Starting life aboard: 02/15/20

Big waves whipped up by Storm Ciara crashing onto the shore at Maryport in Cumbria, UK

Storm Ciara – the third named storm of the UK storm season – brought the worst conditions we’ve experienced in our liveaboard lifestyle.

High winds, gusting up to 70mph, battered this part of the UK last weekend and the wild weather continued until Wednesday of this week.

Storm Brendan, last month, was also fairly dramatic and Storm Dennis has arrived today (Saturday) and is due to last until Monday.

The weather between these named storms has also been predominantly wet and windy.

However, a short break in the stormy conditions at the end of last week provided an opportunity to take Ravensdale out on the water for just the second time this year.

Phil steering Ravensdale out of Maryport Marina from her flybridge

We took our 43ft Neptunus 133 out onto the Solway Firth in Cumbria on a fishing trip on Friday.

The fishing wasn’t very successful, but it was still good to get out of the marina, even if it was just for a few hours.

Note - Apologies for the long break between blog posts at the moment but I'm still working full-time, which means we're not doing anything much for me to blog about and I don't have the time to write about it when we do ☹

Friday’s fishing trip

Ravensdale going out of the marina's sea gate

A brief window of calm, dry weather at the end of last week proved too good an opportunity to miss for a trip out on the water.

Wet and windy weather had meant we’d been unable to take our boat out since January 10.

And we knew a prolonged period of stormy weather, including Storm Ciara was forecast for last weekend and throughout the past week.

The forecast was for fairly calm weather on Thursday and Friday of last week, but the sea gate at Maryport Marina is only open for about two and half hours either side of high tide and high water was rather too early for us on Thursday.

So, I took the following day off work and we headed out onto the Solway Firth on Friday morning.

And I’m very glad we did as the weather has been truly atrocious ever since with another named storm – Storm Dennis – affecting this part of the UK this weekend.

Frosty pontoons and ice on the water

The gate was due to open at around 7.30am so we got up bright and early to discover that the water in the marina was covered with ice and the pontoons were white with frost so we decided not to go the minute the gate opened.

Ice on the surface of the marina early on Friday, February 7

Instead, we waited for a while until the ice started to thaw before throwing off Ravensdale’s mooring ropes to head out onto the Solway Firth.

Her decks were still very slippery, so we wore grips on our shoes to make sure we didn’t slide around.

Ravensdale heading towards the marina gate

We left the marina at 8.35am and headed out into the basin where we could see one of the local fishing boats returning to Maryport. We waited for her to pass us and I got to take lots of photos of Fredwood heading back to the harbour.

Fredwood entering Maryport Basin from the Solway Firth

Fredwood in Maryport Basin

Fredwood heading into Maryport Harbour

We then set off for Phil’s favourite fishing spot in Allonby Bay.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport behind on our way to Allonby Bay

We dropped anchor and Phil set up his fishing rods while I got us a mug of tea and took a few photos.

Ruby watching Phil fish

Ruby has been happy to stay indoors on the previous few trips out but this time she seemed keen to be out on deck with us, so I put her life jacket on and took her out on her lead.

Ruby with Phil on Ravensdale's aft deck

As usual, she was trying to get to Phil’s fishing bait, so I had to keep her on a short lead and tied it to the flybridge steps when I wanted to take photos.

Ruby tied to the flybridge ladder

It was bit bumpy but not too bad and the boat turned easily to face into the tide when the tide turned.

Sadly, the fishing wasn’t great, but it was lovely to be out on the water again.

Phil caught a small codling and even smaller whiting, neither of which were big enough to keep, and one dogfish, which always get thrown back.

The small cod Phil caught on this trip

A small whiting

Phil catching a dogfish

The wind started to freshen while we were out, and the boat started to rock a bit more, so Phil decided to pack up about half an hour earlier than planned and head for home.

Ravensdale heading for home

We followed our friend Evan’s boat into the basin and got back to the marina shortly before midday after three hours and 15 minutes at sea.

Photo of Evan's boat Bold Coquet about to pass Maryport Lighthouse

Evan's boat Bold Cocquet about to pass Maryport Lighthouse

Bold Coquet in Maryport Basin

While we wouldn’t wish a fruitless fishing trip on anyone, it was comforting to know that no one else had caught anything worth having either.

Evan's boat going back into the marina

And we had to go and buy fish for our Friday night fish and chip supper ☹

Three named storms

Giant waves breaking on Maryport Promenade during Storm Ciara

The worst weather we've experienced here in Maryport, Cumbria, during the last month was during Storm Ciara last weekend.

It started on Saturday, February 8, and continued into Sunday. The high winds continued during Monday and Tuesday, with the roughest weather being overnight on Monday.

During the first few storms after we moved on board Ravensdale in November 2016, we slept fully clothed in case we needed to get off the boat in a hurry but we hadn't done this for some time - until this week.

We went to bed as usual on Monday evening, then the wind got worse and we could hear a horrible banging noise coming from the forward part of our boat so we got up and got dressed again.

Phil put on waterproof gear and his life jacket and went outside to investigate the cause of the noise.

He discovered that the windscreen cover was being blown away from the screen, lifting the windscreen wiper on the port side and causing it to bang against the windscreen as it dropped back down again.

Phil came in and got some spanners to take the wiper arm off. He then removed it and tied a rope across the windscreen to stop the cover lifting. These measures were left in place for the next storm.

Photo of Ravensdale's winscreen with the wiper removed and a rope holding the cover down

Ravensdale's windscreen with the wiper removed and a rope holding the cover down

The boat was rolling around madly so we decided to stay fully dressed just in case...

We'd already been through Storm Brendan - the second named storm of the UK storm season - which hit the UK on January 13 and 14 bringing gusts of up to 86mph recorded along the north-west coast.

And Storm Dennis arrived this morning (Saturday) bringing torrential rain and wind guesting up to more than 60mph.

During really bad storms, we always wear our life jackets to leave the boat and walk along the pontoons just in case a gust knocks us off the pontoon and into the water.

Phil wearing a life jacket and a head torch to walk Ruby at the height of Storm Ciara

Boat jobs

Ravensdale's port wiper working on our last fishing trip after Phil had repaired it

Ravensdale’s windscreen wipers broke down while we were out on the Solway Firth on Friday, January 10.

Phil spent days stripping them down, cleaning them up and trying to get them working again.

We really thought we needed to buy new motors for both of them at a cost of more than £250 each.

But Phil has managed to get them both working again.

The aft deck on Ravensdale’s starboard side started flickering then stopped working altogether after a prolonged period of wet weather.

Phil took it apart to discover that all the connections were very rusty, so he replaced it with a new, identical light that we’d bought to illuminate the foredeck and never got around to using.

He had to trim the wires back to get rid of the rusty sections and reconnect them.

And we now have two working lights on our aft deck again.

We also ordered the parts needed to service our Webasto diesel heater. These have now arrived so we’re waiting for the weather to calm down a bit before Phil does the work.

Ruby of Ravensdale

Ruby with Phil and Maz, of Cumbria's Larl Cananie Co

We decided to seek help from a dog trainer in an attempt to stop Ruby pulling when we walk her on a lead.

Maz, of Cumbria’s Larl Canine Co., came to meet us at the marina on Sunday January 19.

She showed us how to get her to focus on us by giving her lots of treats every time she came back to us or walked in the correct position.

Ruby during her training session. Photo by Maz

Ruby walking to heel for me during her training session. Photo of Maz

The hook and fishing tackle that Ruby found on the beach

We had a nasty experience while walking Ruby on our local beach on Saturday, January 25 when she got a two-inch long fishing hook stuck in the corner of her mouth.

It was attached to about 50m of line, complete with the weight and several smaller baited hooks.

Phil held Ruby still while I pulled out the hook and, thankfully, it hadn’t done any real damage.

I’m so glad we spotted it immediately after she’d picked it up or I dread to think what would’ve happened ☹

Needless to say, we collected up the line, etc. and put it all in the bin.

Phil said he thought the fishing gear had most likely been lost when it got caught up in weed while someone was fishing and had subsequently been washed ashore.

I was amazed that she stayed still while I pulled out the hook.

At first, I thought it was barbless as it came out fairly easily, but I could see from the photos that it did have a barb, so I was very glad that it hadn’t gone in any further.

And, fortunately, she was none the worse for the experience.

She's enjoyed her walks on the beach with Phil while I've been at work and the walks we've had together at the weekends.

Me walking Ruby on the coastal path above Grasslot shore at Maryport

Ruby running on the wet sand at Maryport

But she wasn't so happy when a dog she met on the shore ran up to her and stole her new toy and ran away with it. Fortunately, the other dog dropped it and we found it fairly close by.

Ruby on the beach with her new toy

Photo of another dog stealing Ruby's toy and runing off with it

Stop thief! Another dog steals Ruby's toy and runs off with it

Ruby loooking out to sea

Meanwhile, Ruby was in the doghouse after she destroyed Phil’s best reading glasses while we were away from the boat for a short while.

The glasses that Ruby destroyed

A dead mouse

She has since wrecked his sunglasses and the mouse he uses for his laptop – twice!

Dog rescue

Hazel the border terrier swimming towards her rescuers

Maryport Inshore Rescue team was definitely in the right place at the right time when members went to the rescue of a small dog that fallen into Maryport Harbour last month.

As Phil and I left the Aquarium’s Harbourside Café after a late breakfast, a man rushed over asking if we’d seen a small, brown dog as he had lost one of his two dogs.

I told him that we’d only just left the café and hadn’t seen his dog.

I carried on looking while taking photos of the harbour then became aware that something was happening on the quayside.

I rushed over to see what was going on and discovered that a group of cyclists spotted the border terrier, called Hazel, falling over the side into the water while her owner was searching the harbour area for his missing dog.

The rescue boat, which was training nearby, was quickly on scene.

Photo of the rescue boat rushing to the scene

The rescue boat rushes to the scene

The little dog swam to the boat and was scooped up by one of the crew and returned to her owner.

Photo of Hazel being returned to her owner

Hazel is returned to her owner

She was cold and wet but otherwise apparently none the worse for the experience.

It was such a good job that the cyclists spotted her and that the inshore rescue team were on hand to save her or the outcome could have been very different.

Hazel letting me stroke her after her ordeal

In the paper, but they used my comments as quotes from “a spokesman for the team”.

The funniest part was when I received a message from a reporter asking if they could use the photos I’d taken of the rescue and posted on Facebook.

In the same message, she asked if I’d witnessed the rescue.

I was so tempted to ask how she thought I’d managed to take the photos if I hadn’t been there but managed to resist the temptation 😊

Photography

Storm Ciara blowing waves across Maryport Pier

Once again, my photographic opportunities have been seriously curtailed by working full-time and the horrible weather we've had when I've been off work at weekends.

But the wild weather and very high tides were just too good to miss.

And I made the most of our trip out on the Solway Firth on Ravensdale on Friday, January 7.

Early morning view of Maryport from the basin

Maryport from the basin

Maryport from the Solway Firth

The entrance to Maryport Basin from the Solway Firth

The highest tide at 9.2m on Tuesday was around lunchtime so my friend, Miriam, drove us down to Maryport Promenade during our lunch break so we could see the giant waves and grab a few quick photos of them.