Anniversary of the life-changing decision to sell our house and buy a boat

Ravensdale returning to Maryport on Monday. Photo by Ronnie Bell

Two years ago this week we were on a boat-finding mission.

We were in the process of selling our house in Scotland to buy another when we lost the property we were hoping to buy and there was nothing else suitable on the market in the area.

From time to time, we’d considered selling our house and buying a boat and this situation presented us with the opportunity to take the plunge.

I’d already booked a week off work, so we gave ourselves one week to find a boat that we wanted to live on.

The plan being that, if we couldn’t find a suitable boat, we'd pull out of the sale and keep our house.

Thankfully we did find the boat we wanted – a Neptunus 133 at Maryport in Cumbria – two years ago tomorrow (Saturday).

I’m also very glad we were brave enough to go through with one of the scariest decisions we’ve ever had to make.

And, two years on, we’re very happy living on board our 43ft seagoing cruiser - now called Ravensdale.

Our cosy floating home

This week we’ve taken her out fishing on the Solway Firth twice and there really is nothing to compare with bobbing around on the waves in our home 😊

A momentous decision

“So, do we do it or not?

“Now is the time to say if you want to keep the house.”

These were the words Phil said the morning we were due to sign the papers at the solicitors that would mean we were committed to the sale of our last house.

The house we sold to buy our boat, which we named after this road

We were also going to make a firm offer on the boat we’d chosen the same day.

To say it was scary would be an understatement.

I loved Ravensdale – then called Candlelight – when we saw her for the first time on August 18, 2016, but we would no longer have a shore-based home.

The first time we saw Ravensdale - then called Candlelight

I couldn’t help thinking the sensible and responsible thing to do would be to cancel the sale of our house and stay put but that was also the boring option and I was ready for a new adventure.

A big part of the deal, from my point of view, was that selling the house and buying a boat meant I could take early retirement from my job as a journalist on a regional daily paper. I really don’t know to what extent this affected my decision, but it obviously played a part.

Me interviewing Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon just months before our big decision

I thought about Phil’s question, took a deep breath, then said: “I want to do it if you’re sure it’s what you want too.”

He agreed and the decision was made – there was no turning back.

The process that followed was anything but simple and I will confess there were odd moments, usually in the early hours of the morning, when I wondered if we were doing the right thing.

Me loving my life afloat

But, looking back, I’m very glad I didn’t chicken out on one of the biggest decisions of our lives.

I was thinking about this while sitting on the foredeck of Ravensdale on our latest fishing trip.

We were enjoying a cup of tea in the sunshine while the boat was being gently rocked around by the waves.

My thought process went something like this.

“So, would you rather be sat in an office working your socks off with no clue what time you’d get home this evening or sat here doing this?”

I didn’t even have to think about the answer to that one. It was a no-brainer.

I’m definitely happier where I am, doing what I’m doing now than I had been for a very long time before we started our life afloat in November 2016.

Here is a link to the first post I wrote after we moved on board Ravensdale - Mad or what?

I called it “Mad or what?” partly because I wasn’t sure of the answer to that one myself at the time and partly because I’m sure most the people we told of our plans thought we were totally bonkers 😊

Two fishing trips in three days

Saturday’s outing

The past week has been a very good week in that we were able to take Ravensdale out to play on the Solway Firth twice over a three-day period.

The first outing was on Saturday.

I regularly check the forecast looking for the next opportunity to get out on the water and Saturday looked like the only chance we were going to get this week, so we decided to go for it.

As expected, we weren’t the only ones to think it was a good day for a trip out and several other boats from our marina were also out on the Solway Firth, which is always nice - not least because it gives me something else to photograph 😊

We left the marina soon after 10am and headed for our usual fishing spot.

Ravensdale following yacht Sea Otter out between Maryport's twin piers

Phil set up both his uptide rods – one baited with a hardback crab, which had been trapped in our prawn pot, in the hope of catching smooth-hounds and the other with bluey.

Phil baiting a hook with a hardback crab

Nothing showed any interest in the crab so, after about an hour, Phil but bluey on that line too.

He caught two tope and two dogfish.

We didn’t weigh either of the tope, but one was a reasonable size and the other was a bit smaller. The dogfish are of no interest to us. All were returned to the sea.

The larger of the two tope Phil caught on this trip

We set off home a bit earlier than we’d intended when the wind blew up and Phil decided to give the engines a bit of a blast.

He took them up to 1700 revs, which gave us about 12-13 knots into the tide.

The high water alarm went off while Phil was driving back to Maryport.

I went to check the engine room bilges but there was no sign of high water.

Phil explained that it was a small amount of water being rocked around, which is why it went off briefly a couple of times but didn’t stay on. Oh well, at least we now know it works 😊

Ravensdale returning to Maryport

We returned to the marina at 12.45pm when the average wind speed recorded locally was 16mph.

Monday’s trip out to sea

We really hadn’t expected another opportunity to go fishing this week.

The forecast for Monday was reasonable but there was still a good wind blowing when we got up on Monday morning.

We decided to stay put and set about some of the jobs we wanted to get done.

Maryport Marina launderette

I took the washing up to the marina’s launderette before breakfast.

After we’d eaten, Phil cleared the saloon and removed the carpet and seating on the starboard side while I went back up to the launderette to move our laundry from a washing machine into one of the tumble dryers.

I then helped Phil lift the saloon floor ready for him to drain the water/antifreeze mixture from that engine. The plan was to replace it with a new mix as he’d done on the port engine a couple of weeks ago.

It was at this point that I saw a friend heading along the pontoon towards his boat to go out fishing.

I told Phil what I’d seen and he came up on deck to see what the weather was doing.

It was almost flat calm and the marina gate was due to open very soon.

We took a snap decision to go fishing again so Phil rebuilt the saloon while I packed up all our loose belongings, made a flask of tea then dived up to the launderette to retrieve our washing even though it hadn’t been in the dryer for as long as usual.

I suppose I could’ve left it to finish but I wouldn’t dream of putting one of the two dryers out of commission for hours while we were out on the water.

As it happened, it was only 15 minutes before the dryer was due to finish and our washing was already dry (note to self – put less money in next time as I’m obviously paying for too long 😊)

We left the marina at 11.40am heading for our usual place when we passed the friend who’d caused us to make the decision to go out fishing.

Maryport from the basin as we left the marina on Monday

We spoke to him on the VHF radio and he told us he was going in search of thornback rays (AKA skate).

We asked if he minded us tagging along and he was happy for us to do that, so we dropped anchor near him and Phil put out his two uptide rods.

Sadly, while he was doing this, he discovered that the top 14 inches of one of his rods was broken and it snapped right off.

He put it out anyway and, ironically, all three thornback rays he landed that day were caught on the broken rod, so it was a good job he decided to carry on using it. He also caught three dogfish.

Phil with the biggest ray he caught that day on the broken rod behind him

We didn’t weigh any of the fish he caught but the largest ray was probably around 4lb.

Another of the rays caught on the broken rod

He’s mended the broken rod by putting a new top ring on the end, but we’ll probably buy a new one, and keep the repaired one, which is now much shorter than it should be, as a spare.

We ate our lunch while out at sea and it still strikes me as weird that it’s just the same as eating in the marina as our home goes wherever we go 😊

The wind was supposed to decrease further while we were out on the water but, as usual, it went the other way and, once again, we got stuck across the tide when it turned so we got a very rocky ride.

We stayed for a while as the fishing was good then headed home a little earlier than was needed to get back before the marina gate closed.

Returning to Maryport after our fishing trip

We were back in the marina at 3.20pm having done a round-trip of eight nautical miles.

Phil marked the location on the Navionics chart so we can return there another day.

I later checked the wind speed to discover that it was 8mph to 16mph while we were out on the Solway.

Changing the antifreeze

Last month, Phil changed the antifreeze and water in Ravensdale’s port engine.

And, this month, he decided to give the starboard engine the same treatment.

Phil trying to get to the drain plug for the heat exchanger on the starboard engine

However, this one was more difficult as it was hard to get to one of the drain plugs at the bottom of the heat exchanger.

The plug for the port engine is in the alley down the centre of the engine room between Ravensdale’s twin 300hp Volvo Penta engines.

To get to the same plug on the starboard engine, he had to lower himself into the gap between the engine and the side of the hull.

It’s definitely a job for a small person, but as neither of us really fits into that category, Phil had to squeeze himself into the very confined space.

Phil pouring the new antifreeze/water mixture into the starboard engine

He managed to reach the plug, emptied out the old antifreeze/water mixture, flushed it through a few times with a hosepipe then refilled it with a new 50/50 mix.

Feeding the swans

The Maryport swan family has been paying regular visits to the marina in search of food, including on Monday while we were out on the Solway Firth.

I felt so guilty when a friend posted a video on YouTube showing the cygnets crying for food where Ravensdale is usually moored but I’m sure someone else here will have given them something to keep them going.

Me feeding the swan family

The cygnets are getting really big now and the whole family seems to be hungrier than ever.

They visit the boat more often than they did and seem to be demanding more and more food while here.

The swans gobbling up the food we give them

I checked online and it seems you can’t overfeed swans as they will stop when they’ve had enough food, so I guess it’s OK to just keep on providing it whenever they come calling.

One of the cygnets drinking from our hosepipe

And the cygnets are getting used to drinking from a dripping hosepipe. Not that long ago, they used to watch their parents but kept well back. Now they're happy to take their turn.

Kamikaze fish

One of the berth holders here had a bit of shock when he visited his yacht this week to find a dead sea trout in his aft cockpit.

The fish, which was about 2ft 6ins long and must have weighed 6-7lb, had apparently leapt into his boat.

Kamikaze sea trout that was found dead on a yacht in Maryport Marina

The area was badly stained with blood where it had obviously been trying to escape, sadly without success.

We had no idea there were sea trout in the marina as most of the fish we see here are grey mullet but I'm fairly sure I saw another close to one of the other boats here later on the day the dead one was discovered. 

Photography

Most of the photos I’ve taken this week were taken on our two fishing trips, including photos of the other boats out on the Solway Firth at the same time as us.

Bethany Sheila on the Solway Firth

Flame on the Solway Firth

Sea Otter on the Solway Firth

By the Way on the Solway Firth

And I’ve taken rather a lot of photos of the swans and cygnets 😊

One of the adult swans that visits the marina with their young

The cygnets investigate the hosepipe

I also snapped some shots of fishermen digging for lugworms on the beach when the tide was out last Friday evening.

Digging for lugworm on the beach at Maryport

Another photo of fishermen digging for lugworm on Maryport beach

And I took my camera with me when I walked up to town on Wednesday, but the weather was so horrible that I only took a few shots around the harbour.

Maryport Harbour

A different view of Maryport Harbour

My most annoying missed opportunity this week was when a beautiful rainbow appeared yesterday (Thursday) evening and I didn’t have my camera with me. By the time I got back to the boat to get my camera, the rainbow had gone ☹

Passers-by

Alena of Castletown on the Isle of Man passed Ravensdale on its way to the MPM boatyard next to the marina last Friday. It left again on Sunday.

Alena of Castletown leaving the marina

Another fishing boat, Maryport-based Alauna of Peel, arrived in the marina while we were out on the Solway Firth on Monday and is now on the hard-standing outside MPM where it's undergoing work.

Alauna on the boat hoist in the MPM boatyard

Weather watch

We’ve had a wide range of different weather conditions in Maryport again this week.

Last Friday was a day of sunshine and heavy showers, with the emphasis on heavy showers. The temperature reached 15.8C (60F). It was fairly windy by day but became more so during the evening with a top wind speed of 22mph at 8pm.

Sunny Saturday morning on the Solway Firth

Saturday started dry, bright and calm. The wind blew up around high tide at midday and the cloud increased as the day went on giving an overcast evening. The top temperature was 17.5C (63.5F) and the highest average wind speed during the day was16mph.

It rained first thing on Sunday, but the rain soon dried up and it remained dry but cloudy for most of the rest of the day. The sun was warm when it managed to break through the clouds giving a top temperature of 18C (64.5F). The average wind speed reached a high of 17mph.

Clouds over Scotland as the wind got up on the Solway Firth on Monday afternoon

Monday was mainly dry and bright. There was a slight wind first thing which dropped off just before the marina gate was due to open. The highest daytime temperature recorded locally was 17.8C (64F) and the top average wind speed was 17mph.

We had a damp start to the day on Tuesday and it remained overcast all day with regular showers and more persistent rain during the evening. The temperature reached 16.7C (62F) and the top average wind speed was 15mph.

Windy Wednesday in Maryport Harbour

It was dry but very windy on Wednesday morning becoming even windier as the day went on and it started raining at about 4pm. The highest daytime temperature recorded locally was 16.7C (62F) and the top average wind speed was 25mph, gusting 36mph.

Wednesday night into yesterday (Thursday) morning was wet and windy, followed by another very windy day with sunshine and showers. Yesterday’s temperature peaked at 16.1C (61F) and the average wind speed reached 23mph, gusting 31mph.

A torrential downpour on Thursday afternoon

So far today (Friday) the weather has been overcast, damp and blustery with the temperature reaching 14.4C (60F) and a top average wind speed of 22mph, gusting 30mph.

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