Our first trip out on the water this year after almost two months stuck in the marina

Ravensdale leaving Maryport early yesterday (Friday) morning

A brief weather window provided an opportunity to take Ravensdale out on the water yesterday (Friday) for the first time this year.

High winds have plagued this part of the UK for much of the past eight weeks and we had very high winds here in Maryport, Cumbria, again today (Saturday).

But yesterday was much calmer so I took the day off work and we headed out onto the Solway Firth for a fishing trip.

Meanwhile, I checked our records to discover that we took Ravensdale out on the water 37 times during 2019 – an average of once every 9.8 days – not quite the once a week we aim for but not too far off either 😊


First fishing trip of the year

Calm conditions at Maryport Marina when we got up yesterday (Friday) morning

The weather has been either wet or windy – usually both - most of the time for weeks, which has stopped us getting out on the water on our 43ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser since November 18.

Over the past week, I could see that the only chance of weather calm enough for a trip out looked likely to be on Friday, but I’m currently working five days a week.

By Thursday, it became obvious that it was probably our only opportunity for at least another week, so I asked my boss for the day off.

When I first started my seasonal job at the factory she said she didn’t mind if I wanted to go out on the boat instead of going to work so I said we’d check the weather in the morning and let her know whether I’d be in or not.

I packed up all the movable stuff inside the boat on Thursday evening, so we’d be ready for a quick getaway if we decided to go.

Yesterday (Friday) morning, we got up at the same time I usually get up for work and I started getting ready while Phil went around to the pier to check the sea state. It was still dark, but he thought it looked OK.

We ate breakfast, fed Ruby and took her out then both went to check the sea in daylight. It wasn’t as calm as we’d hoped but not too bad, so we decided to go anyway.

I messaged my boss to say I was going fishing instead of going to work and she said she hoped we had a good time.

I really can’t believe I have a job, albeit temporary, that allows me to take the day off to go out on the boat if the weather is nice 😊

Ravensdale leaving Maryport Marina yesterday (Friday) morning

We left the marina at around 9.20am and headed up the coast towards Allonby Bay.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport Basin and heading out onto the Solway Firth

As we hadn’t run the engines for a while, Phil took the speed a little higher than our usual cruising speed of 8-9 knots and ran the engines at speeds of up to 11.4kn on the way there.

Phil at the helm of Ravensdale

Ravensdale on her way to Phil's favourite fishing spot in Allonby Bay

Ravensdale's wake with Maryport in the distance

We dropped anchor and Phil set up three fishing rods in the hope of catching one of the larger cod that we’ve seen fishermen catching from the shore in this area in recent weeks.

Sadly, it was not to be.

Phil setting up his fishing rods

The water was bumpier than we’d hoped, but I guess it wasn’t really surprising given that it had been very windy on Thursday

Strong winds were also forecast for later yesterday afternoon, throughout the night and into today (Saturday), when the winds were expected to gust up to around 60mph.

The wind started to get up soon after we’d dropped anchor, but Phil persevered with the fishing for a while.

Phil with the codling he caught on this trip

Me enjoying being back out on the water

It seemed like ages before he even got a bite and the only fish he caught on this trip was one codling, which was thankfully big enough to keep and we ate it for supper with chips, peas and tartare sauce 😊

Ruby seemed quite happy in her cage so we left her there as she wouldn’t really have enjoyed staggering around the deck.

I always set an alarm on my phone for an hour before the marina gate is due to close, as it’s only open for about two and half hours either side of high tide.

However, we didn’t wait until the alarm went off to start packing up.

Ravensdale became stuck across the tide when it turned as the wind was too strong to allow her to swing around to face into the tide.

Phil's last cast before we packed up to go home

She was rolling a good bit and the wind was forecast to get stronger still, so we decided to stop fishing, lift the anchor and head for home.

Phil at the helm of Ravensdale on the way home

Ravensdale returning to Maryport

And we were back in the marina at around midday after just over two and a half hours out on the Solway Firth.

As we’d been meaning to top up Ravensdale’s diesel tank for some time, but the weather hadn’t been good, we decided to fill her up on the way back to our mooring.

Ravensdale heading back into Maryport Marina

Phil stopped her in the basin on the way back to the marina so I could put mooring ropes on her starboard side and move some of the fenders across as we usually moor up on the port side, but the fuel filling cap is on the opposite side.

Reg filling up Ravensdale's diesel tank while Phil chats to Evan

Reg, the marina foreman, met us on the fuel pontoon and put 370 litres of diesel into the tank which topped her 1,200-litre tank back up to full again.

Phil then drove Ravensdale back down to the end of the marina by the sea gate and turned her around there so we could return to our current mooring and tie up on the port side, facing into the prevailing wind.

While he was doing this, I moved the mooring ropes and fenders back across and Reg met us on the pontoon to catch the ropes for us.

It may not have been the most successful fishing trip ever, but it was good to get out on the water again after so long, it gave Ravensdale’s two 300hp Volvo Penta engines a run and it provided our supper 😊


Missed opportunity

Ravensdale (left) at Maryport Marina on New Year's Eve. Photo by Fred Bell

New Year’s Eve was a beautiful, calm and cold day and one of the few days in the past couple of months that we could’ve taken a trip out.

Many of the boats in the marina went out for a sail or to fish, but Ravensdale was stuck in the marina because I was at work.

When I saw the forecast, I considered asking my boss for the day off as she’d always said she didn’t mind it I wanted to go fishing instead of going to work.

However, I decided to work as I didn’t know how much longer my seasonal job would last and I wanted to put in as much time as I could while I had the chance.

I’m still glad I made the decision I made.

However, it was harder to believe I’d made the right choice when I saw a Facebook post of our boat in the marina with a clear blue sky and flat calm water while I was sat in a factory with no windows eating my packed lunch ☹ 


Our fourth New Year on Ravensdale

Ravensdale's Christmas decorations stayed up until Saturday, January 4

We saw in the New Year on Ravensdale with a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates and Netflix.

I’m sure it’s not everyone’s idea of celebrating the start of a new year and, in this case, a new decade, but it suited us just fine.

It also meant I got to see in the New Year with Ruby even if she did fall asleep long before the big event.

At the end of each year, I always wonder what we’ll be doing this time next year.

When I asked myself that question on New Year’s Eve 2015, I had no idea we’d be selling our house and buying a boat, which enabled me to retire from my job as a daily journalist in October of the following year.

On each subsequent New Year’s Eve, I’ve wondered if we’ll still be living on Ravensdale next year and, if so, where she’ll be moored.

I certainly never imagined that we’d still be at Maryport Marina more than four years after we bought our boat here and decided to “stay for a while before moving on”.

And, this time last year, I never even considered that I’d be working in a local factory and loving every minute of it.

Now I’m wondering if we’ll still be in Maryport this time next year.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…


Ruby of Ravensdale

Ruby in her favourite spot in Ravensdale's saloon

One of the highlights of last year for me was watching Ruby grow from the timid little puppy we brought home with us just before Christmas 2018 into the beautiful, loving, friendly dog she is today.

I really can’t imagine life without her now. She’s great company, so much fun and I love her to bits.

She’s been having some lovely walks and runs on the beach with Phil while I’ve been at work and I’ve enjoyed joining them on walks at the weekend.

Ruby playing with Ted, a cocker spaniel, we met while out walking

Swan family

The two adult swans and one cygnet on a recent visit to the marina

The swan family appear to have lost a cygnet.

There were two adults and two young ones but there has only been one cygnet with its parents on recent visits to the marina.

Phil tells me he saw the cygnets with their parents on the Solway Firth shortly before Christmas, but there hasn’t been any sign of it since, which is very sad.


In the news

The newspaper cutting about my fund-raising effort for Maryport Inshore Rescue

My fund-raising effort for Maryport Inshore Rescue made it into our local newspaper - the Times and and Star.

The photo of me handing over the £1,120 cheque to the team was printed along with an article stating that it had helped to pay for repairs to the rescue boat after it was damaged while rescuing a fishing boat in the Solway Firth last month.

I have to say, it seemed really weird appearing in a newspaper rather than writing it 😊 


Photography

Looking back at Maryport as we headed out onto the Solway Firth yesterday (Friday)

I haven’t had a lot of chance to take photos again, partly due to work but also due to the horrible weather when I have been at home.

I took a few photos around the harbour with my mobile phone on the Friday afternoon after Christmas.

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour at high tide

Maryport Harbour

Another view of Maryport Harbour

Fishing boats reflected in the still water at Maryport Harbour

I grabbed a quick shot of the beautiful sunrise that I spotted out of the window while getting ready for work on Friday, January 3.

Sunrise over Maryport Marina on Friday, January 3

As usual, I took some quite a few photos while we were out on the Solway Firth yesterday (Friday).

Maryport Lighthouse

Sun breaking through stormy clouds

Maryport Basin

Maryport from the Solway Firth

Sun reflected in the Solway Firth

And I took my camera around to the shore around high tide today (Saturday) to capture the big waves whipped up by the high winds.

Big waves smashing against South Pier at Maryport

Wild water on the shore at Maryport

A huge wave crashing onto the shore at Maryport

Another big wave rolls along the pier

Weather watch

The windswept view from Maryport's South Pier at high tide today (Saturday)

Wind and rain have definitely been the predominant features of the weather over the past fortnight - followed by more wind and more rain.

I’m told there were occasional breaks in the clouds when the sun put in a brief appearance, but I didn’t get to witness these ☹

The worst of the weather was over the weekend of December 27-28 and Thursday, January 2 when the wind was gusting up to 44mph. There was also a lot of heavy rain.

On Monday, January 6 and Tuesday, January 7, we had high winds with gusts of up to 50mph with torrential rain at times.

Overnight Tuesday, January 7 into Wednesday, January 8 was a windy night with average wind speeds of up to 25mph, gusting 34mph.

One of the best days was New Year’s Eve when temperatures dropped to 0C (32F) in the early morning and there was frost on the pontoons first thing.

This was followed by a dry, bright, calm and cold day.

The top temperature was 7C (45F) and the top average wind speed was 16mph at St Bees Head – our nearest weather station - but it was definitely much calmer than that here.

And yesterday (Friday) it was dry, cloudy and calm first thing.

The wind got up as the morning went on and the sun came out for a while around lunchtime.

The wind continued to build during the afternoon and evening with heavy rain after dark.

The top temperature was 7C (45F) and the top average wind speed during the day was 24mph, gusting 33mph.

Overnight last night, the wind speed reached 34mph with gusts of up to 49mph and today (Saturday) was even windier with average wind speeds up to 40mph, gusting 56mph.

Me wearing my lifejacket on the pontoons during a period of high wind today (Saturday)

It was so windy that we put on our lifejackets every time we left Ravensdale and went out onto the pontoons.

As the wind began to subside late afternoon, we had a downpour of heavy rain.

Engine problems strike as Ravensdale gets ready for Christmas

Ravensdale decorated with 1,900 flashing Christmas lights

Ravensdale is all dressed up ready for our third Christmas in our floating home at Maryport, Cumbria, UK.

However, before we could really settle down to looking forward to the festive season, we planned to move our 43ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser to a different berth while our marina was drained down for maintenance work today (Friday).

Sadly, this wasn’t possible due to last-minute engine problems.

Earlier this week, before we were aware of the engine problems, Phil carried out a couple of small unrelated maintenance jobs on Ravensdale.

And we’ve bought a new salt bin and a big bag of rock salt which was used to treat the frosty pontoons for the first time this morning (Friday).

Our Christmas decorations are up 😊

Ravensdale's Christmas lights reflected in the still water at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK

Decorating Ravensdale with Christmas lights is one of the delights of the festive season.

When we lived in a house, I wouldn’t have even considered covering the outside of our home with bright, flashing lights. That was something other people did and, if I’m honest, I considered it a bit tacky.

However, as soon as we moved onto the boat, my attitude changed – totally 😊

Now, the brighter and more OTT our Christmas decorations are the better I like them.

It’s such a cheerful sight on a dark, miserable night and even prettier when the water’s still and the lights are reflected giving us twice as many decorations for our money.

Another view of Ravensdale's Christmas lights

Last year, we had a lot of trouble with the outdoor lights going out and decided it was probably due to the horrible, wet weather we had over the festive season.

Obviously, we’d bought lights that were suitable for outdoor use, but it seemed the conditions were more than they could handle, and we had to replace several strings as they went out.

We’ve bought even more lights this year – two new strings of 700 LED bulbs along with 500 from last year giving us a total of 1,900 multi-coloured, flashing lights - and we’re really hoping they’ll last us through the Christmas period.

On Tuesday, we set about attaching the new lights around the guardrail, the radar arch, up the bimini frame and over the aft deck using an awful lot of cable ties.

Lights across Ravensdale's bimini frame and across her aft deck

We also strung lights along the top of the hull, around the flybridge and from the flybridge down to Ravensdale’s bow.

As soon as we’d finished, I went up onto the road around the marina to get some photos of our boat reflected in the still water and was really pleased with the result.

And I'm hoping to finish putting up the Christmas decorations inside our boat over the weekend.

Marina drain down

A couple of weeks ago, we received an email from our marina saying they would be allowing the water to drain down today (Friday).

It explained that this was necessary to allow silt and debris to be cleared from the bottom of the slipway.

The marina gate which holds water in the marina when the basin outside the marina dries out at low tide, would normally have been closed at 05:57 this morning.

Maryport Marina gate closed to hold water in the marina when the basin dries out

Instead, the gate was left open to allow the marina to drain down as the tide went out.

The gate is usually closed when there’s 2.4m of water above the sill so leaving it open reduced the depth of water in the marina by that amount.

The depth in our current berth is just 1.7m below our keel when the gate’s closed so we knew we would definitely end up sitting in the soft mud at the bottom of the marina.

We were a bit concerned about how this would affect our boat as her propellers and rudders are lower than the keel, so we asked if there was anywhere deeper in the marina and, if so, whether we could move to that spot until the water level came up again.

Photo taken while antifouling shows the relative positions of Ravensdale's props, rudders and keel

The marina foreman and another member of staff took depth readings around the marina on Wednesday morning and told us we could get an extra 0.3m by moving to a mooring close to the ramp from the marina facilities down onto the pontoons.

This wouldn’t be enough to keep us afloat, but it would mean less of our boat would be sitting in the mud, so we decided to move there while the work was carried out.

Ravensdale in her current mooring

The cruiser near the ramp is now on the hard standing so we were planning to move to that spot

We got ready to do it yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and Phil started the engines in preparation for the move.

However, the port engine was really noisy, and Phil noticed that there was no water coming out of the exhaust pipe on that side.

He turned the engines off and went down to check them but, as he lifted the steps that provide access to the engine room, smoke came billowing out around them and he couldn’t even see into the engine room.

He discovered that the exhaust elbow had come off the flange where it joins the turbocharger, which meant we couldn’t move to the deeper berth.

The exhaust elbow on Ravensdale's port engine before it became detached from the turbocharger 

Instead, we had to stay where we were and hope that everything would be OK when the water level dropped.

We could've done without the problem with the exhaust elbow but, if it had to happen, we were very glad it happened while we were in our home marina rather than while we were away from home or anchored out.

The slipway clearance work was carried out around low water, which was at 09:35 this morning.

However, we set an alarm for considerably earlier than usual to make sure we would be up and about as the water level started to drop in case we needed to adjust our ropes when the boat sank into the mud.

Ravensdale's depth sounder just before she settled on the mud

Phil slackened off the bow and stern lines a little, which was all that was needed when our boat sat on the bottom.

The strangest thing was all the bubbles rising up to the surface of the water from the mud below.

We could hear them coming up under the boat then working their way out from under her hull.

We'd expected the mud to stink as happened when the gate cable broke and the water level dropped right down in January of last year, but the smell was nowhere near as bad this time - possibly because it was a very cold morning.

The sill became visible when the marina gate was left open at low tide 

Pontoon piles towering above Ravensdale and the seaweed on the wall shows the normal water level

The pontoons along the harbour wall ended up as an undulating walkway because some sections were sitting on high patches of mud.

At low tide, a digger scraped the mud away from the bottom of the marina slipway and spread it out around the surrounding area.

A digger clearing mud from the bottom of the marina slipway

Another view of the digger clearing mud from the slipway

And, as the tide came back in, the water level returned to normal by around 13:21, which was the time the marina gate would have been opened had it not been left open since the previous tide.

The marina warning notice recommended that all boat owners should check their intake strainers before starting their engines after the drain down and we will definitely be doing this before starting Ravensdale’s engines.

But before we can even think about starting her port engine again, we need to get the exhaust elbow fixed.

Phil's planning to remove it asap and take it to someone who we’re hoping will be able to weld it for us.

Boat jobs

Phil cleaning the gypsy on Ravensdale's windlass

Cleaning and greasing the gypsy – the chain handling wheel - on Ravensdale’s windlass is one of the jobs that Phil has done on the boat this week.

Ravensdale's chain locker in the forecabin

He removed the wheel, rubbed it down with very fine emery paper then cleaned it off with cycle disc brake cleaner and regreased it with a thin coating of grease.

It now runs a lot more smoothly than it did.

This task ended up taking longer than it should’ve done when he accidentally dropped one of the nuts and bolts into the chain locker, but at least it made a change from him dropping things in the water 😊

He went down into the forecabin and removed the chain locker cover hoping it would be easily visible but very much doubting that would be the case.

Sadly, it was nowhere to be seen and he had to pull all 55m of chain out onto a towel on one of the V-berths to find the bolt before piling all the chain back in again.

Another job that needed attention was Ravensdale’s starboard windscreen wiper.

Phil repairing Ravensdale's starboard windscreen wiper

The nut holding the wiper blade to the arm sheared off just as we were about to take Ravensdale out on the water last week.

We were still able to go as the most important wiper is the one in front of the helm on the port side, which was working just fine.

And, it turned out that we didn’t need that one on our latest trip out either as there was no rain and we didn’t get any spray thrown up over the windscreen.


New salt bin

Our new salt bin

During the previous two winters on our boat in Maryport, the marina has given us a tin of rock salt to treat the pontoon around our boat when it gets icy.

We were offered the tin again this year, but it’s very small and was looking rather rusty.

So, we decided to buy a proper salt bin and a bag of rock salt, so we’d have plenty to use when the weather gets really cold.

Phil has only had to salt the pontoon twice so far this year before we bought our new bin and filled it up.

And this morning (Friday) he used the salt from our new bin as the pontoons were very slippery when we got up early in preparation for the marina drain down.

Photography

Last Friday, storm conditions coincided with a high tide here in Maryport, Cumbria, UK.

Large waves battering Maryport pier during storm conditions last Friday

Spray being blown across Maryport pier by high winds

Giant waves crashing onto Maryport Promenade

A black and white conversion of big waves rolling onto the shore at Maryport

A towering wave whipped up by high winds alongside Maryport Promenade

Me taking storm photos on Maryport Promenade

Such conditions usually make for some dramatic photographs on the shore and along the promenade, so I just had to take my camera out to see what I could get. I later converted some of these images to black and white.

I had no idea that, while I was braving the spray to take photos on the promenade, someone else was taking a photograph of me.

The first I knew about it was when I saw it on Facebook later the same day.

I’ve also taken my camera out for walks along the shore and around the harbour here in Maryport.

On Sunday, while photographing the harbour, I also got a few shots of Maryport Inshore Rescue crew launching their boat for a training exercise.

And I couldn't resist a few shots of Maryport's Christmas lights even though I forgot to take my camera when I walked up to town on Saturday so had to take them with my phone.

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour at high tide

Christmas lights in Senhouse Street, Maryport

Christmas lights on The Lifeboat Inn at Maryport

Fishing boats in Maryport Harbour at high tide

More boats in Maryport Harbour

A Maryport trawler setting off on a fishing trip

Maryport Inshore Rescue crew launching their rescue boat

The inshore rescue boat in Maryport Basin

The shore at Maryport

Looking in the opposite direction along Maryport shore towards Iggesund paperboard factory

Yesterday (Thursday) morning I looked out of the window soon after waking to discover a beautiful sunrise but it was too late to go out and photograph it so I grabbed a quick shot out of the window.

Sunrise over Maryport Marina yesterday (Thursday) morning

Swan family

The cygnets demanding food at the pontoon by Ravensdale

The swan family is still pestering anyone and everyone for food.

As usual, they’ve been paying regular visits to Ravensdale expecting to be fed.

I also saw them being fed from the back of a fishing boat in the harbour on Sunday.

I then saw them hanging around Venture West charter boat. I guess they were hoping the owner, Glyn, would be on board as he’s previously said he feeds them when they knock on his boat.

The swan family being fed in Maryport Harbour on Sunday

Floating swan and duck food

The swans are eating a lot of food at the moment, so it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss when I got an email from the supplier of the food we give them advertising a 12% discount for one day only.

The floating swan and duck food we buy costs £22.59 for a 12.55kg bag.

I put a bag in the online basket and used the voucher code to get 12% off.

Normally, I don’t pay for delivery because the order is over £20 but the 12% reduction took the order value down to £19.88 which meant I would have to pay £3.95 postage and packing. This took the total cost up to £23.83 - £1.24 more than it would normally cost us.

Needless to say, I didn’t go ahead with the order 😊

Weather watch

The weather over the past week started very windy, but it quietened down on Monday and remained relatively calm for the rest of the week.

Last Friday was a particularly windy day but at least it didn’t rain.

Stormy weather along Maryport promenade on Friday

The top daytime temperature was 7.6C (46F) and the average wind speed reached 36mph, gusting 49mph.

Overnight Friday/Saturday was very windy, with the average wind speed peaking at 47mph with gusts of up to 60mph.

Saturday started cloudy and very windy but dry and fairly bright. It started raining soon after midday. The average wind speed dropped to 22mph, gusting 30mph, by sunset. The highest temperature during the day was 8.4C (47F).

Sunshine at Maryport Marina on Saturday morning

Overnight Saturday into Sunday was another fairly windy night, with a top average wind speed of 32mph, gusting 45mph.

It was dry, bright and sunny all day on Sunday with a few clouds. The temperature reached 7.1C (45F) and the top average wind speed was 22mph, gusting 29mph.

Monday started dry, bright and calm with dampness in the air.

Sun breaking through the clouds at Maryport Marina on Monday

It was cloudy all day with very little wind. The top temperature was 7.6C (46F) and the average wind speed peaked at 9mph, but it was considerably lower for most of the day.

Tuesday was cloudy but dry and fairly calm. The top temperature was 8C (46F) and the highest average wind speed recorded at our nearest weather station at St Bees Head was 21mph, but it certainly didn’t seem that windy here.

Wednesday was dry and bright with a mixture of sunshine and cloud and it got pretty cold during the evening.

Sunshine and cloud at Maryport Marina on Wednesday

The daytime temperature reached 7C (45F) and the top average wind speed recorded locally was 28mph, gusting 38mph, but it seemed less here.

Yesterday (Thursday) was dry, bright, windier than recent days and pretty chilly.

The temperature only reached 3.7C (39F) and the top average wind speed at St Bees Head was 33mph, gusting 48mph, but it was nowhere near that high here.

Last night was very cold with temperatures falling to 0.7C (33F) and we awoke to frosty pontoons.

Calm conditions at Maryport Marina at sunrise this morning (Friday)

And the weather today (Friday) was sunny and very cold with a top temperature of just 2.5C (36.5F). Average wind speeds reached 29mph, gusting 36mph, at St Bees Head, but it was a good bit less than that here.