A wet and windy Christmas in a deserted marina

The view from Ravensdale's saloon on Christmas Day

Our second liveaboard Christmas proved to be quiet and very enjoyable, despite high winds and torrential rain.

And we were joined for Christmas dinner by the only member of staff working at Maryport Marina in Maryport, Cumbria, UK, on Christmas Day.

In fact, I think Phil, Mic and I were the only three people in the marina on December 25 as the other liveaboards had gone to stay with family or friends ashore and I didn’t see anyone else visit their boats that day.

That said, I think I would’ve been more surprised if they had.

The weather was truly awful so not really conducive to messing about on a boat – unless it also happens to be your home J

It started raining around lunchtime on Christmas Eve and continued throughout Christmas Day, with high winds for much of the festive period.

Waves crashing onto the beach at Maryport on Christmas Eve

We took a walk around to the shore on Christmas Eve to see the huge crashing waves that were being whipped up by the strong winds and Phil took a tumble when his feet slid out from under him on the pier. Thankfully, he only hurt his elbow, which was bruised and swollen, but already seems to be on the mend.

I didn’t even realise he’d fallen until I met up with him afterwards as he’d been chatting to fishermen on the end of the pier while I was down on the beach taking photos.

I thought he’d just bent down to pick something up when I snapped a photo of him bent double halfway along the pier and later discovered that he had actually been picking himself up off the floor.

Phil bent over on Maryport pier

That evening, we lost the power to all the sockets onboard several times as a fuse kept blowing and Phil had to reset it.

Initially, we couldn’t work out why this was happening, but later discovered that the fairy lights on the outside of the boat seemed to be causing the problem so we left them off for the night.

Overnight on Christmas Eve and into Christmas morning, we had frequent wind speeds of 30mph with gusts of up to 40mph. The boat was rocking well, the mooring ropes were creaking and the water was slapping against the sides of Ravensdale’s hull.

Some of Ravensdale's colourful Christmas lights

First thing on Christmas morning, Phil went out to check the fairy lights to discover that, although the two extension leads into which they were plugged were both undercover, the rain had somehow managed to get in and one of them was full of water.

When Phil picked it up, water poured out of the end of the socket box.

Well aware that water and electricity don’t mix well, he swapped the wet extension lead for another one and both were wrapped in plastic bags before being replaced under the cover. The lights could then be switched back on and we haven’t had any further problems with fuses blowing.

My treat to myself on Christmas morning was using the onboard heads rather than traipsing up to the marina facilities, which is what I do every other day of the year - OK. Yes, I know that is way too much information, but it is part of our experience of living on a boat J

Only using the onboard heads for emergencies means the holding tank lasts so much longer before it needs emptying.

I’m sure plenty of people will think me crazy for this, but most of the time I actually enjoy the extra exercise provided by the round trip of more than 300 steps to the marina facilities to answer a call of nature.

However, I really didn’t want to venture out on Christmas morning in the wind and rain so I stayed at home J

Ravensdale on the left and the ramp leading up to the marina facilities far right

Cooking Christmas dinner in our little oven with a three-ring hob was a bit of a challenge again this year.

The vegetables were prepared Christmas Eve to save work on Christmas morning.

I also typed out a list of timings to ensure we were making the best possible use of the limited cooking facilities and that the various elements of the meal were ready at the right times.

Thankfully it worked J

Christmas dinner for three on Ravensdale

The only problem being that we ate too much three bird roast, roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sprouts, bread sauce, cranberry jelly and gravy, leaving no room for the Christmas pudding with brandy butter and cream.

We spent most of the day indoors, eating and watching Christmas TV only venturing out later in the day when the wind and rain started to ease off a bit.

We were delighted to discover that the sun was shining when we got up on Boxing Day so we went out to try to walk off some of the excesses of the previous day.

It was good to be able to get out again even if it was pretty cold and Phil had to grit the pontoon that night when ice started to form on the surface.

The weather stayed dry and bright until today (Friday). It is now a bit warmer but it's raining again with more forecast over the next few days.

Meanwhile, we saw an unusual sunset on Wednesday evening when there were three beams of pinkish red light shining up into the sky to the north-east of us, which didn’t seem to make much sense, given that the sun sets in the west.

Pinkish red rays of light stretch up into the sky

The magpie duck returns to Maryport Marina

We were also pleased to see that the magpie duck has been back in the marina again over the past couple of days. For a little while there, I had a horrible feeling it might have ended up as someone’s Christmas dinner.

New Year is going to be an equally quiet affair for us as we will be seeing in 2018 on Ravensdale.

However, the weather is going to be anything but quiet again with wind speeds of up to 45mph and gusts of up to 60mph forecast for New Year's Eve.


Below are some of the photos I took while out for a walk in the area around the marina on Boxing Day.

View along the shore from Maryport looking towards Flimby

Maryport Lighthouse

Another view along the beach from Maryport towards Flimby

The entrance to Maryport Harbour

Maryport Lighthouse with the town in the background

Maryport Marina

Reflections in the still water at Maryport Marina

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.