Our third New Year afloat and our new puppy is becoming a sea dog

Ruby exploring Ravensdale's foredeck

New Year is one of those times when we tend to look back over the previous 12 months and consider where we might be this time next year.

This time last year, when we were wondering what the next 12 months would bring, we didn’t really think we would still be in Maryport, Cumbria, UK.

And we had absolutely no idea that we would be starting 2019 with a gorgeous, new Staffordshire bull terrier puppy.

But I’m very happy on both counts and Ruby is adapting to boat life really well 😊

I wonder where we’ll be and what we’ll be doing this time next year…



Happy New Year!

Ravensdale on New Year's Day

Firstly, I would like to wish everyone that I haven’t already spoken to - either in person or on social media 😊 – a very Happy New Year!

We had a very quiet New Year on Ravensdale.

In many ways, it was like any other night of the year.

However, we stayed up until midnight to welcome 2019 and had a drink (or two 😊) to celebrate the occasion.

We went to bed soon after midnight and awoke to a lovely, bright, sunny, calm morning – what a great start to the New Year!

Flat calm conditions at Maryport Marina on New Year's Day

January 2 was another beautiful day, and, for a brief moment, I tried to convince myself that the rest of the year was going to be the same.

I like to think of myself as an optimist – a diesel tank half full rather than half empty kind of person – but even I couldn’t get myself to believe that one 😊

The weather remained calm yesterday (Thursday) but the sunshine had been replaced by thick cloud making it a very grey day.

Never mind, we have a whole new year to look forward to and a super cute puppy to share it with so life is looking good 😊


Ruby seems at home on the boat

Ruby fast asleep on the seating in the dinette

Our new staffie pup, Ruby, will be 10 weeks old on Sunday, by which time she will have been with us for a fortnight, and she has already settled in well.

She seems to be happy and is very comfortable in her new surroundings.

Thankfully, we’ve had fairly calm weather since we brought her home, so she hasn’t really seen the boat rocking as it can do, but it has been moving at times and it doesn’t seem to bother her at all.

Hopefully, by the time, the weather is less calm Ruby will be so used to the boat moving that she will hardly notice the difference.

And I’m very pleased to say that I’m no longer having to spend half the night sleeping on the sofa with her.

Ruby with her bone

Phil started getting up to take her out to do what she needed to do when she woke in the night and started crying.

He then put her back in her cage and she settled back down until morning.

He did this for a couple of nights, getting up at around 3.30am – 4.30am to take her out.

And we were amazed when we awoke on Wednesday morning to discover she’d happily stayed in her cage all night without making a sound.

Phil got up to take her out when she started whining quietly at around 7.30am, which we considered a real achievement after such a short time.

And she has done the same every night since.

Ruby cuddled up asleep with one of her toys 

I was a bit concerned that she might be scared by the fireworks on New Year’s Eve, but I needn’t have worried. There were very few fireworks around here and those that did go off were so pathetic that I couldn’t even hear them. Ruby slept through the whole thing.

On New Year’s Day, she went and sat in her bed in her cage on her own for a short while in the morning and, a bit later in the day, she went back in, laid down and went to sleep.

Ruby wakes up in her cage

She seems to like going in her cage more since I dug out an old cushion for her.

She always puts her head on a cushion when she goes to sleep on the seating on Ravensdale, so we thought she might like one of her own and it seems to have worked.

Ruby happily laying in her cage with the cushion that seems to have made her like being there

Ruby in her cage watching the door to the boat waiting for Phil to return

We were about to go out for a walk when she went into her cage and fell asleep.

Ruby cuddled up to Phil's side

I didn’t want to lock her in and disappear the first time she did that in case it put her off doing it again. So, we put off our walk until later in the day and waited until she woke up and came out when she was ready.

But she still likes to fall asleep cuddled up to either Phil or I when she gets the chance.

Her toilet training is also going well.

We take Ruby out onto the pontoons every few hours and always when she wakes up, after food and after play sessions. And she’s had very few accidents in the boat.

She’s very confident walking on the pontoons now. Phil even took her out onto one of the narrow fingers and made it wobble and she didn't seem to mind at all.

She also enjoys meeting people and the few dogs that have come into the marina over the past week.

Phil and Ruby leaving Ravensdale for a walk on the pontoons at Maryport Marina

Phil walking Ruby on one of the narrow finger pontoons

We always check other dogs are fully vaccinated and good with puppies before letting her go near them and she definitely isn’t nervous around them. In fact, quite the opposite, she goes straight up to them and tries to get them to play.

Meanwhile, the swan family still don’t like her very much.

Phil protecting Ruby from the swan family

Ruby gets a closer look at one of the swans

The swans and cygnets hiss at her and she very sensibly keeps her distance but seems a lot less frightened of them than she was during their first encounter.

Ruby discovers her home is floating on the water

Ruby has been for a couple of walks around Ravensdale’s decks and is very interested in everything.

My battle scars from playing with Ruby

But one thing she wasn’t very keen on this week was when we took the cover off the windscreen for the first time since we brought her home.

On Wednesday, Phil removed the cover to let the sunshine warm up the boat.

At first, she was really nervous of all the extra light it allowed in.

She ran down to the opposite end of the saloon and started shaking but she soon got used to it and carried on as normal.

We were surprised at her reaction, but I guess it’s equivalent to someone taking away one of the walls in a house 😊

And yesterday (Thursday) I discovered just how sharp her little teeth and claws are when she caught my nose while we were playing.

I now have two little scratches to show for it – one on each side of my nose.



Christmas is over ☹

Phil removing the Christmas lights from Ravensdale's bimini frame

Ravensdale's Christmas tree before it was knocked over

We took the decorations down on Wednesday, including the 1,900 fairy lights on the outside of the boat and the Christmas tree and other decorations inside.

I’m usually fairly happy to get rid of the indoor decorations when the time comes but I don’t like taking the lights down outside as they make it look so pretty on cold, dark evenings.

We usually leave the decorations up until twelfth night (January 5), but Ruby knocked the Christmas tree over and half the baubles fell off.

I really couldn’t see the point in putting them back on again when it would be coming down in a few days so decided to pack the decorations away earlier than planned.

And it gave me a chance to give the boat a proper clean.

It was Ruby’s first encounter with our main vacuum cleaner as I’d only used the small rechargeable one over the Christmas period.

I thought she might be scared of it as it is much more powerful and noisier than the little hand-held one, but she wasn’t too upset by it.

She went into her cage while I was vacuuming the saloon and sat and watched from the top of the nearest set of steps when I was cleaning the galley/dinette area and the aft cabin.

Ruby making friends with the vacuum cleaner

And, as soon as I switched it off, she went straight up to it and started trying to bite it so that’s another thing she doesn’t seem to mind.


Ravensdale is still out of action

The exhaust elbow on Ravensdale's port engine that has gone away for welding

It’s been so frustrating watching other people take advantage of the calm conditions we’ve had over the past week to go out fishing while we’re stuck in the marina.

The weather was so lovely and sunny and calm on New Year’s Day and a couple of other days this week that we would probably have taken Ravensdale out on the water at some stage.

But the exhaust elbow that came away from the flange on the turbocharger last month is still away being repaired.

I guess if she had to be out of action, the festive season was as good a time as any for it to happen as it would’ve been difficult to take her out when she was covered in Christmas lights.

But they’re off now so hopefully we’ll get the exhaust pipe back and Phil will be able to refit it very soon, so we can take Ravensdale out to play on the water 😊


Swan family

One of the cygnets trying to get food out of the beaker I use to feed them

The swans have made regular visits for food again this week, especially during the cold spell on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the water in the marina was covered by a thin layer of ice and the swans had to work hard to break their way through the ice to get to us.

The swans approaching Ravensdale through the ice

A not very clear photo of one of the cygnets fighting its way through the ice

I also saw a couple feeding them from the road above the marina at one stage, but they aren’t totally reliant on humans for their food.

The cygnets eating weed off the harbour wall

On a number of occasions, I've seen them eating the weed that grows along the harbour wall near our boat.


Photography

Unsurprisingly, I've taken loads of photos of Ruby again this week and I’m pretty sure she's already getting fed up with me pointing a camera at her.

I’m sure she gives me a dirty look when she spots me approaching camera in hand as much as to say: “Oh no! Not again!” 😊

Ruby giving me the look that I'm convinced means she's sick of having her photo taken

I’ve also taken lots more photos of the swans and cygnets.

And I took my camera for a walk along the shore at sunset on Saturday and Sunday.

Fishermen on the shore at Maryport at sunset on Saturday

Walkers on the coastal path at Maryport at sunset on Saturday

Sunset on the shore at Maryport on Sunday

Another view of  Sunday evening's sunset

A fisherman on the shore at Maryport on Sunday evening

On Monday, I took a walk over to the harbour around sunset.

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour at sunset on Monday

Another view of the harbour at sunset

View across the entrance to Maryport Harbour and the River Ellen

Sunset over Maryport Basin

Maryport Coastguard station at sunset

And, on Tuesday and Wednesday, I wandered around the pontoons in the marina photographing the boats reflected in the still water.

Calm water at Maryport Marina on Tuesday

Reflections at Maryport Marina

The sea gate at Maryport Marina

Reflections at Maryport Marina on Wednesday

An old trawler that is being restored in Maryport Marina

Ravensdale at sunset with ice on the water

An attractive yacht at Maryport Marina

Weather watch

The past week has been predominantly dry and calm after a breezy weekend.

Saturday was dry and cloudy with sunny intervals and a top temperature of 10C (50F). The average wind speed reached 26mph, gusting 38mph.

Maryport Marina on Saturday afternoon

Sunday was also dry and cloudy with sunny intervals, but with less wind than the previous day. The temperature peaked at 9.6C (49F) and the top average wind speed was 16mph.

Waves on the beach at Maryport on Sunday

New Year’s Eve (Monday night) was very mild for the time of year with the night-time temperature much the same as it had been during the previous day.

It was dry and bright first thing. It then clouded over but stayed dry. The top temperature was 8.7C (48F) and the top average wind speed was 17mph.

A cloudy sky over Maryport Marina on New Year's Eve (Monday)

New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day was a very mild night with a top temperature of 8.9C (48F).

We awoke on New Year’s Day (Tuesday) to a lovely, bright, sunny, calm morning and it stayed that way all day.

It got cooler as the day went on from 6.8C (44F) at 8am to 3.9C (39F) at 6pm and continued to fall into the evening.

Sunset at Maryport Marina on New Year's Day (Tuesday)

The top average wind speed was 13mph, gusting 30mph, first thing in the morning, but we had single-figure average wind speeds for most of the day.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday was a very cold night. The temperature went down to 0.7C (33F) at St Bees Head – our nearest weather station - but it was definitely colder here.

A local later told us his thermometer was reading -2C (28F) early in the morning.

We awoke to thin ice on the water in the marina.

Thin ice covered the water in the marina on Wednesday morning

Thankfully Phil had salted the pontoon from Ravensdale to the marina ramp on Tuesday evening, so it wasn’t slippery when we left the boat on Wednesday morning.

It was a bright, sunny and calm morning with the cloud cover increasing as the day went on.

The top temperature was 5.3C (42F) and the top average wind speed was 6mph first thing, then 1-3mph for the rest of the day. We would probably have taken the boat out if it hadn’t been out of action due to an exhaust problem.

Calm conditions at Maryport Marina on Wednesday afternoon

Yesterday (Thursday) was dry and calm but cloudy and dull all day. The top temperature was 2.9C (37F) and the highest average wind speed recorded at St Bees Head was 15mph, but it was considerably less than that here.

And, today (Friday), the weather has been overcast but dry. The temperature peaked at 4.9C (41F) and the average wind speed reached 9mph.