Life on board during the UK’s Covid-19 partial lockdown and our recent fishing trip

Ravensdale at Maryport Marina taken during one of my daily exercise sessions last week

The world is in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is a frightening time for us all as the virus is highly contagious and is killing thousands of people across the globe.

Life has changed beyond all recognition for many people since the UK government announcement on the evening of Monday, March 23 that we must all stay at home, except for shopping for food, collecting medical supplies, to exercise or for work, to slow down the spread of coronavirus. We also have to stay 2m (6ft 6ins) away from other people when out.

Obviously, it’s had an impact on how often we can leave the marina here at Maryport in Cumbria, UK, and where we can go. It’s also stopped me going to work but, other than that, our lives on Ravensdale really aren’t that different.

And we were very fortunate that a brief period of calm weather allowed us to take our Neptunus 133 motor cruiser out for one last fishing trip out on the Solway Firth before the lockdown was imposed.

As I now have more free time, I’m also able to get back to writing my blog so thi is going to be a bit of a catch-up as I haven’t posted one for six weeks.


Covid-19 starts to make its presence felt in the UK

I kept a diary of the days leading up to the lockdown as it was interesting to see how people were reacting to a situation they’d never experienced before.

14/03/20

The number of people who've tested positive for Covid-19 is soaring and the death toll is rising dramatically.

In response, people seem to have gone totally crazy and are stockpiling food as if preparing for a siege.

Supermarket shelves have been cleared of antiseptic handwash and hand gel, loo rolls are becoming increasingly difficult to come by and flour and other store cupboard staples are being sold almost as quickly as staff can restock the shelves.

It’s difficult to know how to respond to this.

Do we carry on as normal? Or do we join in as, if we don’t, we could be unable to get such things when we run out?

We’ve chosen a halfway house.

We wouldn’t feel comfortable buying up way more than we need, and we don’t have the space to store vast quantities of handwash, loo rolls and food on the boat anyway.

Equally, we want to know we will have supplies if we need to self-isolate, so we’ve bought a little bit more than usual, but not a lot.

20/03/20

Young people gathering on the beach later on the day their school closed (their faces have been blurred intentionally)

All the schools closed today for all but the children of essential workers and vulnerable children.

And, this evening, our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced the closure of pubs, clubs, cafes, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres from tomorrow (Saturday).

He asked people not to go out tonight, but it seems many people took no notice of his pleas.

There was a large group of young people, presumably celebrating the closure of their schools, on the shore and, I’m told, the pubs were full of people having a final night out before they shut down.

Notice in a local shop window

21/03/20

People seem to be starting to realise that coronavirus is a very serious threat to life as we know it, or at least some people do. Others are just going about their lives as though it’s business as normal but I’m sure it won’t be long before the government makes a big announcement on this. Some local shops have closed due to the virus.

23/03/20

I went to work as normal today only it was far from normal. We’re all keeping well away from each other and washing our hands and using hand sanitizer like it’s going out of fashion. A notice has also been placed on the factory door saying only staff and delivery drivers are allowed in.

We were aware Boris Johnson was due to make an announcement that evening so I took everything of mine home with me in case I didn’t get to go in again. And it turned out that we were right.

At 8.30pm, our PM announced a partial lockdown severely restricting the reasons for which we were allowed to leave our homes.

Although I couldn’t do the manufacturing and packing job I was doing at the factory from home, my boss knew I was a journalist and offered me the opportunity to do some writing for her at home so I agreed that I wouldn’t go into work again as my contract was due to end at the end of this month anyway.

Me working from home on my laptop in Ravensdale's dinette

24/03/20

This was the point at which life as we knew it changed overnight.

The partial lockdown began, and we were only allowed out once a day for exercise close to home, to get essential shopping or medical supplies or to travel to and from work if it was not possible to work from home. Otherwise, the message was: “Stay at home”.



Partial lockdown on the boat

Ravensdale on a calm day at Maryport Marina

In many ways being under the partial lockdown on Ravensdale is not all that different to being in a home on dry land.

The main differences are our more confined quarters, the lack of space to store any extra food and other supplies and the need to use the marina toilet and shower facilities.

Thankfully, I worked from home for much of my career as a journalist so spending a lot of my time at home isn’t really that new to me. However, back then we had much larger homes where we could both get on with what we wanted to do without getting in each other’s way.

Now, we’re in a 43ft boat but it doesn’t work too badly as I spend a lot of time at my laptop in the dinette and Phil sets his laptop up in the saloon, so we’re not sat on top of each other.

If he wants to watch the TV, which is in the dining area, while I’m using my laptop, I can either ignore the TV and carry on with whatever I’m doing, or I put headphones on and listen to music.

This is one of the positive things that the current situation has done for me. Being stuck indoors so much of the time has rekindled my love of music and I’m really enjoying revisiting some of the songs I loved in years gone by and discovering new favourites.

We take our one exercise session a day separately so Ruby gets two good walks a day. Phil usually goes out in the morning and I go out late afternoon or early evening. I also try to take a few photos while out as it gives me something else to do during the time that I’m at home.

The poster that went up at our marina last Wednesday

Our biggest concern was having to use the marina facilities, especially as, at the start of the partial lockdown, some berth holders here remained on their boats despite having homes to go to away from Maryport and despite the government saying that everyone should return to their primary residence.

The marina management made it clear that they should go home. Some left, albeit not immediately, but some refused to leave claiming it was only guidance, not law, and they didn’t have to follow it.

This meant there were more people using the toilet and shower block than necessary, which I found pretty scary.

Thankfully the marina has now shut the main block to all but Phil and I and the other couple who are full-time liveaboards here and we each have our own toilet and shower, which we are responsible for cleaning ourselves.

We’re being really careful not to touch anything that other people have touched wherever possible.

After using the toilets or showers, we wash our hands thoroughly then use the paper towel we dry them with to get out of the toilet block without touching any of the door handles. We then throw them in the bins outside, again using the paper towel to open the bin.

The gate to the pontoons has a bar on the handle so we open and close that with our elbows. We also use our arms to push the button to open the marina gate when we need to leave for our walks or for a shopping trip.

Our biggest regret is not having bought the materials we need for some of the jobs we could’ve done on the boat during the lockdown.

We should’ve bought lots of varnish as the new drawers we’ve had built in the saloon haven’t been varnished yet. The whole of the interior needs doing too and there really is a lot of wood in here.

I also wish I’d bought some fabric to make new curtains, but it wouldn’t be much use to me as my sewing machine is in our storage container at a nearby garage and I’m pretty sure driving to get it wouldn’t class as essential travel.

Notices at Asda in Workington

My summer clothes are also in storage, so I probably won’t be able to get them either and hopefully the weather will start to warm up soon.

When I realised this, I bought a couple of pairs of shorts and some vest tops while shopping in our local Asda store so at least I’ll have something more comfortable to wear. I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to buy them as I didn’t know if they would be classed as essential, so I asked a shop assistant who said it was fine.

Shopping at Asda was a very strange experience. We had to queue up outside 2m from the people either side of us and could only go in when summoned by a member of staff as they were operating a one in one out policy to ensure there weren't too many people in the shop at the same time.

Some of the shelves were empty, especially those that normally hold toilet rolls, hand wash, hand sanitiser and flour.

Other than that, life goes on as normal on Ravensdale and discovering a lot of benefits to the current situation. I’m getting more time to write. I still get to take photos, I’m loving listening to music again and enjoying keeping in touch with old and new friends on Facebook, WhatsApp and on the phone so it’s definitely not all bad 😊

We went out shopping today (Tuesday) because we were running out of basics, such abread, milk and bottled water, so we decided ti get enough food to save us having to shop again until next week.

Our local Lidl and B&M stores are restricting the number of people in the store at any given time and only allowing one person to enter at a time so Phil did the Lidl shopping and I went into B&M.

Between the two shops, we managed to get most of what we wanted but were unable to buy handwash, kitchen rolls, loo rolls or bathroom cleaner. We haven't actually run out of any of these things yet but are beginning to wonder if we should've stocked up a bit more when others were panic-buying.

And, on my return,  I was greeted by a cygnet waiting to be fed. It seems it's parents have sent it away to fend for itself while they prepare for this year's brood.

Me feeding the cygnet from the pontoon next to Ravensdale

Our final fishing trip before the partial lockdown

Ravensdale leaving Maryport Marina

When I think of all the times I’ve moaned about not being able to get out on our boat due to bad weather, it just seems pathetic now we really are stuck in the marina.

But we were very lucky to manage to get one last trip out before the restrictions were imposed.

The forecast for last Sunday was good so we decided to get up early and head out onto the Solway Firth despite the fact that the fishing really hasn’t been up to much here lately.

We left the marina at around 8.30am in calm and sunny conditions.

Ravensdale heading for Allonby Bay

Our trip up to Allonby Bay was a lot smoother than usual. We usually cruise at about 8-9 knots but Phil opened Ravensdale's two 300hp Volvo Penta engines up a bit, taking her speed up to just over 15 knots, to blast away the cobwebs.

We dropped anchor a bit further from Maryport than his usual fishing spot in an area that has proved good for Thornaback rays in the past.

Phil setting up one of his fishing rods

Phil set up his rods while I made a cup of tea then we sat and waited and waited and waited for a bite, but he didn't even get the slightest nibble.

Ruby stayed in her cage for a while after we dropped anchor as I leave her be if she seems to be happy but she started whining to get out when I went in to make the tea so I put her lifejacket on her and took her out on the aft deck.

Ruby on the aft deck 

She is always keen to get to the fishing bait and not at all impressed when I keep her on a short lead to stop her reaching it but she soon settled down to chewing a bone and stretching out on the deck in the sunshine.

Ruby gnawing on her bone with a little bit of help from me 😊

Although the fishing was very disappointing, it was great to be out of the Solway Firth and to give Ravensdale a run so we really aren't complaining.

Ravensdale on the way back to Maryport

We were back in the marina soon after 12.15 after almost four hours out on the water.


Crabs for the Aquarium

The crab and starfish found in our prawn pot

Phil’s still putting bait in our prawn pot even though we’re not trying to catch prawns for fishing bait at the moment.

He’d stocked up on other bait just before the lockdown but fishing is now prohibited so this seems a good way of using up some of the bait that’s taking up valuable space in our tiny freezer.

He recently caught a small crab and a starfish, which he took to the Aquarium on the harbourside after calling to find out if they wanted them.

He was told they were desperately short of crabs to feed to the octopuses so we’re hoping we can catch more to help them out.

The Aquarium is closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, but the sea creatures there still need to be looked after and fed.

Phil checking the prawn pot

New drawers in Ravensdale’s saloon

The new drawers in Ravensdale's saloon awaiting varnish

There’s always a shortage of storage space on Ravensdale and Ruby had started trying to pull things off the shelf above the window on the port side of the saloon.

Phil came up with the idea of putting drawers along the top of the cupboards to take some of the stuff that we kept on the top, which would make the saloon look tidier and keep them out of Ruby’s reach.

Phil wasn’t confident that he’d do a good enough job himself, so we asked another berth holder here, who’s a joiner, to make them for us.

He spent several days on the boat and, once the varnishing is completed, the drawers should blend in a treat. The extra storage space will also be very useful.

Phil stained the wood today (Tuesday, March 31) and applied the first coat of varnish.

Phil staining the new shelf and drawers

Ruby of Ravensdale

Ruby with a stick she found on one of our walks by the River Ellen in Maryport

Ruby seems blissfully unaware of the way the world has changed over the past week.

She still gets to go out for two good walks a day and we often take her with us when we go up to the marina facilities to give her a bit more exercise.

Ruby waiting patiently while I took a photo

And she likes sitting out on deck watching people out for their daily exercise, especially if they happen to be walking dogs at the same time 😊

Other than that, she’s quite happy sleeping, sunbathing, having cuddles with me or playing with her toys on the boat. They say it’s a dog’s life and I think they could be right, especially now 😊

I had another go at trying to take a selfie with her while we were out on the Solway Firth, but she refused to take it seriously 😊

Ruby messing about while I tried to take a selfie with her

She went through a rather naughty phase last month when she managed to stab Phil with an antler and ate the cover off his mobile phone, cracking the screen in the process. Needless to say, neither made her very popular.

Phil's injury after Ruby stabbed him with an antler

The antler incident occurred when she jumped up at Phil wanting to play with a sharply pointed antler in her mouth with the pointed end away from her and she caught him dangerously close to his eye.

Had it been a tiny bit higher it could easily have poked his eye out.


The antler went straight in the bin after I’d cleaned up Phil’s wound and photographed both the antler and the damage it caused.

The antler that did the damage

Photography

Here are a selection of the many photos I've taken since I last published a blog post six weeks ago.

Maryport reflections from across the basin

The sun going down over Maryport Basin

Reflections on the calm water in Maryport Harbour

More harbour reflections

The River Ellen at Maryport

The Wave Centre at Maryport

Colourful fishing boats in Maryport Harbour

The mouth of the River Ellen by moonlight

Rain falling over the Solway Firth at sundown (phone photo)

Looking out over the Solway Firth from Mote Hill

A fishing boat in Maryport Harbour

Ellenfoot Bridge across Maryport Harbour

The River Ellen at Crow Park

Another view of the River Ellen at Crow Park

Shipping Brow, Maryport, from the basin

Looking back at Maryport lighthouse as we headed out onto the Solway Firth

Maryport from the Solway Firth

Maryport lighthouse

A swan and cygnet by the River Ellen

Maryport Basin as the sun goes down

Dog walkers on the shore at Maryport

Grasslot shore, Maryport, at sunset

Maryport Harbour at sunset

Maryport beach sunset

Maryport's south pier at sunset

Fishermen on south pier at sunset

The Isle of Man from the shore at Maryport

Light breaking through the clouds over Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway Firth

Weather watch

Big waves whipped up by Storm Jorge on March 1

The wet and windy weather that was a feature of last winter continued through much of the last two weeks of February and into March.

This included the fifth named storm so far this year.

Storm Jorge, named by the Spanish Met Office battered this area on February 29 and March 1

Saturday, February 29 was dry, bright and breezy during the first half of the day and up until early afternoon.

The wind speed increased during the afternoon and reached 43mph, gusting 63mph, by 5pm.

We had some rain during the afternoon but not as heavy as was forecast.

The wind was mainly south-westerly, and the daytime temperature reached 5C.

Flat calm conditions at Maryport Marina on the second day of the partial lockdown

As if to tease us, the weather was much better for a few days after the lockdown was imposed, but we really can’t complain as the restrictions are in place for everyone’s safety.