High and dry at Maryport Marina

Phil and a friend apply the new trident logo on Ravensdale's bow

Ravensdale is still high and dry almost five weeks after she was lifted out of the water for her spring beauty treatment.

We initially intended her to be out on the hand standing for about a fortnight – three weeks at most – to paint the underwater area of her hull with antifouling paint, check her anodes and to generally clean and tidy her up.

Ravensdale on stilts

But she is still on stilts, making us very glad we decided to pay for the impressive scaffolding steps that enable us to get on and off the boat while her deck is around 14ft off the ground.

The alternative would have been to climb up and down a ladder, which would have been fine for a short while, or if we were staying elsewhere while doing the work, but not great when living on board, especially if you need to visit the marina’s toilet facilities in the middle of the night!

We’re also becoming rather accustomed to life on dry land – so much so that I’m wondering if it will be a bit of a shock to the system when we end being rocked to sleep by the waves again.

Other than the lack of a toilet we can use on board (my fault for being ill so soon after the lift-out), the biggest pain is that we have no wifi on the boat.

This means going to the customer lounge every time we want to do anything online and we have been too busy to do this by day and often too tired to go over there in the evenings – hence the lack of blog posts on my part.

Anyway, we’ve been getting on with the work we wanted to do and a lot more that we didn’t plan, or in some cases even think of, before the lift out on March 24.

Phil applies rubbing compound to the port side of Ravensdale's hull

Phil has spent days using rubbing compound on the hull to remove any marks and scratches, before polishing it to make her shine.

Polishing the hull to make it shine

He is also hoping to wax the hull before Ravensdale goes back into the water.

I’ve finished off cleaning the windscreen wipers, which were proving very difficult to get bright and shiny until I bought some Brillo Pads – now there’s a blast from the past! I remember cleaning pots and pans with them as a kid and had no idea they were still in production, but apparently they are and they’re brilliant!

We bought new blades for them and they are now back in situ so we’ll be able to see while travelling in the rain, which can come in very handy given the British weather.

I also touched up any areas of antifoul and boot top line that needed tidying up and put several coats of white gloss on two strips of wood attached to the bow (I still don’t know what they do, but they certainly look better now than they did).

And I used several more grades of sandpaper on the prop shafts to make them even smoother and shinier than I had achieved with my previous attempts.

This image was taken when I started cleaning up the prop shafts

Meanwhile, Phil has sent me some photos he took when I started work on the prop shafts that I had completely forgotten he had taken.

Phil and Tony putting up the new bow logo

Phil painted the blue lines around the top of the hull and the superstructure and sprayed a second coat of paint on the propellers.

He also set about applying the new Neptunus trident logo to the bow and, as it was the first time he had done this, he was very grateful when another boat owner here – Tony – offered his assistance and asked if I had a hairdryer they could use. And between the pair of them they did a great job.

We initially planned to use thin black tape for the lines either side of the blue line around the top of the hull, as that was what had been done previously, and ordered them from the same firm that supplied the trident logo.

However, when Phil started putting them on, it quickly became apparent that it was not going to work. We had measured the tape we took off, but had not realised it covered black paint that was thicker than the tape in some places.

Applying the black vinyl tape

We considered ordering more, wider tape, but had already spent a lot of money on tape that we could now not be able to use, so we decided to buy black paint, tape the lines ourselves and paint them on and it looks much better than the tape we bought would have done.

Painting the black stripes around the top of the hull

Another little job that I decided needed doing was to clean the fenders so I took them all down onto the hard standing and painted them with Chine Shine. I then gave them a good scrub and washed them off.

They’re never going to be perfect again as they’ve discoloured a bit over the years, but they look a lot better than they did and still work so will not be replaced at this stage.

The work we intended to do has more or less gone to plan – apart from minor delays caused by my being unwell and the days we have been unable to get on as we would like outside due to high wind and/or rain.

But several things have conspired against our getting Ravensdale back into the water sooner.

We have been waiting for MPM, the boatyard at the marina, to come and put in the outlet that will give us the ability to discharge the holding tank from one of the heads while at sea.

At long last, the part of the job that had to be done while out of the water was completed yesterday. It will be completed once the tank has been pumped out when we go back in.

Also, Phil had hoped to be able to get the depth sounder on the boat working in, but this proved impossible.

And, although we found a paddle wheel on the underside of the hull, which should provide information on speed and distance to a log, there is no instrument onboard able to receive this data, so we have now bought a dual purpose depth sounder/log that will need to be fitted before we can put Ravensdale back in the water.

Meanwhile, there has been a lot of activity in the area due to a serious fire on a nearby industrial estate when a factory that makes artificial grass went up in flames on Tuesday of this week. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the building was destroyed by the fire.

The factory fire taken from our fore deck

We had a clear view of the blaze from our boat and could see flames leaping as high as nearby trees, with clouds of thick, black smoke towering above them.

Firefighters were drafted in from all over Cumbria and, at the height of the fire, there were 12 fire appliances in attendance.

Pumping water out of the marina

As the marina is fairly close by – less than half a mile – from the fire, the fire service pumped water out of the marina along a pipe that stretched all the way to the scene.

We could hear the pump running all night and it was still being used yesterday as smoke continued to rise from the fire scene. Today fire crews are packing it up ready to take it away.

Feeling blue – quite literally

All masked up while sanding the old antifoul paint

I have spent the past week feeling very blue, but not because I have been unhappy.

My face, hands, arms, neck and even my fringe really were blue from sanding the old antifoul paint on the part of the hull that is normally underwater.

I was working in a very confined space, which involved kneeling, crawling or shuffling along the gravel on my bottom (although that method of moving around proved rather too painful to do too often J)

And a lot of the time I was working above my head so the thick blue dust was falling all over me.

An old woolly hat protected all but any stray hair that managed to escape from under it and goggles and a mask saved my eyes and stopped me breathing the dust.

I spent the best part of two days underneath the boat and was really pleased to get to the end of that task, as the cramped conditions left me with aches and pains in places I had no idea you could even get them.

Phil sanding one of the rudders

Meanwhile, Phil used an angle grinder to clean up the propellers and the rudders.

He also rubbed down the painted blue lines around the hull ready for repainting.

Phil rebuilds the winch mechanism on one of the davits

And he has been working on the davits, which are used for lifting and supporting the inflatable tender at the stern. They had obviously not been used for years and were all rusty and had seized up.

Prop shaft - before and after

I scraped and sanded the two prop shafts, chipping off years of crusty deposits and barnacles before sanding them with various grades of sandpaper until they were gleaming.

And Phil undercoated the propellers.

He also finished off the work to repair the damaged exhaust manifold, which is now back in place on the starboard side of the hull.

Phil sanding his repair to one of the exhaust manifolds

We were working flat out all day every day while the weather was fine promising ourselves a day off on the first wet day – but it didn’t rain.

Eventually, we became so tired that we just had to take a day off so we decided to have a “day of rest” on Sunday (it seemed an appropriate day to choose J)

And, as if to justify our lazy day, the rain started later in the day.

We used our day off to take a trip to Whitehaven to pick up our generator, which had been in for a service. It needed attention because, although it was running OK, it wasn’t generating any power, which is a pretty serious problem for a generator – the clue is in the name J

The rest of the day was spent buying a few more things we needed for Ravensdale from Maiden Marine Chandlery at Whitehaven and having a relaxing meal out before heading home to chill out on the boat.

But we were back hard at it on Monday morning feeling a bit better for our break.

Phil has been attempting to get the trim tabs working properly. The starboard trim tab moved slightly, but the one on the port side was refusing to move at all.

He removed one of the hydraulic rams on the jammed trim tab and released it because it was all seized up inside. It can now be moved manually, but is still not working when the switch is operated. So more work is required here.

Silver patches of primer applied to prepare the hull for antifouling painting

I painted antifoul primer on the areas of the hull where there were gaps in the previous coat of antifoul, mainly where my sanding had gone right through to the gelcoat.

This left the underwater area covered with silver patches.

I also spent some time stripping black paint of the stainless steel windscreen wiper arms and polishing them up ready to be fitted with new blades and put back in place.

By Monday afternoon, it became clear that we had reached the stage where we could apply the antifoul paint the following day.

Alex applying antifoul paint to Ravensdale's starboard side

A friend who was visiting us that day volunteered his services and turned up early on Tuesday morning ready to help. Alex has done this many times before so he was really useful to have around.

Using four inch rollers on long handles, Alex painted the port side and Phil did the starboard side, while I crawled around under the boat with a brush touching up any difficult to reach areas or bits that had been missed by the rollers. I also painted the rudders.

This was a big day for us – at long last we were putting paint back on rather than taking it off and preparing for repainting. It finally felt as though we were actually getting somewhere.

Phil painting the boot top line

We have since painted the boot top line – a line of darker blue, harder antifoul along the water line.

Removing the tape

We collected the new boat logo and black vinyl tape, which we are hoping to apply very soon. The tape lines will be applied after the blue lines around the top of the hull and the top of the superstructure have been painted.

We considered paying the firm that made the Neptunus trident logo to apply it the bow, but it would cost more than the logo and they assured us that it is very simple to do. Guess we’ll soon find out whether they are right about this.

And, if it doesn’t go right the first time, we have a spare. When we went to collect it, they told us that they were able to cut two out of the same piece of vinyl so they gave us two for the price of one.

Scrubbing the deck of the fly bridge as part of its spring clean

Yesterday was spent cleaning up the fly bridge using Chine Shine, which did a fantastic job again.

It started out looking very sorry for itself and ended up quite literally shining.

I’m really looking forward to being able to go up there in the sunshine while at sea.

And the best bit is that the seats on either side of the driving seat convert into sun beds, not that I’m planning to do any sunbathing. I just think they’re pretty cool J

The clean up moves on with a vengeance

Sanding the boot top line and antifoul paint

Ravensdale’s spring beauty treatment is now well underway, thanks to some lovely dry and sunny weather.

I am now fully recovered from the dreaded lurgy that stopped me in my tracks last week and, thankfully, Phil didn’t catch it so it’s full steam ahead with work on our boat.

Painting Chine Shine onto the stern

We have continued cleaning the whole of the hull and the superstructure with an amazing product called Chine Shine, which is painted on, then left for around 15 minutes before it is washed off.

The dirtiest job I have had so far was sanding the boot top line – a line of hard antifoul paint along the water line – and the blue antifoul paint on the hull below it.

Removing the old paint ready for repainting

I was wearing a mask to stop me breathing in the blue dust and goggles to protect my eyes, but ended up covered in thick dust, leaving me looking a bit like an overgrown Smurf J

Phil applies a fibreglass repair to the broken exhaust manifold

Phil has been carrying out fibreglass repairs to the starboard exhaust manifold that was damaged during the lift-out operation.

And the one on the port side needed some minor repair where it caught on a pontoon the first time we moved the boat to pump out the holding tank.

Sanding a gelcoat repair

Phil has also been carrying out repairs to Ravensdale’s gelcoat, which is the outermost structural layer on a fibreglass boat hull, designed to protect the underlying fibreglass layer.

When it was dry, it was my job to sand it with wet and dry sandpaper starting with 400 grit, then 600, 800, 1,200 and 2,000 grit to get a smooth finish.

Phil has been carrying out a similar operation on the whole of the hull, sanding the gelcoat all over the hull sanding with 1,000 grit, then 1,500, 2,000 and finally 3,000 grit – a laborious, time-consuming job, which will hopefully provide a lovely smooth finish for polishing.

Other jobs have included running a sharp chisel over the rubber strips between the timbers on the aft deck. This was necessary because the wood had worn away creating rubber ridges, which made brushing water off the deck very difficult.

I volunteered for this job, which involved spending long periods on my knees. Initially, I was kneeling on an old seat cushion that was donated by a friend, but my task became a lot easier when we bought a pair of strap-on knee pads from Lidl.

Chiselling the black rubber strips between the aft deck timbers

Neptunus logo

We are also in the process of stripping black enamel paint off the windscreen wipers, which we had intended to repaint until we discovered they were stainless steel so we’re planning to leave them unpainted now.

We also measured up the damaged Neptunus trident graphic on Ravensdale’s bow and have asked a local firm to make a replacement, which we are told will be ready in a few days.

The weather forecast is reasonable for tomorrow so we will be back out there doing more of the same. Really hope we get a good run of fine weather now so we can get finished and back in the water asap.

We initially planned to be out for a fortnight, but it is looking as though three weeks will be needed to complete the work.

Scrubbing, scraping and sanding

Scraping the trim tabs attached to Ravensdale's stern.

The weather has not been kind to us over the past few days.

We had a couple of beautiful days of sunshine after the boat was lifted out of the water last Friday, then the wind and rain arrived making it virtually impossible to get anything done outside.

Not only did the bad weather stop us getting on, but I’ve been unable to do anything much at all since Tuesday night into Wednesday morning when I developed a truly awful stomach upset.

I won’t go into detail, but really not what you want when living on a boat (or at any other time come to that).

Meanwhile, Phil has been pushing ahead with work that needed doing inside, like fitting a servicing kit to the loo that flushes straight out into the water. Obviously, this one is only used while at sea.

He has also been trying to find out why only one of Ravensdale’s two trim tabs is working.

For the uninitiated (which included me until I did the yachtmaster offshore course), trim tabs are movable flat plates connected to the stern of a boat, used to control the angle of the boat in the water without the need for constant manual adjustment of the controls.

The Darth Vader-style mask stops me breathing the antifoul dust

I became very well acquainted with our trim tabs after spending the best part of two days scraping and sanding them before I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy.

For some reason, the port trim tab moves when the controls on the console are operated, but the starboard one refuses to budge.

The hydraulics for the trim tabs are under our bed so Phil had to wait for me to be fit enough to get up before he could get under there to have a look.

And, having done so, we are still none the wiser.

The pipes all seem to contain hydraulic fluid and the motor can be heard operating when switched on, but the starboard trim tab still refuses to budge. It seems further investigation is required.

Checking the hydraulics on the trim tabs through an inspection panel under our bed

Earlier today it was blowing a gale at a time when there was a particularly high tide so we took a trip around to the lighthouse and then out along the prom to see what the waves were doing.

And we were glad we did as we got some fairly dramatic images. The sea was like a bubbling cauldron and enormous waves were crashing against the sea walls.

Waves crashing against the sea wall at Maryport promenade

I got caught by a couple that smashed into the wall close to where I was standing while taking photos. You would think I would have moved after the first one, but I’m not that sensible when it comes to getting the photo I want J

Phil scrubbing the fore deck

Since we got back, Phil has been out cleaning and scrubbing the deck, which is now looking lovely and white. Not sure how long it will stay that way, but it’s definitely looking good for now.

He has also been sanding the starboard side of the hull using 1000 grit wet and dry sandpaper to remove some black marks.

I’m taking today off as I’m still feeling a bit under the weather and want to recover properly before I start doing any hard physical work.

Our newly-arrived radio licences

And anyway it gives me a chance to catch up on my blog.

Almost forgot to mention that our RYA short range certificates permitting us to operate VHF radios turned up in the post this week so we’re all official on that front now.

The weather is supposed to improve over the next few days so I expect we'll both be out scrubbing, scraping and sanding in earnest again very soon...

Ravensdale becomes a penthouse apartment

Ravensdale is transported up the slipway out of the marina.

The lift out went ahead as planned on Friday and our boat is now propped up on chocks on the hard standing so we can carry out work to the hull.

The view of the marina from our aft deck

Our new location with the deck about 14ft off the ground means Ravensdale has been transformed into a penthouse apartment with a spectacular view over the marina.

And the fabulous weather we have had this weekend has meant we have been able to sit out on the aft deck and enjoy the sunshine during our coffee breaks.

Phil had a nasty shock when we set off from our mooring to the pump out on the way to the slipway for the lift out.

He checked the bow thrusters before we started to move and it was working fine, but it packed up and refused to work as he was pulling out of the mooring and went to use it to move the boat away from the pontoon.

Thankfully he was able to control Ravensdale using her two engines and got around to the pump out without incident. Strangely the bow thrusters decided to work again while out the pump out, but it is something else that we will be checking while out of the water.

Phil then had to drive her towards the slipway and the marina staff used a remote control to position the boat hoist underneath the vessel.

Approaching the slipway and the waiting boat hoist

Marina staff Reg and Mick make sure Ravensdale is in the correct position on the hoist

Reg uses a remote control unit to bring Ravensdale up the slipway

Giant slings were placed under her hull and she was manoeuvred up the slipway and onto the hard standing, where the hull was pressure washed before she was placed on chocks and a wooden framework was erected to hold her upright in our current parking place.

Adam pressure washing the hull

The boat ended up much higher than we had expected and the large wooden steps he had arranged to borrow turned out to be far too short so we called in a scaffolding firm to build a set of steps, which will be considerably safer than using a ladder.

The scaffolders building a 14ft flight of steps to Ravensdale's aft deck

The scaffolding steps provide safe access to the aft deck

Unfortunately, one of the fibreglass exhaust manifolds was damaged during the lift out so Phil removed it so we could clean it up and repair it.

That was my job today.

Sanding the damaged exhaust manifold

I scraped off all the silicone sealant and muck and sanded the edges ready for repair and then reattaching it to the side of the boat. I have also been scraping the area of the hull where it was attached, but ran out of time so will be sanding that down tomorrow.

Phil removing the vinyl tape stripes from the hull

Meanwhile, Phil has been busy removing the many vinyl strips that have been used to create blue and black stripes on the hull and superstructure with a heat gun and scraper.

We have not yet decided whether to replace the stripes in the same pattern or to change them and use paint instead of tape as it should make it easier to redo in the future.

We were pleased to discover that the antifouling was in better condition than we had expected so will not have to be totally removed. Those with more experience of these things than us have told us that rubbing it down, priming any areas that need it and then painting on the new antifoul over the top.

Also, the sacrificial anodes that were put on when we first bought the boat are still in good condition so that is another job that will not need to be done this time.

We are really hoping that we can get all the work done in a fortnight as we are keen to get back in the water asap, but have accepted that we will just have to stay out as long as it takes to get the job done properly.

Not only have we been very lucky with the weather during the day since the lift out, but we have seen some fabulous sunsets, which looked even better viewed from our vantage point above the marina.

Sunset over Maryport Marina