A frustrating week of stormy weather and frequent power cuts

Ravensdale in the rain at Maryport Marina - the blue posts are the electricity bollards

The lovely spring-like weather we enjoyed at the end of February gave way to rain and strong winds over the past week.

Although it was not unexpected, it was still disappointing, and the change was made more dramatic by the arrival of Storm Freya last weekend.

And the bad weather has meant there have been no opportunities to take Ravensdale out on the water.

But the worst thing about this week has been the number of power cuts we’ve experienced here at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK.

We initially thought the loss of our shore power supply was due to the storm as the first couple of outages were during the worst of the weather.

But they’ve carried on happening almost every day and sometimes several times a day ever since, which is becoming very annoying ☹


Storm Freya

The view from Ravensdale during the storm on Sunday

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for a large area of the UK and Maryport was shown as being on the edge of the area that would be buffeted by strong winds associated with Storm Freya last weekend.

Phil checked our mooring ropes and put a couple of extra lines on Saturday lunchtime ready for the bad weather that we knew was heading our way.

An area of low pressure brought strong winds to north-western parts of the UK on Saturday.

The wind started to get up early afternoon, becoming stronger as the day went on. By 5pm, the average wind speed was 33mph, gusting 48mph. This was accompanied by heavy rain for most of the afternoon and evening.

Me after a soggy dog walk in the wind and rain

Storm Freya arrived on Sunday with warnings in place for gusts of up to 70-80mph in coastal areas in Devon and Cornwall, Wales and north west England, which is where we are.

Sunday morning was dry. The wind got up and the rain arrived early afternoon. The wind veered round from south-westerly to north-easterly and we had sleet and snow for a short period during the evening.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for snow for this area soon after 8.30pm running from Sunday evening until 2am on Monday. I was rather amused by this as, by the time they issued the warning, it was already snowing quite heavily.

The wind became stronger during the evening causing the boat to rock more dramatically than usual and our shore power went off - twice. We assumed they were weather-related power cuts.

Monday night was very wet and windy, with a top average wind speed overnight of 36mph, gusting 51mph.

Even though the severe weather warning for this area ended at 2am on Monday, it was still pretty windy during the morning with a top average wind speed of 29mph, gusting 39mph.

Maryport beach around low tide on Monday

But it was nowhere near as bad here as during Storm Erik, which battered this area last month, and some of the other named storms we’ve experienced since we moved on board in November 2016.



Power cuts

The electricity bollard next to Ravensdale

Ironically, a couple of weeks ago, a boater who’s considering moving her boat to Maryport and living on it here asked me whether our shore power was reliable.

She said there’d been a couple of serious power cuts in the last couple of years at her current marina and it had a dodgy supply that flickered on and off.

I reassured her that we had a really good shore supply here and that, on the few occasions that we’d lost our power, the marina had sorted the problem and restored the supply very quickly.

And, at that time, it was true.

However, I certainly wouldn’t be able to say that at the moment.

The first time it went off was after 8pm on Sunday evening during the worst of Storm Freya.

At first, we thought we’d let our credit run out even though I’d checked it during the day and was happy that there was enough to last a good 24 hours. I’d intended to top it up on Monday morning.

Phil went out in the wind and rain to go up to the marina office to put some more credit on our card. He came back and put it on our electricity bollard, but we still had no power.

We then noticed that all the lights on the pontoon were out, so we called the marina office to let them know and the member of staff on duty reset the fuse in the box for the pontoon power supply.

Our power was restored but it went off again later in the evening when we repeated the process.

On Monday, it went off again and, on Tuesday morning, we woke up to find out that  the power was off again. I called the marina to let them know but this time it turned out that we had run out of credit.

It transpired that, because Phil had put the card into the slot in the bollard while the power was off, it hadn’t accepted the credit, which was still on the card, so a member of the marina staff put it on for us on Tuesday morning.

We hoped that would be the end of the problems, but it has gone off on several occasions since, including when we first got up yesterday (Thursday), late yesterday afternoon and again this lunchtime (Friday).

Our generator running on Ravensdale's aft deck

During the power outage yesterday (Thursday) morning, Phil got out our generator to check that it was working OK. It started up without any trouble and he left it on for a while to run off some of the old fuel.

Thankfully, the marina has called someone in to look for the electrical fault today (Friday).

I really hope they find it and fix it as it’s driving us crazy now.


Cleaning Ravensdale

Phil giving Ravensdale a good clean up

The spring-like sunshine in this area last week made us realise just how grubby Ravensdale was looking after the winter.

So, Phil started her big spring clean during a brief period of good weather on Monday morning.

Her port side, which is alongside the pontoon, is looking a lot better now so we’re going to have to turn her around one day soon so he can get to the other side.


Return of the missing spring

Phil servicing one of his fishing reels last month

This week, we found out what happened to the spring that went missing while Phil was servicing his fishing reels.

The missing spring next to the carpet

We searched everywhere but couldn’t find it, so all the parts of the reel were bagged up in case it turned up.

After about a week, he decided the spring had obviously disappeared and dumped the rest of the reel in the bin.

Then, on Wednesday of this week, when I was looking at a photo I’d just taken of Ruby eating a carrot on the carpet in the saloon, I spotted it.
It had landed between the edge of the carpet and the front of the base of the seats.

I pointed it out to Phil and said it was a shame that we hadn’t kept the reel a bit longer, but he didn’t mind too much as it wasn’t as good as his other reels.



Ruby

Ruby chewing on her new antler that is supposed to help with teething

Ruby is growing up fast and, to prove it, she lost one of her puppy teeth last weekend.

Phil saw her chewing and heard that she had something hard in her mouth.

He thought she’d picked up something she shouldn’t have and fished it out to discover it was a little puppy tooth.

Thankfully, no-one’s told her about the tooth fairy 😊

She can also get around more of the boat without help now but still claims to need lifting up onto the seating in the saloon.

But we know otherwise 😊

Ruby relaxing on the seating in the saloon after conning us into lifting her up there

One day this week, while I had gone up to town and Phil was washing the boat, she was indoors on her own.

Phil kept checking on her to make sure she was OK and not doing anything she shouldn’t be doing.

She had been on the floor when he went out to wash the boat but, when he looked through the window, she was laying on the seating.

And, the following day, I was sitting at the dining table when I saw her jump up onto the seating.

Ruby doesn’t know we know she can do it, so she still stands on her back legs with her front paws on one of the seats and calls for us to lift her up.

And we must be totally mad as we’re still doing it 😊

She also expects us to hold her antler or chew so she can chew it more easily and I'm not the only one soft enough to do it for her 😊

Phil holding Ruby's antler while she chews on it

She now climbs up the steps from the saloon out onto the deck, but we still have to carry her off the boat on the way out.

On the way back on board, we lift her onto the boat from the pontoon, she runs around onto the aft deck and comes down the steps into the saloon on her own.

Thankfully, my back has recovered after a few days of letting Phil do all the lifting so I can now lift Ruby to take her out myself again.

Like every dog I’ve ever met, she still wants whatever we’re eating or drinking.

And one way to distract her, albeit briefly, is to to give her s a raw carrot – or half a carrot if they’re really big ones 😊

She makes a bit of a mess with them though and I usually end up cleaning up what looks like a load of grated carrot when she’s finished.

Ruby about to devour half a carrot

Ruby was fairly good when our friend Mic came to visit us on Saturday.

She always gets very excited when people arrive but settles down after a while. The trouble was that several times, after she’d lost interest, she suddenly realised he was still here and went through the process all over again 😊

Meanwhile, she’s started pulling up the carpet in the galley and trying to chew the edges.

It’s difficult to stop her as we can’t fix the carpet down because we need to lift it for access to the hatches in the galley floor.

The corner of the galley carpet that Ruby keeps trying to pull up

We’re planning to buy a product that is supposed to deter dogs from chewing things to spray on it next time we got to the pet shop.

Until then, I’ve tried sprinkling some cayenne chilli pepper around the edge, but she seems to like it so that isn’t helping at all.

So, all we can do is stop her and try to distract her every time we see her trying to pull it up.

Meanwhile, she still loves her walks on the beach.

Weather permitting and even when it’s not that nice, we try to take her there for a run every day but, when I take her on my own, she has to stay on her lead. She would probably stay with me, as she does when Phil is with us, but I'm terrified of losing her.

Ruby on one of her beach walks with me

Ruby sitting watching people walk by on the path above the beach

Ruby staying close to Phil on the beach

Ruby on the beach

And, on Wednesday, she was very lucky and had two beach walks – one in the morning and one late afternoon.

Ruby following Phil across the wet sand

Ruby seems to think she's a pointer 😊

Ruby running to catch up with Phil

Ruby exploring on the beach

Ruby playing on the wet sand at low tide

Ruby sniffing a bit of seaweed on the shore

She still doesn’t really like going through water of any depth but seems a bit happier in the shallow water on the wet sand than she used to be so perhaps she’ll eventually come around to the idea of getting wet.

Ruby refuses to take the water jump 😊 

Ruby paddling on the beach

Wildlife

The swan family have definitely parted company as the adults never visit the marina at the same time as their young any more.

We had two cygnets turn up looking for food on Saturday and Sunday.

And we were very surprised to see three adult swans in the marina on Monday.

One of them was obviously an interloper and the pair of local swans were actively seeking out the stranger and trying to chase it away.

The interloper being chased away by the pair of adult swans

Another photo of the interloper

I had walked up to town and Phil knew I would want a photo, so he tried to get a shot of the action for me.

Since then, either two cygnets or a single cygnet have turned up expecting to be fed.


Photography

Peeling paint on an old wooden capstan near the marina

My photography seems to have taken on a new slant lately.

I’ve been taking part in Practical Photography magazine’s 52-week challenge where we are given a new subject every week and last week, week nine, the topic was “abstract”.

I was only really looking for one abstract image but ended up taking loads and started looking for close-ups and abstracts everywhere I went, and I just can’t stop 😊

Pebbles and sand trapped in the grain of the remains of an old wooden groyne

Fishing boat reflections

Close up of a weathered rock

Part of a trawler winch

Part of the same winch taken from the opposite direction

I also take my camera on Ruby’s walks on the beach, partly to photograph her and partly to take landscape images.

Waves breaking on the rocks on the shore at Maryport

Another view of the shore at Maryport

Maryport pier from the coastal walk above the beach

A honeycomb worm reef visible on the shore at Maryport at low tide

Iggesund paperboard mill at Workington from Marport beach at low tide

Reflections in the wet sand on Maryport beach at low tide

Fishermen digging for bait on the shore at Maryport at low tide

Patterns in the sand on the shore at Maryport

Just before sunset on Maryport beach

The Scottish hills across the Solway Firth from Maryport

Bait diggers on the shore at Maryport at sunset

Last Friday afternoon, I was treated to some lovely light rays as the sunshine broke through the dark clouds.

The sun breaking through heavy clouds over the Solway Firth

Light rays over the Solway Firth

Light rays creating spots of bright light on the wet sand at Maryport

And, on Monday, I took my camera for a walk around the harbour and up to town.

Fishermen working on a boat in Maryport Harbour

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

Colourful boats in Maryport Harbour

Another view of Maryport Harbour 

The River Ellen at Maryport at high tide

An attractive old building in Maryport

The Maritime Museum on the banks of the River Ellen at Maryport

View from Shipping Brow in Maryport looking out towards the Solway Firth

Weather watch

As expected, the beautiful spring-like weather we’d been enjoying last week gave way to strong wind and rain at the weekend.

To sum up this week’s weather it has been pretty wet, very windy and considerably cooler than the last week of February even if, from a meteorological point of view, this week was supposed to be the first week of spring.

Grey skies over Maryport Marina on Saturday

On Saturday, we awoke to grey skies. Despite the cloud, it was fairly bright and got progressively windier during the morning. The rain arrived around lunchtime. It then became very windy with heavy rain.

The temperature reached 8.6C (47.5F) and the top average wind speed was 33mph, gusting 48mph.

Sunday morning started grey and fairly windy, but it stayed dry until early afternoon. It then rained heavily and kept it up into the evening.

More grey weather on Maryport beach on Sunday morning

The temperature dropped considerably when the wind veered from south-westerly to north-easterly and we had sleet and snow for a short while in the evening.

The temperature peaked at 7.6C (46F) at midday but fell to 2.4C (36F) by 7pm.

The top average wind speed during the day was 22mph, gusting 30mph.

Sunday night into Monday was a very wet and windy night. The average wind speed overnight reached 36mph, gusting 51mph.

Sunshine over Maryport Harbour on Monday morning

It was dry and bright first thing on Monday but still very breezy. It then clouded over and started raining mid-afternoon.

The top temperature recorded locally was 7.7C (46F) with a top average wind speed of 29mph, gusting 39mph.

On Tuesday, we had a dry but overcast morning with rain during the afternoon. It was fairly windy all day and felt cold in the wind.

Another grey day on Maryport beach on Tuesday

The top temperature was 8.5C (47F) and the top average wind speed was 23mph, gusting 36mph.

Wednesday started dry and cloudy but bright with a good wind blowing. It then rained quite heavily early in the afternoon.

Big waves on the shore at Maryport on Wednesday

The temperature reached 9.2C (48.5C) and the top average wind speed was 25mph, gusting 37mph.

Overnight Wednesday into yesterday (Thursday) was a wet and windy night.

Yesterday started grey and cloudy with light rain and heavy drizzle from time to time. The rain stopped around lunchtime and the weather brightened up during the afternoon.

A sunny end to the day on Maryport beach yesterday (Thursday)

The top temperature was 7.6C (46F) and the top average wind speed was 28mph. gusting 38mph.

Ravensdale's aft deck in the rain this afternoon

And, so far today (Friday), the weather has been wet and windy - now there's a surprise 😊 The top temperature was 6.1C (43F) and the top average wind speed was 23mph, gusting 37mph.