Back on board Ravensdale for our 18-month liveaboard anniversary

Home Sweet Home - Ravensdale's dining area

We are very happy to be back on board after two weeks away from our floating home.

Much as we enjoyed our shore-based break in the Scottish Highlands, it was still good to get back to our 43ft cruiser Ravensdale at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, at the weekend – especially as this time she didn’t have any nasty surprises waiting for us on our return.

After returning from a holiday to discover the electricity had been off most of the time we’d been away following a power cut and all the food in our fridge and freezer had gone off, we were a bit apprehensive as to what we’d find.

But, this time, the whole experience was totally uneventful - just as we’d hoped it would be.

And, it was particularly good to be back in time for our 18-month liveaboard anniversary, which is today (Friday).

Life wasn’t quite the same without the rocking and the comforting sound of water lapping against Ravensdale’s hull - and the considerably less gentle rocking when the wind gets up 😊

18 months afloat and no regrets

Ravensdale - the Neptunus 133 that is our lovely floating home

I bet you thought it was only children that celebrated their half birthdays 😊

Well, you’d be wrong, or maybe it’s just that I’m never willing to grow up. Not so keen on celebrating my own half birthdays anymore though (or the real ones come to that 😊)

I’ve been looking back over my blog posts on our previous milestone anniversaries.

And it was interesting to see how things have changed and the various things we’ve learned during our first 18 months on board.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is that we’re still very glad we took the momentous decision to sell our house and buy a boat.

For anyone who’s interested, the links to my previous milestone blogs are below -

The great escape from a house to a boat – my first blog post after moving on board on November 4, 2016 - Mad or what?

This time last year - Our six-month liveaboard anniversary

November 4 last year - Our first liveaboard anniversary

Last day of our Highland holiday

The weather forecast for last Friday - the last full day of our holiday in the Scottish Highlands - had been reasonably good when I checked it the previous evening, so we went ahead with plans to go out into the mountains on our last day.

We set the alarm clock for an early start and woke up to discover it was raining AGAIN!!! And the forecast had changed to rain for much of the day.

We had two choices – to put on our waterproofs and head out into the hills anyway or cancel the walk we had planned and stay at the cottage.

To be honest, it was a no-brainer.

We’d spent the previous couple of days waiting for the weather to improve and for our legs to recover from the last long walk and we felt fit and ready to go so that’s exactly what we did.

It stopped raining just before we set off from our holiday cottage in Ballachulish to drive up to Glen Coe and was still dry when we got there, but we still put on our waterproof walking jackets and trousers before taking the route we'd planned.

We were heading for the 2,811ft summit of Beinn a Chrùlaiste, which is behind Kings House Hotel in Glen Coe.

Beinn a Chrulaiste (left) and Meall Bhalach (right)

I was getting rather hot in my waterproof trousers, so stopped to take them off but, soon afterwards, we could see the rain coming in across the hills to the west of us, so I had to put them back on again.

A thick, grey mist enveloped Beinn a Chrùlaiste and it started to rain.

At that point, we decided to forget Beinn a Chrùlaiste as we wouldn’t be able to see anything from the top anyway and to head up neighbouring 2,323ft Meall Bhalach, which was still clearly in view, stopping to take photos on the way up.

A ruined building with Buachaille Etive Mor and Stob a Ghlais Choire in the distance

Buachaille Etive Mor from Meall Bhalach

Stob a Ghlais Choire from Meall Bhalach

The light rain didn’t last long, but, by the time it stopped, we were committed to our new route, so we decided to continue heading in that direction and we were rewarded with some fabulous views of Glen Coe, Rannoch Moor, Blackwater Reservoir and the Mamores.

View from the summit of Meall Bhalach across Blackwater Reservoir and the Mamores

Looking across Rannoch Moor from Meall Bhalach

When nearing the top, we came across a number of fairly large snow patches, so I just had to sit in the middle of one and get Phil to take a photo (as I said earlier, I have no plans to grow up anytime soon 😊)

Me sitting in the snow on Meall Bhalach

A wider view showing the size of the snow patch

Phil on Meall Bhalach

Phil and I at the summit of Meall Bhalach

We had our packed lunch on the summit, then checked the map to see if there was a better route down the mountain than the one we'd followed on the way up and chose a different route, which brought us down onto the public footpath to Black Corries Lodge.

We were really lucky with the weather. Often, we could see rain on the hills all around us, but we somehow managed to avoid a soaking.

Other than the short shower on our way up the hill, we only had a little bit of hail when we were nearing the top and it started spitting while we were walking the last couple of hundred yards back to the car.

The rain arriving as we headed back to the car

As soon as we got into the car, the heavens opened. Someone must have been on our side for once as we aren’t usually that lucky! 😊

While out, we saw two deer, lots of sheep, lots of frogs, a heron, two grouse and what we think were two ptarmigan.

The total distance showing on the Satmap GPS when we got back was 7.21 miles.

Return to the real world

The weather was beautiful for our drive home and we stopped off briefly in Glencoe to take photographs of Loch Leven.

Boats on Loch Leven at Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands

More boats on Loch Leven

A wider view of Loch Leven looking towards Ballachulish

The Pap of Glencoe

In the past, whenever we reached the end of a holiday, I always said it was time to return to “the real world”.

However, in those days, we were going home to a house and it usually meant I had to go back to work the following Monday.

Returning to the real world is so much easier now our world isn’t really like the real world at all 😊

In fact, most people would consider our version of the real world to be a holiday 😊

And, this time, we thankfully returned home to discover all was well on the boat and the ducks turned up for food soon after we arrived, so at least someone was glad to see us back.

Feeding time for the ducks next to Ravensdale's bow

Back in our real world

I managed to get most of our clothes and self-catering stuff unpacked on Saturday, finishing off putting things away on Sunday morning.

Thankfully, I’d been able to get almost everything we’d worn on holiday washed in the washing machine at the holiday cottage on Friday evening, so it was all clean and ready to go back in the wardrobes, cupboards and drawers.

The only things still needing attention were our walking jackets, waterproof trousers and our walking boots.

Phil washed the jackets and trousers and re-waterproofed the jackets, then cleaned and waxed our walking boots on Sunday ready for our next mountain adventure.

Our walking gear drying on the line while Phil cleans our walking boots

We lifted our prawn pot to discover we’d caught around 20 small crabs, so we took them over to The Aquarium to be fed to the octopuses.

The crabs in a bucket before we took them to The Aquarium

We got chatting to a fisherman we know as we walked back around the harbour and he gave us another prawn pot, so we can either up our catch or keep it as a spare.

The following day we found a dogfish in our prawn pot with 11 more crabs, so we’ll soon have enough to take them to The Aquarium again.

Phil holding the dogfish that got caught in the prawn pot before throwing it back

Next time, I’m planning to take my camera with me and hopefully get some better photos of the exhibits than I took with my phone on our previous visit.

Storage wars and damp under the mattress

We’ve just acquired an extra storage unit at the marina so we’re having another go at trying to sort out our storage situation.

We’re trying to work out what we need to keep on the boat, what we need to keep in our marina storage space and what to take to our small shore-based storage unit that we’re still hoping to get rid of altogether one day.

We lifted our mattress to sort the stuff in the locker under the bed with a view to taking some of it up to the marina storage facility. While in there, Phil lifted the inspection panel in the bottom of the locker to discover that there was water in the bilges.

He pumped it out and cleaned out the cupboard, which had become a bit mouldy.

A piece of Dry-Mat

We also discovered that the wooden surface of the bed under our mattress had become a bit damp and mouldy, despite our bed slats and Dry-Mat – a product that creates an air space between the mattress and the bed base.

We used to lift the mattress regularly to air it but hadn’t got around to doing it for a couple of months.

We’ve also lifted the mattress off the bed while away on previous occasions but didn’t think to do it when we decided to take a trip to Scotland at short notice.

Thankfully the Dry-Mat had only become marked on the underside of the bottom piece of matting (we placed an offcut under the piece we cut to fit to provide extra protection over the water tank, which is located under the bed).

The top layer of Dry-Mat was still dry, as was our mattress.

I checked the washing instructions for the matting online and discovered it was machine washable, so I took it up to the marina laundry to wash it, then dried it on the washing line across Ravensdale’s aft deck in quite a strong wind.

Phil pumping out the water from the bilges under our bed

Phil washed the mouldy surface of the bed, then put the dehumidifier in the cabin on the setting that is supposed to dry washing and shut the bedroom door.

What we didn’t realise was that the mattress had become wedged against the door to the en-suite heads, which I usually prop open during the day to ensure that the dehumidifier in our bedroom also keeps the bathroom dry.

The mattress pushed the heads door back against the wardrobe beside it and its handle prevented the sliding door to our cabin from opening.

We took turns at trying to open it, but it was well and truly stuck.

In the end, Phil used the windlass handle and another stainless steel pole to lever the mattress away a bit while I slid the door along and we were able to get into our bedroom again.

The two doors that became jammed preventing us from entering the bedroom

The damage caused to the door to the en-suite heads

Sadly, this left two small gouges in the surface of the heads door that will have to be repaired, but we’ve learnt never to let the doors become jammed in this way again.

On the plus side, we did manage to move some of the things that had been stored in the locker under the bed into our new marina storage unit. 

Phil delivering some of our stuff to the marina storage container

We now need to go through other lockers to see what can be moved off the boat.

Other boat jobs

The new fastening on Ravensdale's windscreen cover

Phil cleaning the galley carpet

Phil fixed a new bungee clip on Ravensdale’s windscreen cover as the press stud that was meant to hold it in place had become impossible to fasten.

He previously replaced one that had broken at the top on the starboard side and has now put a second one on the bottom corner of the same side.

We bought four, so have two more to go on as and when needed.

He also shampooed the carpets after coffee was spilt on the one in the saloon.

The galley carpet, which we recently replaced, was also looking a bit grubby, so he decided to do that as well while the carpet cleaner was out.

Pontoon repairs

Staff at Maryport Marina have been carrying out repairs to the wooden pontoons over recent weeks. And I couldn’t resist snapping this shot of Ken, the newest member of staff, laying down on the job 😊

Ken repairing one of the pontoons at Maryport Marina

Spring weather in Maryport

The spring weather we’ve had here over the past week hasn’t been very spring-like at all.

Although we came home in lovely warm sunshine on Saturday, we haven’t seen any really decent weather since.

Even when the sun has been out, there’s still been a cold wind.

Sunday and Monday were both dry and bright, but there was a good wind, which made it feel much cooler. On Sunday, we had a northerly wind, with average wind speeds up to 17mph.

Sunshine on Sunday evening at Maryport Marina

Overnight Monday into Tuesday, the temperature went down to 4.1C (39F).

It stayed dry and reasonably bright on Tuesday, with temperatures up to 10C (50F), but it was very windy, with south-south-westerly winds averaging up to 28mph and gusting to 41mph.

We then had a very windy night with average wind speeds up to 30mph, gusting to 46mph, giving us our first really rocky night since we got back from our holiday.

There was a little rain mid-morning on Wednesday and it continued to be windy throughout the day, with temperatures up to 10.1C (50F) mid-afternoon.

It remained fairly windy overnight Wednesday/Thursday with wind speeds of up to 18mph. The lowest temperature recorded during the night was 6.3C (43F).

Yesterday (Thursday) morning started dry and fairly bright, but it soon clouded over and started spitting with rain. We then had light rain on and off for much of the rest of the day. Daytime temperatures peaked at 8.9C (48F), with average wind speeds up to 21mph.

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour on Thursday afternoon

Last night was mild and not too windy, with temperatures going down to just 8.1C (46F) and a top average wind speed of 17mph. Today (Friday) is dry and bright. So far, the temperature has only risen to 9.6C (49F) and the average wind speed has been 11-15mph. 

Pros and cons of living on a boat

Ravensdale - our liveaboard home at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK

The move from a house to a boat has made some dramatic changes to our lives.

And, yes, I admit that they haven’t all been for the better.

That said, the positives definitely far outweigh the negatives and our only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner.

We’ve spent the past week staying with a friend in the north of Scotland, who lives next-door to one of the last houses we owned in our shore-based life.

An old photo of one of our previous homes in Scotland - we spent last week staying next-door

The time away from our 43ft Neptunus 133 cruiser Ravensdale has also helped to focus our minds on the things we do and don’t miss about living in a house.

Before we decided to make the move, we drew up a list of what we believed to be the pros and cons of selling our house in Fort William, Scotland, and moving onto our boat.

And, after a year of living aboard, based at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, I thought it would be interesting to repeat the process to see if it had turned out as we expected.

The answer is that the “pros” were everything we’d hoped for and more, but the real “cons” were not the things we’d anticipated at all.

I’m well aware that many of the positives on my list are retirement-related and being able to retire early has been an important part of the experience for me.

But the following lists also include a number of things that would be equally true, whether working or not.

Pros

1.    Every day’s a holiday!

Chilling out and enjoying the sunshine on Ravensdale's fore deck

The move enabled me to retire early as we no longer have a mortgage and I was able to get rid of my car, which I really only used for work.

2.    Healthier lifestyle

Phil setting up a fishing rod on Ravensdale's fore deck

We’re now living a more active, outdoor life with considerably less stress (also greatly helped by me no longer having to go to work J)

3.    Freedom to live where we want

Ravensdale on her current mooring at Maryport Marina

We can now move our home wherever we want to be so the next time we decide to move our base we won’t have to go through the expensive and traumatic process of selling a house.

4.    Sociable lifestyle

Phil helping a friend with his sails

Living on a boat in a marina is a very sociable existence. There always seems to be someone wanting to stop for a chat on the pontoons, come aboard for a coffee and to help each other with any boating jobs.

5.    We can take our home on holiday with us if we want – or not, if we fancy a change

We didn't take our boat on this holiday - but we hired a little one to go fishing

6.    Slower pace of life

No watches are needed most of the time

Both Phil and I have stopped wearing watches since we moved onboard. Obviously there are times when we need to be in a certain place at a certain time, but most of the time we do things at our own pace.

7.    New challenges

My first attempts at a sailmaker's whipping knot

Moving onto a boat has given us the opportunity to learn new skills, both by following boating-related courses and the things we’ve learnt as we’ve gone along to enable us to look after our new home.

8.    Wildlife watching

A cygnet hitching a ride on Mum's back at Maryport Marina

I’m really enjoying watching and photographing the birds, animals, fish and other marine life that visit the marina and in the surrounding area.

9.    Rocking and rolling

Our comfy bed in which we are frequently rocked to sleep

I thought the rocking motion of the boat may become a pain, but it’s actually a positive in that it rocks us to sleep at night J

Cons

1.    Toilet facilities

The walk from Ravensdale to the marina facilities at the top of the ramp

It’s a bit of a nuisance having to minimise use of the onboard heads to prevent the holding tank filling up and needing to be emptied too often. This means making use of the marina facilities whenever possible.

2.    Damp

Clothes in one of the lockers in our bedroom

Living on a boat seems to be a constant battle against damp, which we’re now winning, but we still find our clothes end up smelling musty when they’ve been in lockers for any length of time. And I really miss warm towels straight off a heated towel rail.

3.    Storage wars

Most of our storage space is under the seats in the dinette and saloon

The lack of storage space meant serious downsizing of our possessions before moving onboard, but we still have too much stuff. And the type of storage (mainly under the seats in the saloon and dinette) make it difficult to store items in an accessible way.

4.    Maintenance costs

An engineer servicing Ravensdale's two 300 hp engines

There's a very good reason why boating folk say BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. And the bigger the boat, the bigger the bills L

5.    Uncomfortable seating

The seating in Ravensdale's saloon

The built-in seating on Ravensdale and most other boats I’ve been on never seems to be as comfortable as the furniture in a shore-based home. We’re hoping to find a solution to this one soon.

This list barely scratches the surface of the pros and cons of living on a boat.

I intend to continue adding to it as we go along and revisit it each year to see how our perception of our liveaboard lifestyle changes over time.

Meanwhile, I hope our experiences so far will prove helpful to anyone else considering the move from a house to a boat.

First year liveaboard lessons and Ravensdale's early Christmas present

Ravensdale soaking up the winter sun in Maryport Marina

The first anniversary of selling our house and moving onto a boat set us thinking about the lessons we’ve learned so far.

The whole experience has been a huge learning curve and I’m sure that will continue to be the case.

One of the main things we discovered soon after moving onto our 43ft seagoing cruiser Ravensdale is that we’ve got way too much stuff (especially me – but don’t tell Phil I said that J)

The other big one is the cost of maintaining a boat of this size.

I know there are plenty of people out there who have been doing this for much longer than us, who will have far more knowledge than we've managed to glean in our first year.

However, I hope our experiences may help others in a similar situation to us and those trying to decide whether they would enjoy life aboard.

10 lessons we’ve learned over the first year


1.    You need far less stuff than you think you do

Sorting some of our stuff during our storage wars in the early days

Everything has been tidily put away

We got rid of most of our belongings in the fortnight between me finishing work and the sale of our house in Fort William, but we still have way too much stuff to fit on Ravensdale.

We initially rented a 75sqft shore-based storage unit, which we downsized to 50sqft and then 25sqft, the aim being to get rid of it altogether, but we haven’t managed to achieve that yet. We also have 1m3 of storage space at the marina and store our bikes in the marina bike rack.

We plan to continue reducing the amount of stuff we own until we can fit it all on the boat, except possibly the bikes. We haven’t yet decided how to deal with them.

I’m well aware that a major factor in our storage wars is my collection of clothes, coats, shoes and boots – most of which I will never wear on a boat but I can’t seem to let them go just in case...  

2.    Maintaining a boat will always cost far more than you expect

Getting Ravensdale's two 300hp Volvo Penta engines serviced cost £1,200

Before we made the decision to make this life-changing move, we calculated the costs of all known expenses to make sure we could afford to do it. We included a figure for maintenance in our calculations, but we don’t mind admitting that we underestimated this figure – by a lot!

We now know you need to put aside as much as possible to pay for repairs, replacements and improvements and, most important of all, learn to do as much of it as possible yourself.

We've both done the RYA Diesel Engine Course and are hoping to be able to service Ravensdale's two 300hp Volvo Penta engines ourselves next time as paying for a professional service cost us £1,200.

3.    Bigger is better where holding tanks are concerned

Maryport Marina toilet and shower block

Install the largest black water holding tank you can afford that will fit on your boat.

We discovered that our 97 litre tank fills up way too quickly if we try to use it like we would use a toilet in a house. As it happens, we wouldn't have had room for a larger one, but would certainly consider this if we ever changed our boat.

Thankfully we have good marina facilities here at Maryport in Cumbria, UK, and the walk to the loos and back is good exercise at more than 300 steps per round trip :-)

We also had a pump fitted so we can discharge the holding tank at sea.

4.    Buy the most comfortable mattress you can afford

Our very comfy bed with its 8in memory foam mattress

When we first moved onboard, we were sleeping on the original mattress, which was very thin and very hard. It was only fractionally more comfortable than sleeping on the floor so we bought a new one asap.

Our new 8in custom-made CoolBlue Memory Foam mattress has been a God-send and, coupled with the rocking motion of the boat, makes for a very good night’s sleep – far better than I ever managed on dry land. 

It may be OK to make do with a thinner mattress if you're only spending short periods or occasional nights aboard, but you really need a comfy bed when it’s your home.

5.    Dehumidifiers are worth their weight in gold – and them some J

One of our two dehumidifiers

Boats are well known for suffering from damp problems. Living on board, which means they're kept warm most of the time, helps a lot, but they still need some extra help.

Soon after moving onto Ravensdale, we bought two dehumidifiers, each of which is supposed to be suitable for a five-bedroom house. We keep one in the aft cabin, where we sleep, and the other in the fore cabin, moving one of them into the main saloon area if we see condensation building up – for example during and after cooking.

During the summer, we used them very little as we had the windows open whenever possible. Since the weather has got colder and damper, we’re using them for short periods night and morning on most days. 

When it gets really cold and damp, we leave one dehumidifier on a very low setting in the fore cabin overnight with all the doors open and this seems to keep the boat dry.

6.    Pay a regular sum of money into a diesel fund

A diesel fund is a must - particularly for cruiser owners

We set up a bank account specifically for this purpose and a standing order to transfer money into it from our current account soon after we moved onboard. 

The idea being to ensure there would always money available for fuel for both heating and propulsion as and when it was needed - and it has served us well.

Right from the start, we decided that it was fine not to travel if it was our choice to stay put, but we didn’t want to get to a point where we wanted to go somewhere and couldn’t afford the fuel to make the trip.

7.    Learn as much as you can about your boat

Phil and Bay Sea School instructor John Parlane during our diesel engine course

You also need to learn as much as possible about navigating if you’re planning to go anywhere on your boat.

We both took the RYA Day Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore theory courses and the RYA Diesel Engine Course.

We also both gained our VHF radio Short Range Certificate.

8.    Use the marina showers whenever possible

The ladies shower and toilet facilities at Maryport Marina

We have a perfectly good shower on Ravensdale. It's en suite to our bedroom, separate from the heads and larger than many boat showers with a good flow of water.

However, using it in cold and/or damp weather tends to make it more difficult to keep the boat dry.

We've found the best solution for us to be using the onboard shower in the summer when it's easier to dry properly and the marina facilities are busier. Since the weather has started to change for the winter, we've gone back to using the now quieter marina showers.

Fortunately our marina has really good showering facilities. The shower and toilet block is lovely and warm and we can use as much hot water as we want – compared to onboard showers when we try to restrict the amount of hot water we use as much as possible.

9.    You don’t need to own a washing machine

Wash day at Maryport Marina laundry

Before we moved onboard, I rather stupidly thought I would miss having our own washing machine, but I don’t – not at all. 

That said, I'm well aware that the situation would be very different for anyone who is not marina-based or whose marina doesn’t have a good launderette.

Here, I take a load of washing up to the marina’s laundry room once a week, where I wash and dry the week’s washing for just £5.40. This includes an extra high spin before putting it into the tumble dryer. Our clothes, towels, bedding, etc. all come out lovely and dry ready to be folded up and put away.

10. We don’t miss our dishwasher

Washing up in Ravensdale's galley

I really can’t believe I even thought I'd miss our dishwasher, but we’d had one for many years and had got use to using it.

Anyway, we don’t miss it at all, to the extent that I would almost say I can’t see the point of having one, unless you have a large family or do a lot of entertaining, neither of which was true in our case. 

Living on a boat, which invariably means the galley is much smaller than most kitchens ashore, makes it a no-brainer to wash up as you go along during food preparation and immediately after meals.

And one for luck...

11.  Consider dropping a few pounds (or stones in my case) J

Me enjoying a cup of tea at sea

This is the hardest one for me to admit, but I know that losing a bit of weight – OK, a good bit of weight – would make life much easier on the boat.

This is particularly true in the heads and moving around the island bed in the aft cabin.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly happy living in a relatively confined space. However, if there was a bit less of me, I would have more room to move around.

I keep promising myself the diet starts tomorrow and I really must get on and lose the extra weight – or at least make a start on it – one day soon (perhaps after Christmas J).

The past week

Here's to many more happy years on Ravensdale

We drank a toast to Ravensdale on Saturday evening to mark our first anniversary as liveaboards and celebrated in true British fashion with a delicious fish and chip supper J

And we've bought her an early Christmas present – two new 180 ampere hour starter batteries – after discovering that the existing ones were finished.

Ravensdale's new starter batteries

We’re still enjoying our new berth and have been getting a bit of winter sun here.

It’s also interesting to see some of the bigger boats passing Ravensdale on their way to the marina slipway and the MPM boatyard next to the marina.

Close encounters - Solway Challenger heading for the marina slipway

The RV Susan H passes Ravensdale on her way back from the slipway

Other than that, this week seems to have disappeared into thin air.

We seem to have spent a good bit of our time socialising, on and off the boat, or out walking, taking photos and, in Phil’s case, fishing.

I’ve hardly found any time to get on with the novel I'm trying to write, but hoping to catch up on that a bit next week.

On Saturday morning, we decided to look into the possibility of booking an organised fishing trip as we have no real idea where to fish from our boat in the Solway Firth.

While trying to find out who best to speak to about this, we had a chance encounter with a marine electrician, who was about to do some work on another berth holder’s boat.

He agreed to come and take a look at the electrics on Ravensdale and spent the best part of three hours on Saturday afternoon replacing all the connections on the battery terminals.

The new connections on Ravensdale's battery bank

He also discovered that the alternators on both engines were connected to one battery and split them so that there is now one connected to each battery.

And he’s going to return to carry out some further work for us in the near future.

We also managed to sort the fishing trip by joining a local fishing club and we hope to go out on the club’s boat very soon.

Meanwhile, Phil has been trying his hand at fishing off Maryport pier while I wandered around taking photos and chatting with anyone who would talk to me J

Phil fishing on the pier at Maryport

Sadly, Phil didn’t manage to catch our supper – just a couple of very small fish that were thrown back.

However, one of the other fishermen we met on an earlier walk on the pier was delighted to catch his first cod of the season.

I asked if I could take a photo and he happily posed with his catch.

While I was taking a couple of shots, the fish managed to wriggle free and made a bid for freedom, which I was really pleased to have accidentally captured on camera, complete with the shadow of the flying fish.

The one that got away

Almost every time we go out, I return with a whole heap of photos. I really must go through them and delete all but the best asap.

Phil, on the other hand, only takes occasional photos, which invariably turn out to be so much better than mine, or so he says J

Ravensdale at night by Phil Restan

Swans in the marina by Phil Restan

He calls me a “machine gun photographer”, which I guess is fair comment, and to prove it below are some or the many images I’ve taken this week.

A juvenile cormorant in the marina

Maryport Marina on a sunny November day

The ramp down onto the pontoons at Maryport Marina

Another view of Maryport Marina

A berth holder and friend at sea

Maryport Lighthouse at sunset

Evening light on Maryport Harbour

Fishermen on Maryport pier

Iggesund Paper Mill at Workington

Grasslot Shore at Maryport