The ups and downs of life afloat and the death of my favourite onboard gadget

Phil and Ruby looking at Ravensdale, which was level with the road at high tide today (Friday)

We’ve had very big spring tides here in Maryport, Cumbria, UK, this week with a difference of up to 9.2m – 30ft 2ins - between the high and low tides.

Our old coffee maker just before it died

We’ve got used to it now, but it was initially very strange to see the area around our home changing so dramatically as we went up and down on the tide.

That said, we still notice the huge difference in our position in relation to our surroundings when there are such big spring tides, which bring us up almost level with the road around the marina.

Meanwhile, I was very sad when our trusty coffee maker made its last ever cup of cappuccino this week.

But, thankfully, it’s understudy was already waiting in the wings - AKA the forward cabin 😊


Very high tides

Looking down the pontoon towards Ravensdale at high tide

There have been some exceptionally high tides here at Maryport in Cumbria, UK, this week.

The highest tide we’d seen in the two years and three months since we moved onboard Ravensdale – our 43ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser - was 9.3m (30ft 6in) and that has only happened on a couple of occasions.

This week the tide rose to 9.4m (30ft 10in) yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday) with a low tide of just 0.2m (8in) yesterday evening – a difference of 9.2m (30ft 2in).

That said, the difference in the marina is less dramatic as they close the gate when there’s 2.4m (7ft 10in) of water over the sill.

But it still gives us a very different outlook from Ravensdale.

Looking towards the marina building from Ravensdale at high tide - the houses in the distance are the other side of the harbour

It also makes the marina look totally different when walking around it or viewing it from the road, which is usually way above us but ends up on a similar level on a very high tide.

And the piles that support the pontoons usually tower over us but, on a very high tide, I can see inside the top of them, which is really weird.

The same view when the tide is out showing the comparative height of the piles and the far wall

Ravensdale level with the road at high tide this afternoon (Friday)

Maryport Marina at high tide today (Friday) when the ramp, which is usually at a fairly steep angle, was flat

Meanwhile, the stormy weather earlier this week meant some very muddy water flowing into the marina when the gate opened for the rising tide on Wednesday, so much so that it created a brown line that moved its way down the marina.

The line of muddy water approaching Ravensdale after the gate opened

We’ve seen this happen before, but it always looks so strange that I couldn’t resist taking a photo of it again.


The demise of our coffee maker

Our old coffee maker gave up the ghost this week after more than three years of faithful service.

We can’t even remember when we bought it as we had it when we lived in the house we sold to buy Ravensdale in October 2016.

It’s undoubtedly my favourite gadget on board and the one I would really miss.

So, after it started being a bit temperamental a month or so back, we bought a new one when we saw the same model on a good deal in a local store.

Our new coffee maker in Ravensdale's galley

We were surprised how long the old one carried on working after we thought it was on its way out.

Sometimes it would refuse to switch on, but repeated attempts or a gentle blow to the head, seemed to get it going again 😊

It also refused to switch off at times. This was easier to solve, I just pulled out the plug then plugged it back in again.

But, on Tuesday, it stopped working and refused to switch on again despite all attempts to resuscitate it so the new one is now in use.

So glad we bought a replacement at the first sign of trouble as it meant we didn’t have to go without our favourite coffees and hot chocolate.

I’m happy to make all sorts of sacrifices to live on our boat but good coffee is the one thing that no one should ever have to go without – even for a short while 😊


Our Wi-Fi worsens

The marina Wi-Fi aerial is in the white box on the end of the customer lounge

One of the test results in the dinette

Just when we thought our Wi-Fi here couldn’t get any worse, it has.

I've had to switch to our Vodafone Wi-Fi many more times than usual this week due to a poor or non-existent connection on the marina’s network.

I even did an experiment to see if it made any difference where I was in our boat as different cabins are at different levels.

We also thought the signal may be better towards the stern of the boat due to the positioning of the marina’s aerial and we were considering shifting further along the hammerhead if this would improve the signal, but it doesn’t look as though it would be worthwhile.

The reading I got in the saloon, which is amidships and the highest point inside Ravensdale, was the best – just!

However, the aft cabin didn’t come out any better than the dinette, which is just behind the forward cabin, so there doesn’t seem to be anything to gain by moving the boat.

We’re not even sure if it’s worth getting an onboard router to boost the signal around the boat as it really isn’t that good anywhere ☹

I mentioned the problem to the marina again yesterday (Thursday), as we’ve done on many previous occasions, and they rebooted their router.

It seems to have helped as I got a download speed of 16.2mbps and an upload speed of 0.58mbps, but we never know how long it will last…


Ruby

A super cute photo of Ruby

We’re still having to lift Ruby on and off the boat and she’s getting heavy.

I now have to turn as I step down off the aft deck and shuffle sideways along the side of the boat to get off as she’s too big to hold alongside me while walking forwards.

Thankfully, she keeps still while being carried as it would make it very difficult if she wriggled.

Phil finds it a bit easier to carry her than I do because he’s happy to hold her with two hands and step off the boat and down our boarding steps without holding on.

I don’t feel safe doing that and like to know I have a firm grip on the boat rail or the handrail on the steps so have to carry her with one arm.

We’re hoping she’ll be able to jump on and off the boat herself very soon, but I have to confess that I’ll be really worried the first few times in case she falls in.

Ruby running on the beach

Ruby really doesn’t like wet and windy weather, and this is becoming even more evident as she gets older.

She’s reluctant to come out of her bed in the morning when she can hear the wind and rain outside and goes in her bed and refuses to come out during the day if the weather's bad.

She usually loves going for walks and is waiting at the door as soon as we put our jackets on or pick up her lead. Stuffing our pockets with poo bags also has the same effect 😊

But in bad weather, even when we’ve managed to clip her lead onto her collar, she will still try to hide on the far side of the coffee table in the saloon in an attempt to avoid going out.

She still loves going to the beach when the weather’s good or even just not too bad.

Ruby checking out a hole that had filled up with water on the beach at Maryport

But she was always reluctant to get her feet wet and avoided puddles and little streams on the beach rather than running straight across them.

We thought she was getting over this as she was following us through some of the wet areas as long as they weren’t too deep, but she had a bit of a shock during our visit to the beach on Friday afternoon.

She ran across what she obviously thought was going to be shallow water to discover it was up to her little belly.

Ruby taking an unintentional dip on the beach

She didn’t panic and came back out the other side and had a good shake to dry off but has since gone back to refusing to cross little streams that she’d started to trot through quite happily before she got a bit of a soaking.

Her happy place definitely seems to be her bed as she's spending more and more time in there during the day - possibly because it's right next to the heater outlet in the saloon.

Ruby snuggled up in her bed

She still likes to cuddle up to one or other of us, but sometimes chooses to go into her cage and cuddle up in her bed instead, which is great.

Her other favourite spots are anywhere that happens to be in the sun at any given time – not that we’ve seen very much of that this week 😊

Ruby stretched out in the sun

And she's perfected the appealing look that is guaranteed to get her a bit of whatever we're eating 😊

Ruby waiting patiently for a bit of toast

Who could say no to those big, brown puppy dog eyes?


Fishing reels

Phil made the most of the windy weather, which meant we were unable to take the boat out this week, to service the older reels that he uses for downtide fishing – dropping the line over the side of the boat rather than casting it away from the boat, which is known as uptiding.

He removed the line from the reels, some of which are getting on for 30 years old, stripped them down, cleaned them, greased the gears and reassembled them.

Phil servicing his reels on the coffee table in Ravensdale's saloon

Three are now working perfectly after his efforts.

Sadly, the fourth looks as though it’s going to have to go in the bin as, while it was apart, a fine spring totally disappeared never to be seen again and the reel is useless without it.

For now, the parts of that reel have been put in a small bag in the hope the spring will turn up and it can be reassembled, but it’s not looking very likely that will be the case.

We’ve both done a thorough search of the area where he was working, and Ruby was in her cage at the time so we’re pretty sure she hasn’t had it.

The only good thing about it is that the reel that’s been rendered useless was the least good reel so less of a loss than if it had happened to one of the others.

Phil has put new line on two of his newly serviced reels and plans to buy some more line for the third one.


Visiting vessels

Fisheries patrol vessel North Western Protector at Maryport

The fisheries patrol vessel, North Western Protector, has been staying at Maryport Marina this week while the lock gate at its home port of Whitehaven is closed for repairs.

Local fishing boat Silver Fern arriving at Maryport Marina

Maryport fishing boat, Silver Fern, which is usually docked in the harbour, passed Ravensdale on Monday morning.

Work underway on Silver Fern's hull

She was on her way to the marina slipway, where she was lifted out on the MPM boatyard hoist for antifouling and for her anodes to be changed. She left the marina today (Friday).

The range safety boat Triton at Maryport Marina

And, the range safety boat, Triton, turned up at the marina on Tuesday morning.

She is also here because the lock gate is closed at Whitehaven.

Swan family

Swans at Maryport Marina

It seems the swans have decided it’s time their youngsters stood on their own two webbed feet now.

A local woman, who’s a keen photographer, captured a series of images of the adults chasing the cygnets away on the River Ellen here in Maryport.

And, when they came into the marina on Saturday afternoon there were two adults and two cygnets, but the adults apparently wouldn’t allow the cygnets near them at all.

I didn’t see them chasing the youngsters away but, whenever I saw them the adults were in one place and the cygnets were together in another.

I fed the adults, but the cygnets didn’t come anywhere near Ravensdale – perhaps they’d been warned off while I wasn’t looking.

The third cygnet was nowhere to be seen, but we later saw the three cygnets together over in the harbour.

And, on Tuesday morning, the three cygnets turned up in the marina looking for food. There was no sign of their parents.

The three cygnets waiting for food by our pontoon

Soon after I fed them, I saw the adult swans over on the River Ellen so it looks as though the youngsters have left for good now.

The three cygnets were back in the marina again on Wednesday and just the adult swans turned up yesterday (Thursday).

It’ll be interesting to see whether the young swans stay together and whether they stay in this area.


New boat planter at the marina

The new boat planter outside Maryport Marina

Staff yesterday (Thursday) installed a new boat planter on the approach to the marina.

It’s an old fishing boat that has been painted to match the marina building and will be planted up with bedding plants for the summer.

Staff installing the new planter

The marina is now asking for suggestions for a name for the boat so it'll be interesting to see what people come up with 😊



Photography

Wet and windy weather has meant there have been considerably less opportunities for photography over the past week.

I’ve also found that, now we’re taking Ruby out for regular walks, I’m not going out as often with my camera just for the sake of taking photos.

I take my camera along when walking Ruby but tend to end up taking photos of her rather than the landscape.

A black and white image of stripes in the sand at Maryport at low tide

And, when I’m walking her alone, it’s not as easy to take photos because she’s inclined to tug on the lead just as I’m trying to take a shot. I’m hoping this will become easier as she gets a bit older.

I took some photos around the marina on Saturday, despite the high winds, as there were some nice clouds, but the water was pretty choppy so no reflections this time ☹

An attractive yacht at Maryport Marina

Another view of Maryport Marina

Looking along the marina towards the lighthouse

Cloud formation over the marina slipway

And I tried to take a couple of shots of the harbour at dusk while walking Ruby on my own on Saturday evening, but they really weren’t very successful. I’d like to blame her, but I think it was my camera settings that were at fault on that occasion.

Maryport Harbour at dusk

Another view of Maryport Harbour at dusk

The most impressive feature of Sunday’s beach walk at low tide was the way the surface water was being blown across the sand, but it really didn’t show up very well in the photos I took.

I also tried a video and was really pleased with the way it captured the effect. However, saving it for the web lost so much detail that it ended up all blurry and nowhere near as good as it had been ☹

Surface water being blown across the beach at Maryport

While walking Ruby on the beach on Tuesday, we saw three men working on the old groyne, so I took some photos of them and posted them on a local Facebook group asking if anyone knew what they were doing.

Work underway on the old groyne on the shore at Maryport

It turns out the groyne is being repaired as part of a contract to repair a hole in the seawall.

One kind person posted a photo of the area when there were three groynes along the beach and he, and others, provided information about their purpose, which was to reduce the drift of sand and gravel that gets washed along from the beach at neighbouring Flimby.


Weather watch

The past week has been very windy – AGAIN!

It has been so windy here in Maryport this winter that I was beginning to think it should be called “The Windy City” or rather town, as Maryport definitely isn’t a city, but “The Windy Town” doesn’t have the same ring to it 😊

However, when I looked up the windiest places in the UK convinced that Cumbria would feature in the top 10, it was nowhere to be seen.

Apparently, the windiest areas of the UK are all in Scotland and Wales.

Shetland, is the windiest place, followed by Buteshire, Orkney, Caernarvonshire, Western Isles, Bute, Argyllshire, Anglesey, Inverness, Peeblesshire and Ross and Cromarty.

However, we’ve lived in a number of different locations in both Scotland and Wales and Maryport definitely feels like the windiest place we’ve ever lived.

A sunny interval on Saturday at Maryport Marina

Saturday was bright and breezy with clouds and sunny intervals, but it stayed dry all day.

The top temperature was 8.5C (47F) and the top average wind speed was 22mph, gusting 31mph.

Sunday was another bright day of sunshine and clouds. It was still very windy with a top average temperature of 8.9C (48F) and a top average wind speed of 30mph, gusting 40mph.

It rained overnight. This was followed by a grey and cloudy but dry morning with the rain returning around lunchtime.

The temperature reached 7.3C (45F) with a top average wind speed of 21mph, gusting 31mph.

Grey sky over Maryport Marina on Tuesday

Tuesday was overcast, breezy and dry until just before 5pm when it started to rain.

The highest temperature recorded locally was 6.8C (44F) and the top average wind speed was 15mph.

A wet and windy night was followed by a very wet and windy day on Wednesday.

It rained continually all day – the only variation in the weather was the amount of rain falling at any given time.

Wet Wednesday at Maryport Marina

The top temperature was 7.7C (46F) and the top average wind speed was 23mph, gusting 32mph.

Yesterday (Thursday) it was grey and windy with drizzle during the morning. The cloud thinned in the afternoon giving way to brighter conditions.

Maryport when the weather improved yesterday (Thursday) afternoon

The top temperature was 9.3C (49F) and the top average wind speed was 23mph, gusting 34mph.

And, so far today (Friday), the weather has been decidedly spring-like - dry, sunny and mild, although there was still a good breeze. The top temperature, so far, was 12.5C (54.5C) and the top average wind speed was 22mph, gusting 29mph.

Taking our house fishing, the big thaw and a very high tide

Phil laying on Ravensdale's foredeck waiting for a bite

What a difference a few days can make to the weather!

Last week we had sub-zero temperatures, snow and high winds at Maryport in Cumbria, UK, and this week we’ve had sunshine and temperatures up to 7C (45F).

Me on Ravensdale at sea

And the best bit of all is that it’s been calm enough to take our home fishing 😊

We took Ravensdale out to sea for the third time this year on Monday and, although it wasn’t the sunniest day of the week, the wind speed was only 7-9mph so within our single figures rule.

We make no bones about it – for now we’re definitely fair-weather sailors (or rather cruisers) and only leave the marina when the wind speed is less than 10mph.

Taking Ravensdale fishing

The snow just about disappeared here over the weekend, although much of the UK still had a good depth of the white stuff and parts of the UK were again hit by snowstorms yesterday (Thursday).

I always keep a close eye on the weather forecast and was therefore aware that Monday was expected to be dry with very little wind.

The entrance to Maryport Marina

The marina gate, which is only open for about two to two and half hours either side of high tide, was also due to open at a good time for a trip out on Monday.

We were considering going for a little cruise, partly for fun, but also to give Ravensdale’s twin 300hp Volvo Penta engines a run and to help keep her hull clean.

We were still trying to make up our minds when a couple of guys with small fishing boats in the marina visited our boat on Sunday to let us know they were going out the following day and to ask if we wanted to join them.

We also needed to fill up with diesel as we’d used a good bit on heating over the cold snap, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and go fishing then visit the fuel pontoon on the way back to our berth.

We had some bait left in the freezer from the previous fishing trip but needed more, so we walked over to The Aquarium by Maryport Harbour to buy some black lugworm in their fishing bait shop then stopped off for coffee and cake at the Aquarium cafe.

The marina gate wasn’t due to open until about 11.15am on Monday so there was no need to rush around.

Our ornaments packed up ready to go to sea

Phil did the engine checks, opened the seacocks and untied the spring lines (ropes used to limit fore-and-aft movement while moored), leaving just the bow and stern mooring ropes tied to the pontoon cleats until we were ready to cast off.

Meanwhile, I went through my usual packing up ritual inside the boat – anything loose that could be thrown around if the boat starts to roll gets packed away in collapsible packing crates and the microwave and freezer are strapped down.

We had a choice of which fishing boat to follow as one was staying quite close to Maryport to fish for cod and the other was going a bit further afield in search of skate. Phil chose to go for cod and we dropped anchor near the relevant boat.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport for our fishing trip

Although we didn’t have bright sunshine, it was fairly pleasant outside and it didn’t rain while we were at sea, so we stretched out on the foredeck while waiting for the fish to bite.

It was surprisingly rocky, given that there was so little wind, but a lovely way to spend a winter Monday all the same. It definitely beats going to work 😊

My view while waiting for the fish to bite

Phil with the cod that had to be thrown back

After a couple of hours, we’d only caught one fish – a 12-inch cod that was too small to keep and had to be thrown back.

We considered moving to another location, but had been in touch with the other fishing boats out that day and it seemed no one was catching anything worth having so we decided to head home and save our diesel for another day.

On our return to the marina, we went straight to the fuel pontoon to top up Ravensdale’s 1,200 litre tank. It took almost 700 litres!

Phil then drove Ravensdale down to the far end of the marina for a practice run, turning her on her own length at either end before returning to our berth.

Although we didn’t catch any fish worth keeping, one of the other fishermen caught a slightly larger cod that he gutted and brought home, but didn’t want so he gave it to us and it contributed to a delicious fish pie.

Phil with his new fish measuring stick

Phil has since made a measuring stick marked with the lengths at which various fish species can be kept. These are laid down by the UK government via DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). For cod, the minimum size is 35cm (13.7 inches).

The aftermath of the Beast from the East

The arrival of Siberian weather, dubbed the Beast from the East, overnight on Tuesday February 27 into Wednesday February 28 brought snowstorms and temperatures down to -6C.

There was still a good bit of snow lying in the Maryport area of Cumbria last Friday, but very little left along the coast. However, we encountered some very slippery conditions when we decided to take a walk to our local Lidl store for a few odds and ends of groceries.

The last of the snow on the ramp at Maryport Marina

We didn’t really need to go, but it was a chance to get some exercise as well as more wine and chocolate for the weekend as we’d accidentally eaten our weekend goodies during the week 😊

We don’t normally buy them until Friday because we know we can’t be trusted, but shopped early in case we got snowed in. We now know that was a mistake 😊.

And we discovered it was a good job we’d already stocked up on the basics as there was no bread or milk and very little fruit or veg left in the store because the delivery lorries had been unable to reach Maryport.

The snow on the path to Lidl had been compacted by people walking on it. It had then frozen over so staying upright was difficult at times. Luckily, we managed to get there and back without either of us taking a tumble.

Meanwhile, the marina snowman was slowly melting away and collapsing over to one side. By Sunday, he looked rather deformed and decidedly creepy 😊

The demise of the marina snowman

Very high tide

We had one of the highest tides of the year in Maryport last weekend.

There was a difference of almost 9m (29ft 6ins) between the high and the low tides on Saturday - 9.2m at 12.15pm and 0.3m at 7.11pm.

Maryport Marina at high tide on Friday

Our pontoon almost level with the car park at the very high tide

I always find it amazing how different the marina, the harbour and the area around the basin and River Ellen look when the water comes up almost to the top of the harbour walls and I can never resist the chance to go out and take photos.

On previous occasions, I’ve captured images of waves crashing up against the sea walls and spilling over onto the promenade, but the northerly wind on Saturday meant the waves were coming from a different direction to those caused by the usual west to south-westerly winds.

Maryport lighthouse at high tide

Unfortunately, it was dark by the time the very low tide arrived or I would’ve been out taking photos for comparison purposes.

Feathered friends

There are often quite a lot of pigeons in the area around the marina and one pair has been nesting in one of the drainage pipes that comes down through the harbour wall near our boat.

We came back from taking photos of the high tide on Saturday to find them totally bewildered by the disappearance of the hole they use as an entrance.

They were sitting on the edge of the wall above the hole, flying up and down the wall frantically trying to find the way in, but they had to wait for the water level in the marina to drop before they could go home.

One of the pigeons searching for the hole

The pigeons waiting for the water level to drop

As soon as it was below the level of the hole, they were back inside.

Pigeon hole - one of the pigeons happily back in its home 

We still can’t work out how they manage to stay in there as, whenever it rains, the water runs off the road and down through the pipe into the marina.

The swans that have been visiting the marina since long before we moved on board our 43ft seagoing cruiser 16 months ago have been back looking for food again this week.

Another berth holder, who is away from the marina at the moment, used to feed them whenever they appeared, sometimes up to five times a day, and they seemed to be really missing him.

He told us to use the food he stored on his boat to feed them whenever we saw them, so I’ve been doing as he asked.

Me feeding the swans in Maryport Marina

But I’ve now discovered that other people here are also feeding them, including a member of staff and at least one other berth holder, so perhaps they aren't as hungry as I thought they were 😊

Mic, one of the marina staff, feeding the swans

Variable weather

We’ve had a real mixed bag of weather over the past week from the freezing conditions last weekend to warmer day-time temperatures in recent days.

It was cold and windy overnight Friday/Saturday - nowhere near as cold as the previous nights, but still quite windy.

On Saturday morning, there were light snow flurries and still a very chilly wind.

Overnight Saturday/Sunday the lowest temperature recorded locally was -0.9C (34F) at 8pm and the wind had dropped so there was less rocking, creaking of ropes and sploshing of water going on which made for a much quieter night for us.

Tuesday, Wednesday and yesterday were mainly dry and bright by day with temperatures up to around 6C (43F).

Wednesday was quite windy with a beautiful sunset in the evening.

Maryport Harbour

Maryport lighthouse

Maryport Harbour

Another view of Maryport Harbour

Maryport Marina at sunset

Yesterday was mainly dry and bright and much calmer, with a wind speed of just 1mph first thing increasing to 15mph later in the day.

And today (Friday) is another calm sunny day with temperatures expected to go up to about 7C (45F). Perhaps spring really is just around the corner at long last...

Maryport lighthouse in the sunshine yesterday