Wi-Fi woes, troublesome leaks and a milestone birthday

Ravensdale at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK

Wi-Fi problems have made doing anything online very difficult over the past couple of weeks, which has been extremely frustrating.

They even stopped me ordering the card I wanted to get for Phil’s 70^th birthday on Sunday ☹

I had a personalised card set up to order online when the Wi-Fi dropped out and didn’t return until it was too late, so he had to make do with an off-the-peg card from the local card shop. Yes, I know I shouldn’t have left it to the last minute 😊

Despite the lack of a decent card from me, he enjoyed his big day, even if bad weather meant we were unable to take Ravensdale out for a birthday cruise on the Solway Firth in Cumbria, UK.

Meanwhile, he’s been busy trying to fix the last of the persistent leaks that started a few weeks ago when it rained heavily after a long, warm, dry spell.

My camera and our TV also chose this week to go wrong ☹

Wi-Fi woes

The Wi-Fi here at Maryport Marina in Cumbria used to be good but has become progressively worse, so much so that we frequently lose it altogether and, even when we can get online, the connection is very poor.

Me using my laptop in Ravensdale's dinette

We’ve repeatedly reported this problem to marina staff, but the situation hasn’t improved.

The lowest reading on Tuesday

We were getting so frustrated with it on Tuesday that, when I eventually managed to get online, I did a couple of broadband speed test checks.

The first one gave a download speed of 1.92 Mbps and an upload speed of 0.57Mbps.

The next test, just minutes later, gave a download speed of 0.54Mbps and, for uploads, the figure was 0.40Mbps.

The accompanying summary stated: “Your internet speed is very slow. Your internet download speed is very slow. Web browsing should work, but videos could load slowly.”

I took a screenshot of the two readings intending to email them to marina staff but was unable to do so because I then lost my connection again, so I wrote the figures on a piece of paper and took it up to the marina office.

We met the manager on the way there, gave her the note of the speeds and explained the problem.

Today's broadband speed checker results

Her response was that she was too busy to deal with it that day and would look at it the following day.

We later spoke to the marina foreman about this and he tried rebooting the router.

Yesterday (Thursday) the Wi-Fi seemed to be a bit better than it was earlier in the week but was still not good.

The speed checker gave a reading of 5.49Mbps for downloads and 0.63Mbps for uploads. On this occasion, the summary stated: “Your internet speed is slow. Your internet connection should be able to handle one device at a time streaming a video. If multiple devices are using this connection at the same time, you may run into some congestion.”

But today (Friday) it's worse than ever with uploads showing as 0.09Mbps and downloads at 0.08Mbps. At the time of writing this, I have managed to get online but Phil is still unable to do so.

And the speed checker summaries about web browsing being possible at this speed are no comfort at all as it's looking at the Wi-Fi for the whole of the marina and advising on what it would provide for a domestic customer. In reality, there can be any number of people on boats and on the marina’s caravan site using it at the same time.

I’m just hoping I will be able to post my blog this week…

If you’re reading this, you will know I was successful 😊

The big “70”

Phil on a recent fishing trip

Phil is now three score years and ten 😊

He reached this milestone on Sunday and a friend came to stay on Ravensdale to comfort him at this difficult time 😊

Only kidding, our friend and his dog, Sid, came to stay to celebrate with him.

It was a shame that the weather was pretty awful the whole time they were here as we'd hoped to take them out for a little cruise on Phil’s birthday, but it was not to be.

However, we went to Maryport Tandoori, the local Indian restaurant close to the harbour, for a meal on Saturday evening and had a fantastic time.

We hadn’t been there before, but we’d heard good reports about the place so decided to give it a go and we weren’t disappointed.

The food was delicious and, amazingly, so was the house wine. The men were drinking red and I had white and we were all very pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.

We carried on drinking when we got back to the boat, but no one had any room for nibbles as we were all so full after our Indian feast.

We wished Phil “happy birthday” at midnight and he opened his presents and cards.

I had no idea what to get him – a problem we have every birthday and Christmas as we tend to just buy what we want when we want it.

So, I got him a new tablet as his other one had packed up on a recent fishing trip.

His best present was from our friend who presented him with a bottle of rum and a large wrapped box.

Inside the box, he found a new fishing reel and a wide assortment of fishing gear.

To be honest, it looked as though our friend, who knows nothing about fishing, had taken part in a trolley dash in a fishing tackle shop 😊

Phil with his fishing-themed birthday present

He told us he’d gone into the shop and explained that he wanted a present for a friend who goes sea angling from a boat.

The assistant asked where Phil was fishing and how much our friend wanted to spend, then packed up an assortment of useful gear.

Phil was delighted and spent ages going through it and sorting it all.

Most of it was either stuff he already uses or things he’s looking forward to trying, but there are a couple of items that he’s still trying to identify. No doubt one of his fishermen friends here will be able to enlighten him 😊

It was lovely to have our friend to stay again and I enjoyed the opportunity to have a cuddle with his dog.

Me having a cuddle with Sid

Troublesome leaks

We’ve had plenty of rain this week and discovered that we still had water coming into the shower from the aft deck despite Phil sealing around the door/window frame and drilling new drainage holes in the metal channel in which the door runs.

The water was coming in on the port side of the aft deck near the door

He was considering lifting the section of teak decking next to the door to see what was happening underneath it but decided to try removing and replacing the black caulking in that area before taking the drastic measure of lifting the timber.

He removed the old caulking and pressed new into the joints.

This has been left proud of the teak and needs to cure for 48 hours before it can be chiselled off and sanded.

We’re really hoping this has done the trick as it has rained since and, as yet, no water has made its way into the shower.

We also discovered that water was still coming in at the bottom of the window at the back of the dinette after Phil had sealed all the way around it.

And, just when we thought we were getting on top of the leaks, we discovered water in the forward cabin while getting ready for our friend’s visit.

Phil replacing the window trim on the port side dinette window

One of Phil's birthday cards

However, the window that runs across the back of the dinette extends into this cabin so it’s probably the same leak rather than a new one, but we weren’t aware water had been getting in at that end of the window.

Phil has sealed all the joints around this window again and removed and replaced some damaged window trim in that area so hopefully the leak has now been fixed.

I guess the next torrential downpour will tell us whether Ravensdale is now properly watertight again.

This birthday card Phil got from his twin brother, Len, seemed rather appropriate given our experiences on Ravensdale in recent weeks 😊

But we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ve reached the end of the leaks now…

The death of our TV

Sadly, our TV - bought new when we moved onboard Ravensdale in November 2016 - packed up on Phil’s birthday.

Our old TV during the England v Croatia World Cup semi-final

It mysteriously turned itself on while we were out for a walk with our friend and his dog on Saturday afternoon.

We turned it off and didn’t touch it again until after our friend had left on Sunday afternoon when it started flashing on and off, then wouldn’t come on at all.

Phil checked the aerial and the leads, but nothing made any difference. It appeared to have died.

He then checked out the fault online and discovered that it was likely to be the main board, so we decided it would be better to replace it than to pay for it to be fixed.

Fortunately, Phil had downloaded a couple of films onto his laptop while we had a Wi-Fi connection in case we lost it and couldn’t get Netflix, so we watched one of them on the laptop on Sunday evening.

On Monday, we went shopping for a new 32” television.

We ended up with exactly the same make and model as the last TV as it was the only one we could get in the right size with the features we wanted.

And, this time, we paid for the five-year extended warranty 😊

Growing swan family

One of the three cygnets that regularly visit Maryport Marina

The cygnets are beginning to get their white feathers now and are always very hungry.

They’ve been regular visitors to Ravensdale again this week and, when the marina gate closes and they get shut in, they turn up almost hourly looking for more food - and sometimes more often than that 😊

They’ve also become much more confident.

We measure out their food in a plastic beaker and one of the parents and one of the cygnets peck at the edge of the beaker to get me to tip it into the water.

Sometimes their beaks peck the side of my hand while trying to get to the beaker, but it doesn’t hurt at all.

One of the swans pecking at their food beaker

And Phil had the adults and cygnets happily drinking from the hosepipe while he was holding it for them on Tuesday evening.

The cygnets drinking from our hosepipe

Other marina wildlife

A starfish underwater on the marina wall

While walking from Ravensdale to the marina facilities, we spotted a starfish on the harbour wall at the bottom of the ramp.

The tiny spider crab we caught in our prawn pot

I decided not to disturb it so went and got my camera and tried to photograph it in situ.

The photos are not as clear as I would've liked as they were taken through the water. It seems I also captured another sea creature in the image above, but I have no idea what it is.

We still put our prawn pot down to catch crabs as fishing bait and to see what else is living in the water under our boat.

And, among the usual shore crabs and a couple of small whiting, we found a small spider crab, sadly minus a couple of legs and one of its claws.

We’re also told the otters have been seen again this week, but we haven’t seen them ourselves. Apparently, they were munching on fish at the opposite end of the marina to where our boat is moored.

Camera problems

I haven’t really been out for any proper photography walks this week, partly due to the weather and partly due to my camera having to go away for repair ☹

But I have taken a few shots while out for other reasons, such as our walk on the beach with our friend and his dog on Saturday.

Waves on the shore at Maryport

Looking towards the Iggesund Mill at Workington

Another view of the shore at Maryport

Turnstone on the beach at Maryport

Sadly, my camera has gone wrong again and this is the one that was bought to replace the one that went wrong before (I hope you managed to follow that 😊)

The shutter jammed on my last camera, so we replaced it in May and the replacement is now refusing to focus when the lens is parallel to the ground or higher. If I point it downwards, it works.

At first, I thought it was a lens problem, but it’s now doing this with other lenses that work perfectly well on Phil’s camera, which is the same model as mine, so we’re thinking it could be a problem with the connection between the camera and lens.

Anyway, it was still under warranty, so I’ve sent it back for repair or replacement.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping Phil will let me borrow his from time to time…

Weather watch

Subtropical storm Ernesto was expected to bring torrential rain and gale force winds to the UK last weekend, but it didn’t really affect us here.

It was wet and very windy last Friday with similar weather over the weekend, but the wind speeds were a bit lower on Saturday and Sunday.

The wind became stronger during the day last Friday. The average wind speed peaked at 24mph, gusting 33mph, and it started lashing down with rain at about 4pm.

Saturday was windy with a mixture of sunshine and clouds. There was a damp feel to the air and the top temperature was 16.1C (61F) at 5pm. The highest average wind speed recorded locally was 18mph.

Waves being whipped up by the wind on Maryport shore on Saturday afternoon

It then rained overnight and was wet first thing on Sunday. It remained cloudy until late afternoon when the sun came out and the wind dropped. The highest daytime temperature was 18.6C (65F), with a top average wind speed of 21mph.

We had a damp but fairly calm start to the day in Maryport on Monday with fine, drizzly rain. The wind dropped still further, but it remained overcast and damp. The top average wind speed was just 6mph and the temperature reached 17.4C (63F). We considered going out fishing but decided it would not have been pleasant in the drizzly conditions.

Calm water in Maryport Marina on Monday afternoon

Tuesday started overcast becoming brighter as the day went on. However, the wind picked up during the day from 3mph at 7am to 19mph at 5pm. The highest temperature recorded locally was 17.1C (63F).

Wednesday was a day of sunshine and showers with the emphasis on showers, but it brightened up later in the day. The temperature peaked at 16C (61F) and the average wind speed reached 17mph.

We woke up to heavy rain yesterday (Thursday) morning and it felt considerably cooler than of late. It rained on and off throughout the day clearing up later in the afternoon to give a sunny evening. The temperature only reached 14.9C (59F) with a top average wind speed of 17mph, gusting 29mph.

Maryport shore when the sun came out yesterday (Thursday) afternoon

And, It was very windy overnight last night (Thursday/Friday) with average wind speeds of up to 29mph, gusting 37mph.

We had a very heavy downpour, then hailstones first thing this morning (Friday) followed by sunshine and heavy showers. The high winds are continuing with average wind speeds up to 26mph and gusts of up to 37mph. 

Boats R Us – our plans for a boat-free holiday turned out to be anything but...

Fishing - or at least trying to fish - on Loch Awe

We're just back from a week staying in a cottage on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll, Scotland.

Part of the aim of the holiday was a break from Ravensdale. Much as we love her, she has presented us with one problem after another lately and we thought it would do us good to get away for a while.

Having decided that we wanted to go away, I said I wanted to stay in the middle of nowhere and Phil said he wanted the opportunity to do some fishing.

We lived in Scotland for 16 years before selling our house to move onto a boat and both love the landscapes the country has to offer so decided a peaceful loch-side location would be an ideal getaway.

Tarbert in the sunshine

However, we ended up spending the best part of two days at Tarbert visiting friends with boats in the marina there and another day on a boat we hired in attempt to catch fish on Loch Awe.

Barr-beithe Upper - the cottage where we spent a week by Loch Awe

As we booked just four days before we went away, we got a very good deal with Blarghour Farm Cottages and got a three-bedroom cottage that could accommodate six people for the price we were expecting to pay for a property that sleeps two.

And the location was lovely.

It was 19 miles from the nearest shop with an amazing view of the loch. In fact, it had beautiful views from every single window.

The view over Loch Awe from the cottage

One of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed during our stay

We were also very lucky with the weather. We had a couple of very hot sunny days – not what I’d been expecting of a holiday in Scotland J

A couple of days were overcast but dry and on the days it rained, it dried up at the time we wanted to go out and started again once we were safely back indoors.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of fish – or at least fish that were willing to allow us to catch them L

Phil wrapped up to protect him from the midges while fishing on Loch Awe

We both bought week-long fishing licences on our arrival, before discovering that the loch was practically surrounded by trees, making it virtually impossible to fly fish from the shore.

We tried fly fishing from the one clear area to which we had access on the shore below the cottage, but without success. We didn’t even see any fish rising. Phil also tried spinning, but still had no luck. Meanwhile I wandered around with my camera, snapping the beautiful scenery.

Loch Awe in Argyll

Another shot of Loch Awe

The sun sets over Loch Awe

Fly fishing on Loch Awe

It was during our first attempt at fishing at this location that we became reacquainted with the Highland biting midge (one thing I certainly haven’t missed since moving to Cumbria).

However, we had remembered to pack Smidge insect repellent, which made the biting beasties just about bearable.

Having decided we were wasting our time on fly fishing, we decided to hire a boat from Loch Awe Boats and had a lovely day pootling around the loch in the sunshine.

We tried trolling, fly fishing and spinning, but again without success.

The only fish we saw all day were shoals of tiny fish in the shallows as we took the boat out and brought it back in at the end of the day.

Phil trolling on Loch Awe

Despite the lack of fish, it was great to be out on the loch admiring and photographing the beautiful scenery, which made both of us a little bit homesick for the Highlands.

A beautiful sunny day on Loch Awe

Reflections on Loch Awe

We also enjoyed our visits to Tarbert. It is such a pretty harbour and bustling with life. 

Tarbert Harbour in Argyll

Colourful fishing boats at Tarbert

Another view of Tarbert Harbour

 

Tarbert fishing boats

The water was beautifully clean and the boats can get out to sea at any time of the day or night as there are no tidal restrictions on access to the harbour.

In fact, we were so impressed that we decided to find out a bit more about the possibility of taking Ravensdale there at some point in the future.

A fishing boat tied up on Loch Fyne at Inverary

We also spent a pleasant day out in Inverary, where we enjoyed a fish and chip lunch at The Inverary Inn and wandered around the shops. On the way back we stopped at much photographed Kilchurn Castle, where we took a few photos of our own.

Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

A wider view of Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

Another great feature of the cottage was that its location meant we could walk straight out into the hills behind it from which we had panoramic views of the 25-mile long loch.

Our love of hill-walking was the main reason we moved to Scotland from Wales in 2000 and it was great to be out in the hills again.

Walking in the hills above our holiday cottage

The impressive view of Loch Awe from the hills above

Another view of Loch Awe from our walk

Phil out walking in the hills

There was a good breeze during our walk so the midges weren’t a problem and it stayed dry while we were out.

We felt the first drops of rain as we were walking up the drive to the cottage on our way home .

And, as we got indoors, the heavens opened and there was an almighty downpour.

We are not normally so fortunate J

The week passed too quickly and I was sad that the holiday was over, but at least I no longer return home from a break knowing that I have to go back to the “real world” (as I used to call work) on Monday.

Life is one long holiday now and it’s good to be back on board Ravensdale.

And, as if to make sure we really knew we were back afloat, there was a good swell on our first night back to rock us to sleep :-)

Sunshine after the rain - and our latest purchase opens up new opportunities

Blowing up the new dinghy on Ravensdale's aft deck

We now have a new dinghy that will enable us to moor in places that would otherwise be inaccessible to us.

Finding a suitable dinghy turned out to be a bit of a challenge.

We initially thought the one that had been on the boat when we bought it would do the job, then discovered it was only suitable for inland waterways – not coastal waters.

So we sold that one and started looking for another.

Two of the berth holders here at Maryport Marina offered us second-hand dinghies, but neither fitted the bill.

However, during our recent visit to the Northern Boat Show in Liverpool, we found one that was the size we were looking for and suitable for our purposes.

It's an Excel Volante 235, which should carry two of us quite happily as it’s a three-man dinghy.

The hardest part was deciding which colour to get – light grey or dark blue. We eventually settled on blue to match the painted stripes and canvas covers on Ravensdale.

Our new Excel Volante 235

It took longer to arrive than we’d been led to believe would be the case, but it is now here and seemed fine when we blew it up to check it.

It has now been stowed away ready for when it's needed.

We're still enjoying our new liveaboard lifestyle. The one bugbear is the wifi reception at the marina, which is very poor much of the time.

Sometimes it’s so slow that even loading Google is almost more than it can cope with. We often have to hit refresh and wait ages to get it to load at all. The same problem occurs when moving between websites.

And trying to put up this blog post is taking way longer than it should do, which is driving me crazy. Patience is not one of my virtues :-)

Meanwhile, we’ve continued to follow the local wildlife with interest.

On a walk around the marina to the pier, we noticed the seagull we'd watched sitting on her nest on the flybridge of an old cruiser on the hard-standing while we were out of the water was still there.

Her eggs must have hatched, as we saw two chicks wandering around on the flybridge, but she was still sitting on the nest. We couldn’t work out why this would be unless the nest just provided a good vantage point for keeping an eye on her offspring.  

The seagull nesting on a cruiser and one of her chicks

A more impressive bird that is a frequent visitor to the marina is the heron.

On occasions, we've seen two at the same time, but there's usually a single heron fishing close to the slipway or perching on the pontoons or mooring ropes.

A heron waits patiently on a pontoon

One of the latest batch of jellyfish to visit the marina

And we’ve yet to work out why there are sometimes loads of jellyfish in the marina and at other times there are none to be seen.

We had some pretty miserable weather here for the first half of this week, with lots of rain and high winds.

Whenever the rain stopped, we emerged from the boat to make the most of the drier spells and I used our walks along the beach as an opportunity to photograph the wild waves that were being whipped up by the wind near Maryport pier.

A lone fisherman on Maryport pier

Thankfully the weather improved on Wednesday.

The rain stopped, the wind dropped and the sun came out, which is when living on a boat and not having to go to work really comes into its own... 

Soaking up the sun on Ravensdale's fore deck

Phil looking cool in his shades