Living the dream - anchors aweigh...

Enjoying the sunshine on Ravensdale's aft deck in the Solway Firth

It’s been another busy week on Ravensdale, including our second trip out into the Solway Firth, further boat maintenance and Phil’s birthday.

Our first outing from Maryport Marina in Cumbria on our 43ft Neptunus 133 cruiser earlier this month was exciting, but in many ways the second on Monday of this week was better.

This time the new depth sounder/log, which had to be returned to the manufacturer because it wasn’t working properly, was back in situ so we knew what speeds we were doing and we were able to check this against the GPS on the plotter.

Phil at the helm of Ravensdale at sea

Phil took Ravensdale up to about 18 knots, which felt as though we were moving through the water pretty fast, and she still had more to give, but we decided not to push her any harder as the port engine seemed to be smoking a bit at speed.

However, she seemed very happy and was smoke-free at about 8-9 knots.

We’ve spoken to a number of people who have more experience of diesel engines than us and they didn’t seem to think it was too worrying.

It has been suggested that we run the fuel tank down as much as possible before refuelling to use up the old diesel before filling her up again so that's what we are planning to do.

It was a lovely calm day, with winds of just 5-6mph, so we took the opportunity to see how the boat would behave if we put the engines in neutral and let her drift.

And we decided this was a good time to have our first cup of tea on the aft deck at sea.

Making our first cup of tea at sea while the boat rocked around on the waves

Phil enjoys his first cup of tea at sea on the aft deck

The thinking behind this was that we wanted to discover how easy it would be to fish from the boat.

It seems it would be no problem at all when there’s very little wind and we wouldn’t be going out fishing in high winds anyway.

The rev counter on the port engine, which had been refusing to work on our first trip out into the firth, worked this time as Phil had checked all the connections and got it running again.

The blown water filter gasket

He had also replaced the gasket in the port engine water filter that we discovered was totally blown and, before we bought the boat, someone had used silicone sealant to seal down the perspex inspection cover that is supposed to be removed so the filter can be checked and if necessary cleaned out after every trip out to sea.

The lid can now be easily removed and the filter checked and cleaned.

It seems crazy that someone would seal the lid down rather than paying £11 for a new gasket, but that's what they had done.

Fitting the new gasket to the water filter

Sadly we still had no idea of the depth of water while we were out as, although the depth sounder worked briefly after it returned from the manufacturer, it packed up again just before we went out.

The depth sounder (top left) registers "out" instead of the depth

We’ve now decided that there must be a problem with the “through hull” transducer. This sends a signal down to the seabed which bounces back, giving the depth reading.

In an attempt to rectify the problem without having Ravensdale lifted out of the water again, which would cost us more than £400, we decided it would be cheaper to buy an “in hull” transducer in the hope we will get a reading from that.

Phil’s in the process of fitting it as I write this, so I will provide an update on that in my next blog post.

In the meantime, Phil celebrated his birthday last week so I was faced with the near impossible task of finding something to get him as a present.

He already has just about every type of fishing rod imaginable (at least, that’s how it seems to me J) but he’d been saying he needed uptide rods so I ordered two rods and a pair of rod holders for his birthday.

Apparently uptide rods enable you to fish in reasonably shallow water, allowing you to cast fairly heavy weights away from the boat.

He seemed pleased with his present, so much so that he even went out in the rain on his birthday to fit the holders to the guard rail on either side of the bow, then tried the rods in them when the sun came out.

Phil fitting one of the new rod holders

Phil trying a rod in one of the new rod holders

However, he hadn’t had time to sort out the rest of his fishing gear before our trip out on Monday so that will be something to look forward to on our next outing.

He has been busy making up traces and we’ve managed to squeeze some frozen bait into our tiny freezer to ensure that he will be ready to fish at a moment’s notice when we decide to go out again.

I was so glad the fishing rods and holders were a success as my attempts at making him a cake were anything but. After bragging that I thought I’d sussed out the temperature controls on our little oven, his birthday cake was an unmitigated disaster.

As a change from the courgette cakes I’ve been making lately, I decided to try a coffee and walnut cake and all went well until I got it out of the oven to discover that the sides were burnt and the middle immediately sank.

My sad apology for a coffee and walnut cake

Thankfully, Phil thought it was hilarious and decided to share it with the local wildlife. He threw it overboard for the seagulls, who seemed none the worse for their birthday tea.

Oh well, they say it’s the thought that counts...

And I went out and bought a Belgian chocolate cheesecake instead (no image of that I'm afraid as we ate it before I could take a photo of it :-)).

While Ravensdale was out of the water on the hard standing earlier this year, we ordered and fitted a new trident logo to replace the existing one on the bow which was looking more than a little the worse for wear.

The only trouble was that we forgot to make a hole through the vinyl logo to allow the anchor chain locker to drain.

So, while we were moving the boat across onto the adjoining pontoon to enable Phil to clean the starboard side of the hull, I suggested this would be a good opportunity to pull the bow around to within reach of the pontoon to pierce the vinyl.

Poor Ravensdale looked a bit sad moored at 45 degrees to the pontoon and I’m sure passers by must’ve thought we were really bad at parking our boat, but it did the trick.

Ravensdale moored at a crazy angle so we could get to the bow

Ravensdale moored at an angle to the pontoon

Ravensdale's chain locker empties into the marina

Phil then used a hot soldering iron to make a neat hole and, immediately he pierced the vinyl, a steady stream of water started pouring out.

And it kept running for such a long time that I can only think it wouldn’t have been long before it would’ve started pouring out onto the bunks in the fore cabin where the internal access to the chain locker is situated.

We also decided it would be a good idea to try dropping the anchor in the marina before we needed to do so at sea, just to make sure that the winch was working properly after Phil replaced the switch and that it would lift the anchor.

Ravensdale drops anchor for the first time

And it was a very good job we did...

Only about 10m of the 55m chain came out when he dropped the anchor and he had to inspect the chain locker to see what was happening.

The main problem here being that, lack of storage space has meant a number of homeless boxes of stuff and various other items had been “temporarily” placed on the bunks in the forward cabin.

These all had to be removed before he could get to the chain locker to discover that the chain was tangled up. He untangled it and the rest of the chain slid out into the water.

And, thankfully, the winch brought the chain and anchor back in again, but the chain needed hosing down as it went back in as it was very dirty after being sat in the mud at the bottom of the marina.

Washing the anchor after we tested it by dropping it in the marina

This little exercise taught us another lesson. We need unhindered access to the chain locker hatch while at sea.

If we’d been dropping the anchor in a rough sea, we would’ve had a terrible job on our hands moving all our stuff out of the cabin while the boat was being tossed around by the waves.

So we sorted all the stuff we had pulled out before putting it back to decide what we didn’t really need on the boat and anything that was considered unnecessary on board was taken to the storage facility we use near Cockermouth the following day.

The access to the chain locker is now clear. The only challenge will be keeping it that way... J

Boats R Us – our plans for a boat-free holiday turned out to be anything but...

Fishing - or at least trying to fish - on Loch Awe

We're just back from a week staying in a cottage on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll, Scotland.

Part of the aim of the holiday was a break from Ravensdale. Much as we love her, she has presented us with one problem after another lately and we thought it would do us good to get away for a while.

Having decided that we wanted to go away, I said I wanted to stay in the middle of nowhere and Phil said he wanted the opportunity to do some fishing.

We lived in Scotland for 16 years before selling our house to move onto a boat and both love the landscapes the country has to offer so decided a peaceful loch-side location would be an ideal getaway.

Tarbert in the sunshine

However, we ended up spending the best part of two days at Tarbert visiting friends with boats in the marina there and another day on a boat we hired in attempt to catch fish on Loch Awe.

Barr-beithe Upper - the cottage where we spent a week by Loch Awe

As we booked just four days before we went away, we got a very good deal with Blarghour Farm Cottages and got a three-bedroom cottage that could accommodate six people for the price we were expecting to pay for a property that sleeps two.

And the location was lovely.

It was 19 miles from the nearest shop with an amazing view of the loch. In fact, it had beautiful views from every single window.

The view over Loch Awe from the cottage

One of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed during our stay

We were also very lucky with the weather. We had a couple of very hot sunny days – not what I’d been expecting of a holiday in Scotland J

A couple of days were overcast but dry and on the days it rained, it dried up at the time we wanted to go out and started again once we were safely back indoors.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of fish – or at least fish that were willing to allow us to catch them L

Phil wrapped up to protect him from the midges while fishing on Loch Awe

We both bought week-long fishing licences on our arrival, before discovering that the loch was practically surrounded by trees, making it virtually impossible to fly fish from the shore.

We tried fly fishing from the one clear area to which we had access on the shore below the cottage, but without success. We didn’t even see any fish rising. Phil also tried spinning, but still had no luck. Meanwhile I wandered around with my camera, snapping the beautiful scenery.

Loch Awe in Argyll

Another shot of Loch Awe

The sun sets over Loch Awe

Fly fishing on Loch Awe

It was during our first attempt at fishing at this location that we became reacquainted with the Highland biting midge (one thing I certainly haven’t missed since moving to Cumbria).

However, we had remembered to pack Smidge insect repellent, which made the biting beasties just about bearable.

Having decided we were wasting our time on fly fishing, we decided to hire a boat from Loch Awe Boats and had a lovely day pootling around the loch in the sunshine.

We tried trolling, fly fishing and spinning, but again without success.

The only fish we saw all day were shoals of tiny fish in the shallows as we took the boat out and brought it back in at the end of the day.

Phil trolling on Loch Awe

Despite the lack of fish, it was great to be out on the loch admiring and photographing the beautiful scenery, which made both of us a little bit homesick for the Highlands.

A beautiful sunny day on Loch Awe

Reflections on Loch Awe

We also enjoyed our visits to Tarbert. It is such a pretty harbour and bustling with life. 

Tarbert Harbour in Argyll

Colourful fishing boats at Tarbert

Another view of Tarbert Harbour

 

Tarbert fishing boats

The water was beautifully clean and the boats can get out to sea at any time of the day or night as there are no tidal restrictions on access to the harbour.

In fact, we were so impressed that we decided to find out a bit more about the possibility of taking Ravensdale there at some point in the future.

A fishing boat tied up on Loch Fyne at Inverary

We also spent a pleasant day out in Inverary, where we enjoyed a fish and chip lunch at The Inverary Inn and wandered around the shops. On the way back we stopped at much photographed Kilchurn Castle, where we took a few photos of our own.

Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

A wider view of Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

Another great feature of the cottage was that its location meant we could walk straight out into the hills behind it from which we had panoramic views of the 25-mile long loch.

Our love of hill-walking was the main reason we moved to Scotland from Wales in 2000 and it was great to be out in the hills again.

Walking in the hills above our holiday cottage

The impressive view of Loch Awe from the hills above

Another view of Loch Awe from our walk

Phil out walking in the hills

There was a good breeze during our walk so the midges weren’t a problem and it stayed dry while we were out.

We felt the first drops of rain as we were walking up the drive to the cottage on our way home .

And, as we got indoors, the heavens opened and there was an almighty downpour.

We are not normally so fortunate J

The week passed too quickly and I was sad that the holiday was over, but at least I no longer return home from a break knowing that I have to go back to the “real world” (as I used to call work) on Monday.

Life is one long holiday now and it’s good to be back on board Ravensdale.

And, as if to make sure we really knew we were back afloat, there was a good swell on our first night back to rock us to sleep :-)

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink

The watery view through Ravensdale's windscreen this morning

Fortunately we both saw the funny side of the latest challenge to our liveaboard lifestyle on Ravensdale.

Ironically we are totally surrounded by water – we’re sitting in a marina full of it with more pouring out of the sky – but have spent the last few days with no water supply on the boat.

We were getting ready for bed on Monday night when the water flow from the tap in the galley dwindled to almost nothing before coming to a total stop.

At first we thought our water supply may have run out, but we’d only filled the 500 litre tank the previous day.

It usually lasts at least four days before we have to refill it with a hosepipe from the tap on the pontoon and we knew we hadn’t used an excessive quantity of the wet stuff.

We then realised that we couldn’t hear the water pump running.

As it was already late and we were tired, we decided to go to bed and begin the diagnostic process in the morning.

Phil checks out the old water pump in Ravensdale's engine room

On Tuesday morning, I went up to our storage facility at the marina to get our water carrier so we would have water on the boat while Phil went down into the engine room to find out what had gone wrong.

He discovered that by messing around with the electrical wiring into the pump he could make it work again, but it wouldn’t carry on running. And, if he did this while the taps were all switched off, it started pumping water out into the bilges.

It soon became apparent that a new water pump was needed.

Filling a jerry can with water on our very wet aft deck

Initially, we were both very disappointed that we were facing yet another unexpected and expensive purchase.

Phil unwraps the new water pump

Someone once told us that BOAT was an acronym for Bring Out Another Thousand and we are beginning to believe they were right.

This time we were only looking at another £200, but the things that need replacing on this boat just seem to go on and on.

However, when we looked out of the window and saw it was raining, we both burst out laughing at the idea that we were without water on the boat.

And, looking on the bright side, replacing the water pump means that is one more thing that is new and therefore should (hopefully) last us a good while before it goes wrong again - especially as we discovered the existing pump was not suitable for the purpose. It was a washdown pump rather than one suitable for a domestic water system.

The old pump (right) and the new pump sitting on the bench in the galley

Phil has just finished fitting it while I have been writing this so normal service has now been resumed and we have hot and cold running water again.

Another interesting experience over the last few days was trying to cut Phil’s hair while Ravensdale was rocking madly.

When I set up the stool and got out the clippers and scissors to give him a trim, the boat was almost motionless.

However, soon after I started running the clippers over his head it started rocking and the swaying motion quickly became quite pronounced.

I suppose I should’ve stopped and finished the job off later, but I decided I’d started so I’d finish and carried on regardless.

It wasn’t so difficult when I was using the clippers. The real problem was trimming around his ears with a sharp pair of scissors and he seemed rather relieved when I completed the task without having drawn any blood.

Meanwhile, we have spent a good bit of time watching and photographing the wildlife and marine life in and around the marina.

The giant jellyfish has not returned – or at least if it has we haven’t seen it – but there have been plenty of other jellyfish around.

A compass jellyfish

Another compass jellyfish showing the distinctive markings on the top

An unidentified jellyfish

We have seen quite a few compass jellyfish, varying in size from a couple of inches to about 6ins in diameter and literally hundreds of moon jellyfish of various sizes.

We also saw one totally different looking jellyfish. Sadly it was too deep to get a good photo of it and I have so far been unable to identify it. 

But the best photo opportunity this week was a visit to the marina by a family of swans, including three cygnets.

Three cygnets hitch a ride on mum's back

The cygnets take a rest from paddling around under their own steam

One little cygnet snuggles down among mum's feathers

Mum and her babies came into the marina shortly before the gate that keeps water in the marina when the tide goes out was shut.

Mum calls for her partner from the marina side of the gate

She quickly realised she had been separated from her mate and swam up and down on the inside of the gate with her little ones on her back calling out to her mate.

She could see him through the holes in the gate but could not reach him and was getting very upset, but soon afterwards he joined her and the pair presumably waited until the gate was opened again on the next rising tide before making good their escape.

Dad joins the rest of the family for a swim around the marina

We've also had some beautiful sunsets over the past few days so the camera has been putting in a bit of overtime.

Maryport Marina sunset

Another view of the sunset over Maryport Marina

PS. For the purists among you, I am aware that I have adopted the common misquote from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge for the title on this blog post.

It should read: “Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink; 

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.”

Thankfully Ravensdale is GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) so we don’t have to worry about boards shrinking. At least that's one thing that can't go wrong on our boat J