and chairs on Ravensdale's aft deck on a sunny day

We painted teak oil on the garden table and chairs that we bought for Ravensdale’s aft deck last year.

They are looking much better for their beauty treatment, which will hopefully also mean they last longer.

The trouble is that we’re now wondering whether they really are the best furniture for our aft deck.

We hardly used them last year and have only got them out once this week despite some lovely warm, sunny weather.

So, we’re considering getting rid of the table and chairs and buying a couple of recliners instead.


Ruby of Ravensdale

Ruby wearing her new collar

It seems impossible to believe that Ruby will be nine months old this weekend.

In some ways, it only feels like yesterday that we brought home our cute little puppy, but in others, it feels as though she's always been a part of our lives.

We bought her a new collar this week because the old one was looking rather narrow for her now chunkier frame.

And I always find it difficult to visit a pet shop without buying her a treat of some kind.

This time, she got a new stag antler to chew as her old ones are getting smaller as she manages to chew them away.

She seemed pleased with it and it's already looking well-chewed at one end 😊

Ruby fast asleep after one of her walks

While we were out walking Ruby on Saturday morning, we met a woman with three small dogs all running around off their leads.

As they approached Ruby, who was on a lead, we asked if they were friendly. She said two were but the other one could be “a bit iffy” with other dogs. Meanwhile, they were all sniffing around Ruby.

Phil told her that if one couldn’t be trusted then perhaps she should keep that one on a lead.

The woman replied: “Oh no! He likes to run free.”

We both walked away disgusted that anyone would think it was OK to let a dog that could get nasty with other dogs run around off a lead so that it could approach other people’s dogs unchecked.

Thankfully, it didn’t hurt Ruby, but the outcome could’ve been very different ☹

On a happier note, we met a friend with his dog Sandy soon afterwards and Ruby had great fun playing with Sandy while we had a chat with his owner.

Ruby playing with Sandy

Phil drying Ruby after her walk on Sunday evening

Less good was Ruby finding another dead dogfish during her walk on Sunday morning.

I was very glad Phil was with us this time, so I didn’t have to chase her around on my own.

As happened last week, she totally refused to come to us and ran away as we approached because she knew it was going to be taken away from her.

Eventually, Phil managed to catch her and took away what was left of the dogfish. Needless to say, she didn’t get to come off the lead again on that walk.

It tipped down with rain Sunday afternoon and evening so Phil kindly volunteered to take Ruby for a walk as he said there was no point in us both getting soaked and I was very grateful as they were both drenched by the time they got home.

Ruby had a lucky escape on Wednesday when she found short lengths of fishing line - one with three baited hooks attached - on the paving by Maryport lighthouse.

The fishing hooks that Ruby found by the lighthouse

Fortunately, we managed to get it away from her before she swallowed a hook, but the outcome could’ve been very different.

I just wish all fishermen would take their old tackle home with them and dispose of it safely.


Sad anniversary

Aquila memorial and floral tributes in Maryport

Saturday was the 10^th anniversary of a tragic accident in which three local men lost their lives.

Scallop dredger Aquila capsized when one of her trawl warps snagged on Bo Faskadale reef off Ardnamurchan Point on the west coast of Scotland on July 20, 2009.

Tim Rowley (33) was the only one of the four men on board to survive.

We weren’t in Maryport at the time, but I can only imagine how devastating this incident must have been for the whole community and particularly for the families and friends of skipper Tony Hayton (45) and crew members Martin Sanderson (52) and Peter (Bubbles) Hilton (52).

Flowers were laid at their memorial close to the slipway in Maryport Basin at the weekend.


Wildlife

The cygnet waiting for food by Ravensdale

The cygnet that returned last week has been swimming around the marina for most of this week.

I think it might stay around now as it has a ready source of food here and looks to be thriving compared to its slightly bedraggled appearance when it arrived back in the marina after a long break.

And the warm weather this week seems to have made the grey mullet in the marina more active.

Part of the large shoal of grey mullet at Maryport Marina

There was a large shoal of around 40 of them swimming around Ravensdale yesterday (Thursday) morning. There were so many on them that I couldn’t get them all in a single photo.

Two grey mullet

Polar Bound

Polar Bound leaving Maryport Marina yesterday (Thursday)

Polar Bound - a 48-ft aluminium boat built for Arctic exploration -  that has been undergoing work at the boatyard next to the marina left Maryport in preparation for her next adventure yesterday (Thursday).

David Scott Cowper at the helm of Polar Bound

British solo round-the-world yachtsman David Scott Cowper is heading off to tackle the only Nortwest Passage route that he has not yet done before the ice closes in again.

Polar Bound heading for the marina gate and the Solway Firth

And I later discovered that our photographer friend Jan Fialkowski, who was also photographing Polar Bound leaving the marina, had taken a photo of me taking photos of the action from Ravensdale's foredeck. It seems Ruby managed to sneak into the photograph too 😊

Me taking photos of Polar Bound from Ravensdale's foredeck. Photo by Jan Fialkowski

Photography

I haven’t been out for many walks with my camera this week because of the pain in my right arm, which makes carrying my camera for any length of time very uncomfortable.

However, I took it for a walk around the harbour on Tuesday

Reflections in Maryport Harbour

Another view of Maryport Harbour

Colourful fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

More fishing boats in the harbour

A fisherman at work on his boat

And I’ve taken a few photos around the marina and while out walking Ruby during the week.

Maryport Marina on a beautiful sunny day

Maryport Marina building

Ravensdale at Maryport Marina

The Scottish hills across the Solway Firth from Maryport

Maryport from across the basin

Heavy clouds over a footpath to Maryport Lighthouse

And I was lucky that I had my camera with me when we saw local fishing boat Alauna returning to Maryport while we were out walking Ruby on Wednesday.

Alauna approaching Maryport

Alauna in Maryport Basin

Alauna about to enter Maryport Harbour from the basin

My arm became worse at the start of this week, so I made an appointment to see the nurse practitioner at our GP surgery.

She’s put me on painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication that seems to be helping while I wait for an appointment to see the physiotherapist.

I’m told there’s currently a wait of 10 weeks and, as I filled in the self-referral form about three weeks ago, I’ve got another seven weeks to go ☹



Weather watch

We’ve had some lovely warm, sunny summer weather this week, along with a dramatic thunderstorm in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Clouds at Maryport Marina on Saturday morning

We had rain overnight Friday into Saturday followed by showers during the morning. It was dry during the afternoon and felt warm when the sun came out despite being breezy for most of the day.

Dry and sunny on the shore at Maryport on Saturday afternoon

The temperature reached 17.1C (63F) with a top average wind speed of 23mph, gusting 30mph.

Sunday was dry, bright and fairly windy.

A severe weather warning for heavy rain was issued for this area from lunchtime on Sunday until 23:59 on Monday.

We had a few light spots of rain just after lunch then the rain arrived with a vengeance later in the afternoon.

The top temperature was 16.3C (61F) and the average wind speed was 31mph.

It was very wet and windy overnight Sunday into Monday with a top overnight wind speed of 28mph, gusting 44mph.

We had rain first thing on Monday morning. It then became dry, bright and breezy with a top temperature of 17C (63F) and a top average wind speed of 22mph, gusting 30mph.

Monday afternoon at Maryport Marina

Tuesday was dry, warm and sunny with a good breeze in the morning that dropped off during the afternoon. The daytime temperature peaked at 22C (72F) and the top average wind speed was 18mph.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday was very warm and muggy with the temperature going up to 25C (77F).

This was followed by thunder, lightning and heavy rain in the early hours of the morning.

It was a grey start to the day on Wednesday with the cloud thinning and the sun coming out late morning. The top temperature was 23C (73F) and the top average wind speed was 16mph.

Blue sky and white clouds at Maryport Marina yesterday (Thursday)

Yesterday (Thursday) was dry, very warm and sunny from first thing but it was still fairly breezy for much of the day with heavy showers from mid-afternoon.

The top temperature was 26C (79F) and the top average wind speed was 22mph, gusting 33mph.

Cloudy weather at Maryport Marina today (Friday)

And, so far today (Friday) the weather has been overcast but dry and fairly warm with a top temperature of 20C (68F) and a top average wind speed of  16mph. The sun came out mid-afternoon.

Marina sea gate repaired after draining down for a month and our latest trip out on Ravensdale

Staff fitting the new gate cable at Maryport Marina

The marina’s sea gate was fixed this morning so our Neptunus 133 motor cruiser should now remain afloat at low tide again.

The cable on the gate that holds water in Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, snapped a month ago today (Friday). Since then, the marina has drained down every time the tide went out.

Marina staff replaced the cable this week and divers checked the hinges and attached the new cable to the gate this morning.

We also took Ravensdale out on the Solway Firth on Monday which gave us a chance to try out our new VHF aerial.

And Ruby found herself a proper staffie stick 😊


Marina gate

The new cable arrived at the marina on Tuesday

The new cable for the marina’s sea gate arrived Tuesday lunchtime.

Marina staff fitting the new cable

Marina staff fitted it the same day then had to wait for divers to come and check the gate hinges and attach the new cable to the gate.

This work was carried out around low tide this morning (Friday) so the gate should now keep water in the marina again when the tide goes out this evening.

The previous cable snapped on June 19, which meant it was no longer possible to close the gate to maintain a good depth of water in the marina.

It will be good to have water back in the marina again after a month of Ravensdale sinking down into the mud every time the tide went out.

Her mud baths don’t seem to have caused her any problems, but she sometimes settled further from our boarding steps than we would've liked.

If we were around when the water level started to drop, we pulled her in to bring her closer to the pontoon then slackened the ropes off again when she’d settled. However, if we were off the boat or she went down into the mud at night, we just had to accept where she ended up.

Also, the ramp to the marina facilities became very steep at low tide.

And it seemed decidedly weird when Ravensdale was static for a good part of the day, rather than floating, so it will be really nice to get back to our life afloat.

The dive team that came to fix the cable this morning (Friday)

A closer view of the dive boat

Ravensdale out on the water

We considered going over to the Isle of Man for a few days when we saw the weather forecast was good from Saturday to Tuesday inclusive.

At that stage, the weather was due to break on Wednesday.

However, by Saturday morning, the forecast for Tuesday was less good so we decided to wait for a longer period of good weather as it is almost 50 nautical miles from Maryport, and we’d rather go when we will be able to spend a bit longer there.

Meanwhile, we decided to take Ravensdale out on a little fishing trip on Monday.

It also gave us an opportunity to test our new VHF aerial.

We left the marina at around 9.20am and headed straight out across the Solway Firth from towards Three Fathoms Bank, which is 5.5 nautical miles from Maryport.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport

The further we got from Maryport, the choppier the water became and, when we were about four miles out, we decided it was going to be too bumpy to sit comfortably at anchor so we turned back and headed for the area of Allonby Bay where we’d had some good cod the previous week.

Ravensdale on the way to Allonby Bay

We dropped anchor and Phil set up four fishing rods.

The best cod Phil caught on this trip

He soon caught a reasonable cod and we were hoping we were in for another good catch, then something strange happened.

As he was pulling in the next codling, we could see that it was being chased by a tope, which is a member of the shark family.

The tope chasing the cod Phil had hooked

And, as he lifted it out of the water, the tope bit off and disappeared with most of the codling leaving just the head and a small section of the body hanging on the hook.

The remains of the cod that was attacked by a tope

It was a bit gruesome, but it just goes to show how sharp their teeth are.

This happened again a bit later one. This time it was a slightly smaller codling and all that was left of it was the head.

Phil also caught a codling that was too small to keep and was returned to the water and a few dogfish and he had several good bites from fish that got away before he could get them to the boat.

Phil setting up one of his fishing rods watched by Ruby

And he was pleased to catch a tope, even if it wasn't the biggest he's ever caught.

Phil with the tope he caught on this trip

Fishing aside, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water – warm and sunny with a light wind that made sitting out on deck more comfortable than it would’ve been without the breeze.

Ravensdale returning to Maryport

We returned to the marina soon after 1.30pm after more than four hours out on the water during which time we’d travelled 10.9nm.

So, we may not have made it to the Isle of Man or even to Three Fathoms Bank this time, but at least we’d given Ravensdale a good run.

Turning back also meant we discovered that 1,300 revs gave us eight knots against the tide and 11 knots with the tide.

And our new VHF aerial worked well. We were told that our transmissions were clear, as were the messages we received, so we now know our communications are in good order again.

We later discovered that one of the other berth holders here had taken a couple of photos of Ravensdale while we were out on the water. Thanks Alan! 😊

Ravensdale out on the Solway Firth

Replacing exhaust cover screws

Phil putting sealant into screw holes in the exhaust cover before replacing the screws

Phil was pleased to get a job done this week that he'd been meaning to do for more than two years.

Last time Ravensdale was lifted out of the water and then back in again in the marina’s boat hoist, the straps lifted the exhaust cover on her starboard side. This dislodged two of the screws holding it in place and carbon has been escaping around them when the engines are running ever since.

At the weekend, Phil got our dinghy out and paddled around to the starboard exhaust cover.

Using a rope to hold the dinghy in place, he removed the damaged screws, filled the holes with white sealant and replaced the screws.

He had already removed the carbon when he cleaned that side of the hull while checking the damage caused by the recent rock-throwing incident.

And we were delighted to see that no carbon escaped around the screws on our latest outing.


Ruby of Ravensdale

Ruby on lookout duties on Ravensdale's aft deck

Ruby leads the way up the overgrown path up Mote Hill

I took Ruby for a walk up Mote Hill in Maryport on Saturday, which is a fairly steep climb up a lot of steps.

What I hadn’t realised was just how overgrown the path would be as last time I went up there it was clear.

Once we reached the top, I took her to the highest viewing area so she could look out over Maryport and I wanted to get a photo of her up there. Thankfully, before Ruby went in there, I noticed that someone had left broken glass all over the ground, so I immediately called her back.

We then walked back along the main road at rush hour.

It was very busy with both people and traffic and she was really well behaved, so I was very proud of her.

Another thing that Ruby’s started doing that I’m really pleased about is sitting, without being told to sit, when we reach the edge of a pavement.

Since she was very small, we’ve been telling her to sit before crossing roads and she seems to have got the message as, the minute we stop at the edge of the pavement, she sits then looks up at us for praise and/or a treat.

It doesn’t happen every time as she’s still quite easily distracted by people and other dogs, but I think we’re getting there 😊

Ruby chilling out in her life jacket in Ravensdale's saloon 

Ruby was very chilled when I put her life jacket on her while we were out on the Solway Firth in Ravensdale again on Monday.

She really has accepted trips out on the boat and wearing her life jacket as part of her normal life now, which is good because that’s exactly what they are 😊

Ruby making herself comfortable in the saloon while Ravensdale was out on the Solway Firth

Ruby found herself a proper staffie stick while she was out for a walk with Phil and I on Wednesday morning.

It looked more like a lump of fence post and I really thought it would be too heavy and chunky for her to carry around, but she brought it with us for at least half of her walk before she decided to dump it.

Ruby with her staffie stick

The worst thing when she’s carrying a stick is when she runs past us and catches the back of our legs with it, especially when wearing shorts. Ouch!

And I was even less impressed when she found a rotting dead dogfish in the long grass and ran off with it, totally refusing to bring it back to me and swap it for a treat. I wasn't at all surprised as I'm sure dead dogfish was far more interesting.

I eventually got her to bring it to me by sounding really interested in what she'd found then managed to retrieve about two-thirds of it, half of which she'd apparently swallowed whole ☹

I quite expected the rest to return later but it never did.

Ruby with her new red Kong ball

Meanwhile, her latest favourite toy is her new red Kong ball, which she uses to get us to play her version of fetch. This involves her dropping the ball down the steps from the saloon into the galley, so we have to get it and give or throw it back to her.

It turns out we’re better at playing fetch than she is as she’s great at running after it and finding it but rubbish at bringing it back 😊

Ruby trying to persuade Phil to play ball with her

Where’s our washing?

Marina launderette

I totally forgot that I’d done the laundry on Friday until we were just about to go bed at around midnight.

I couldn’t find the towel I wanted then realised that I had left all the washing in the tumble drier in the marina’s launderette.

I always set alarms on my phone to remind me to go up and move our laundry from the washing machine to the tumble drier and then another for just before the drier is due to finish, so I don’t forget to collect it.

Well, this time I did – forget to collect it, I mean 😊

I remember the alarm going off while I was in the middle of doing something on Ravensdale, so I decided to go and collect the washing as soon as I’d finished doing whatever I was doing (I’ve forgotten what that was now too – guess it must be an age thing 😊)

Having realised my mistake, I decided it just had to be collected before we went to bed so we both went up to the launderette to fold it all up and bring it back to the boat.

Unsurprisingly, I didn’t bother putting it all away until the following morning.

The biggest joke was that I hadn’t even intended to do the laundry until Saturday.

I decided to do it on Friday afternoon instead because we were considering going over to the Isle of Man for a few days and I wanted to make sure everything was clean to take away with us.

If I hadn’t remembered the washing late on Friday night and we’d gone away on Saturday morning, we would’ve gone without all our clean clothes, etc., which would’ve been a total pain.


Wildlife

The cygnet waiting for food near Ravensdale

We hadn’t seen any swans in the marina for weeks when one of last year’s cygnets turned up on Tuesday evening.

I fed it and it was either still here or back again on Wednesday morning looking for food. It was in the marina again yesterday (Thursday) so I’m wondering if it’s going to become a more regular visitor again.

The larger heron fishing in the marina

One of the two smaller herons fishing at the bottom of the slipway

Also, on Tuesday evening, there were three herons fishing at the bottom of the marina slipway.

There is usually only one heron fishing there and two looked a good bit smaller so we’re thinking that the regular heron may have young. I only managed to get a photo of one of the smaller herons as the other one flew away.

Another shot of the larger heron

Polar Bound at marina boatyard

Polar Bound on the boatyard hoist

An unusual and interesting boat is currently undergoing work at the boatyard next to the marina.

Polar Bound arrived while we were out on the Solway Firth on Monday, so I didn’t get a chance to photograph it passing Ravensdale.

But I’ve been up to have a look at the 48-foot aluminium motorboat on the hoist at Bollard Proof (formerly MPM North West).

She belongs to David Scott Cowper, a British yachtsman who was the first man to sail solo around the world in both directions.

He was also the first to successfully sail around the world via the Northwest Passage single-handed.

Polar Bound is shaped like an egg and reinforced to ensure she won’t crack under the pressure of 65 tonnes of ice.

She’s also well insulated to enable Cowper to survive the extremely cold temperatures he encounters on his Arctic voyages.

Another view of Polar Bound on the boat hoist

Photography

I have taken literally hundreds of photos this week, most of which were of Maryport Carnival on Saturday.

I got home to discover that I had more than 800 photos to go through, which was a pretty painful experience with my bad arm.

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

Maryport Carnival

I finished sorting through them and processing them the following day then took a load more photos while out on the Solway Firth on Ravensdale the following day.

Gang Warily on the Solway Firth

Commercial fishing boat Our James returning to Maryport

Raingoose on the Solway Firth

Mistral and Raingoose by part of Robin Rigg Wind Farm on the Solway Firth

Charter fishing boat Venture West on the Solway Firth

Maryport from the Solway Firth

Another view of Maryport from the Solway Firth

I took my camera for a walk around the harbour and up to town yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

The River Ellen from The Settlement in Maryport

Looking out towards the Solway Firth from The Settlement

Maryport Harbour

Colourful fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

Jean Paul in Maryport Harbour

This week’s topic for the Practical Photographer magazine 52-week challenge was “phone photo” so I’ve been trying to get a decent photo on my mobile phone.

I didn’t have my camera with me on Tuesday when I saw Jean Paul, one of the local boats, being towed back into the harbour by a Maryport fishing boat, so I took a few snaps of that with my phone.

Jean Paul being towed back to Maryport by Solway Prospector

Another view of Jean Paul being towed back to Maryport

And, on Tuesday evening, I took this photo of sunset at the marina with my phone camera. The quality isn’t great, but I quite liked it anyway.

Phone photo of Maryport Marina after sunset

Taking more photos with my mobile this week has made me think that it must be time to upgrade my phone and, this time, I’m determined to get one with a decent camera.

And I almost forgot to include this photo of me that was taken by a friend during the carnival. Thanks Roy! 😊

Me and my camera at the carnival

Weather Watch

Beautiful summer weather at Maryport at the start of this week.

The first half of this week was warm, dry, sunny and relatively calm.

But the weather took a turn for the worse on Wednesday with wind and heavy rain.

Saturday was dry, warm and sunny with a top temperature of 19C (66F) and a top average wind speed of 14mph.

Sunday was another dry and sunny day with a little cloud around lunchtime. The temperature reached 18C (64F) and the top average wind speed was 8mph but it was much calmer in the evening.

Calm conditions on Sunday evening at Maryport Marina

It was warm, dry, sunny and calm on Monday morning with a little more wind during the afternoon.

The top temperature was 19C (66F) and the top average wind speed was 15mph at St Bees Head, which is our nearest weather station.

The wind speed while we were out on the Solway Firth was 11mph-15mph at St Bees Head, but it was definitely less than that here.

Light cloud at Maryport Marina on Tuesday afternoon

Tuesday was another dry, bright, sunny day with more cloud during the afternoon. The top temperature was 19C (66F) and the top average wind speed was 13mph.

Rain through Ravensdale's windscreen on Wednesday

Wednesday was dry and breezy. We had a light rain shower in the morning and heavy rain from mid-afternoon.

The top temperature was 16C (61F) and the top average wind speed was 21mph.

Yesterday (Thursday) was cloudy and windy with a little light rain at times. The temperature reached 17C (63F) and the top average wind speed was 16mph.

And, so far today (Friday) the weather has been cloudy with outbreaks of rain.

The top temperature was 16C and the highest average wind speed at St Bees Head was 22mph, gusting 31mph, but it hasn't been anywhere near as windy as that here.