A spectacular trawler race and fixing our fishfinder

Some of the colourful boats taking part in Maryport Trawler Race on Saturday

Taking Ravensdale out onto the Solway Firth to watch decorated trawlers racing in the sunshine was definitely the highlight of the past week.

And it was lovely to have our friend, Angie, along to keep me company on the flybridge while Phil kept the boat moving to get us the best possible view while keeping out of the way of the racing fishing boats.

The amazing hot and sunny weather has continued throughout the week making our liveaboard lifestyle even more enjoyable than it is when it’s wet and windy – but, even then, I would rather be on our boat than living on the land 😊

Meanwhile, after a few setbacks, Phil has fixed the fishfinder and it’s working properly but sadly it didn’t help us much on our latest fishing trip, which was the least successful yet.

And the pair of swans, who visited the marina with their cygnets last week, returned and I coaxed them back to Ravensdale with food.

The swan family waiting for food by Ravensdale

The spectacular Maryport Trawler Race

Many of the boats in the fishing fleet from our home port of Maryport in Cumbria, UK, were decorated with flags, bunting and banners on Saturday for one of the biggest events in the town’s calendar.

And they were joined by vessels from the Isle of Man, which is 34 nautical miles from Maryport.

Around 20 boats lined up to wait for the starting pistol that signalled the start of the race, each packed to the gunwales with dozens of people.

One of the local lifeboats crossing in front of the trawlers lined up at the start of the race

We took Ravensdale out onto the Solway Firth well before the race was due to start at 1pm.

Angie climbing up onto the flybridge

The wind speed was just into double figures so higher than we would normally go out, but we just had to be out there for this event. Also, as we were going to be moving the whole time, it was going to be less of a problem than if we were trying to fish at anchor.

Angie and I sat on the foredeck on the way out of the marina and as we headed out between Maryport’s twin piers. This is what I usually do but this time the water was rougher than usual and we were soaked by Ravensdale’s bow wave.

I later discovered that Phil was watching and laughing at us from the comfort of the cabin, but we didn’t mind at all.

It was so hot that we quickly dried off in the sun.

Angie and I went up on the flybridge to get a better view and Phil drove around while we waited for the trawlers to emerge from the harbour.

When we saw them lining up, he manoeuvred the boat to get behind the race, so we could follow it for a while. 

Following some of the trawlers on the first leg of the race

Choppy conditions created by the racing trawlers and one of the local lifeboats

Two more of the colourful trawlers taking part in the race

Phil then moved Ravensdale around so we could watch the fishing boats coming back again.

Sincerity - one of the local Maryport fishing boats

Another local boat - Silver Fern - leading the way before winning the race

Maryport fishing boat Winsome

Another Maryport boat - Alauna

The water was already pretty choppy, but the wakes of the fishing boats made it more so and we felt the rolling motion even more up on the flybridge.

I found the windshield was getting in the way of my photos so perched on the back of my seat to get a better view, being very careful to make sure I didn’t get thrown overboard.

We’d intended to stay out fishing after the race, but it was too bumpy to be comfortable at anchor, so we followed the trawlers back in and returned to the marina.

Whitehaven all-weather lifeboat and Silloth lifeboat at the trawler race

Maryport Inshore Rescue boat after the trawler race

All the decorated boats full of people were the most amazing sight and it was lovely to have Angie with us to share in the fun.

And we’ve already decided that next year we will have to get some bunting and decorate Ravensdale for the event.

I wouldn’t have missed the race for the world and took literally hundreds of photographs.

Thankfully, other people also took photos of our boat during the event and have kindly allowed me to reproduce them here.

Ravensdale leaving Maryport with Angie and I on the bow. Photo by Lee Wise

Ravensdale on the Solway Firth during the trawler race. Photo by Ronnie Bell

Ravensdale during the trawler race. Photo by Ronnie Bell.

Ravensdale ploughing through the waves on our way home. Photo by Ronnie Bell

 
Fishing trip

The windy conditions that stopped us fishing on Saturday continued for the next couple of days.

We considered going on Tuesday but went around onto the pier to check the sea state before the marina gate was due to open and decided it was still rougher than we wanted to go out in, so we stayed put.

We repeated this exercise on Wednesday morning. This time the sea looked a little calmer, so we decided to go for it.

Preparations to leave our mooring take us far less time than they used to, especially as a lot of the loose stuff I usually pack up, such as ornaments and books, have been left stowed away since we started going out onto the water more regularly a few weeks ago.

My note reminding us to “disconnect shore power” remains on the console whenever we’re in the marina and it’s doing the job for which it was intended.

We haven’t forgotten to unplug from the electricity bollard on the pontoon since the trip to the fuel berth when we accidentally cast off our mooring ropes while still connected. Thankfully, no damage was done but we really don’t want that to happen again.

Heading off to our fishing spot with the Iggesund Paperboard mill at Workington in the distance

We discovered the sea was a little rougher than we’d expected after leaving the marina on Wednesday, but still calmer than it had been on Saturday.

Phil drove us to our usual fishing spot and we dropped anchor.

We always check the depth sounder when we stop and calculate the amount of chain that needs putting out, making allowances for the tide.

Our anchor chain has coloured markers every five metres. The number and colour of the markers indicate the length. I know the markers for our usual depths, but still take the list out onto the bow with me in case we need to check it.

As I had no suitable pocket to put it in, I tucked it down the front of my vest and totally forgot it was there until considerably later when Phil was looking for the plastic wallet it’s kept in as it also contains the marina gate times.

At first, we thought we’d lost it then I remembered where I’d put it 😊

Me hiding the missing papers  - I had no idea they were there when this photo was taken

When we first dropped anchor, Phil tried fishing for mackerel but had no luck, so we put out the usual uptide rods. One was baited with squid and the other with a hardback crab that we’d caught in the prawn pot that hangs off the boat when we’re in the marina.

Phil baiting a hook with a hardback crab

Phil casts a line in the hope of hooking a big fish

Uptide rods set up on Ravensdale's foredeck waiting for a fish to bite

And this time we caught absolutely nothing.

Phil hooked one dogfish on the squid but thankfully it dropped off before he brought it aboard.

Our biggest problem on this trip – other than the total lack of fish – was that the westerly wind blew up while we were out stopping Ravensdale from turning around when the tide changed.

Not only does this give us a very bumpy ride, but it also means the fishing lines get pulled and end up under the boat.

We waited a good hour after the tide turned but the boat still refused to turn around, so we decided to head home earlier than planned.

Phil said he would’ve stayed longer if we’d been catching fish, but it seemed pointless when the fish weren’t biting anyway.

The seal coming up for air

While waiting for the boat to turn, we watched a seal but it was just a bit too far away to get a decent photo of it. Of course, that didn't stop me trying 😊

We were only out for just over three hours, but, as always, loved every minute of it.

Even when we’re not catching fish, I totally love sitting out on the deck, watching seals, eating our lunch, drinking a cup of tea or just enjoying the peace and quiet of being out on the water.

It’s a hard job, but somebody’s got to do it 😊

Fixing our fishfinder

At long last, our fishfinder is fitted and working.

We thought it was sorted last week when Phil fitted the transducer in the bow bilges inside a container full of cooking oil. The oil is supposed to make a through-hull transducer work inside the hull.

The previous container from which the oil leaked out into the bilges

Sadly, the sealant he used didn’t stick to the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic the container was made of, the oil leaked out into the bilges and the fishfinder stopped working.

Phil thoroughly cleaned the bilges, bought a length of plumbing pipe (after checking it was the right type of plastic) and tested the sealant on the pipe before fitting it.

Once he’d established that the test sealant had cured and was securely stuck to the pipe, he cut it to size, attached it to the inside of the hull and fitted the transducer inside it.

Phil sealing around the base of the pipe for the fishfinder transducer

The fishfinder in action during our latest fishing trip

He filled it up with vegetable oil again just before we went fishing on Wednesday afternoon and it worked fine while we were out on the water.

It was comforting to see that the depth registered on the fishfinder corresponded with that shown on our depth sounder, which has been adjusted to allow for Ravensdale’s draft.

Our proper depth sounder shows the depth beneath the keel, whereas the fishfinder shows the depth beneath its transducer.

We were very pleased to discover that the pipe was still full of oil the following day, which means the sealant is holding this time.

Sadly, the fishfinder didn’t help us to catch any fish on our latest fishing trip but will hopefully come in useful in the future.

Unusual pineapple or melon stand

This week I discovered a good way to stop pineapples and melons rolling around when the boat rocks.

Our new pineapple stand

We can’t fit large fruit like pineapples and melons in our fruit bowl and were reluctant to get another one, so we usually leave them on the shelf behind the seating in the dining area, but they tend to roll when the boat does.

While having a bit of a clear-out, I found an old, chunky, plastic bangle and was about to throw it out when I had an idea.

It made a perfect stand for the pineapple that was sitting on the shelf at the time.

I have since used it for melons and am planning to search the local charity shops for a couple more.

At the moment, it can slide if the boat rocks a lot, which it hasn’t done since I came up with my cunning plan, so I will probably put some non-slip matting under them.

The only trouble is that the fruit standing on the bangle reminds me of a fairground coconut shy and I get very tempted to throw something at it 😊

Fishing bait

Crabs caught in our prawn pot

Our prawn pot is still doing a great job of catching bait for our fishing trips with lots of crabs getting trapped.

In fact, one day recently, there were so many that Phil stopped one of the small fishing boats passing us on its way out of the marina and asked if they’d like some as bait.

They were very grateful and pulled in alongside our pontoon to collect them.

We also found a two-foot long silver eel in our prawn pot on Wednesday, but we didn’t want it for bait, so we threw it back.

The eel that was trapped in our prawn pot

Photography storage problem solved

Most of the photos I’ve taken this week have either been of the trawler race or during our latest fishing trip, although I did take my camera out for a walk in the sunshine on Monday.

Maryport lighthouse from the Solway Firth

Maryport from the Solway Firth

The Scottish hills on the other side of the Solway Firth

Robin Rigg wind farm on the Scottish side of the Solway Firth

The northern fells in Cumbria

Meanwhile, my photo storage solution has hopefully been solved – for now 😊

I’d reached a point where I couldn’t put any more photos on my laptop because the disk on which they are stored was full up.

We moved some of the folders onto another disk that had more free space and I set about deleting any that I really didn’t want but couldn’t make any real impact on the situation and it became obvious that a more dramatic solution was required.

We’ve now bought a 4TB external hard drive to store my older photos.

They’re also backed up on another back-up disk, so I’ve now deleted them from my laptop to make room for more new images.

However, considering I took more than 500 photos of the trawler race last Saturday, I have a horrible feeling it won’t be long before I’ve filled up all the available storage again and I’m back to square one ☹

Marina wildlife

Swans eating floating duck and swan food by our pontoon

The marina swans by Ravensdale

The swans and cygnets that have put in a few appearances at the marina in recent weeks returned this week in search of food.

On each occasion that I’ve seen them in the marina, I’ve coaxed them back to Ravensdale with floating duck and swan food.

I still haven’t convinced them that this is their feeding station now, but hopefully they will soon learn as we inherited the food that Phil Lee “the swan man” used to give them before he died earlier this year.

The pigeons nesting in the drainage hole in the harbour wall near Ravensdale are still using the hole despite several futile attempts at breeding there.

Every time they built a nest earlier this year, it was washed away by rain as the hole drains water from the road above into the marina.

We still see them coming and going from the hole or sitting in the entrance basking in the sunshine so hopefully they’ve managed to raise a brood during the prolonged spell of warm, dry weather we’ve had lately but, as yet, we’ve seen no young.

Mrs Pigeon warms herself in the sun at the entrance to the drainage hole

A less pleasant visitor was a large band-eyed brown horsefly - Tabanus bromius – that we found on our bimini cover this week.

The band-eyed brown horsefly that landed on our bimini cover

It was almost an inch long and very scary-looking but they’re apparently less interested in biting humans than other types of horsefly, preferring to feast on the blood of cattle and ponies.

Summer continues with a vengeance

This really is the best summer I can remember since I was a child but I’m never sure whether summers really were better back then or we just think they were 😊

In fact, we’ve had fabulous weather for nine out of the past 10 weeks, which is practically unheard of in the north of England.

Every single day this week has been hot, dry and sunny.

There’s been very little cloud in the sky and the only variables have been how hot and how windy it has been.

Yet another sunny day at Maryport Marina

On Saturday, we had a top temperature of 23.9C (75F) with a top average wind speed of 11mph.

Maryport basking in the sunshine on Saturday

I forgot to check the temperature and wind speed on Sunday, but it was hot and relatively calm.

Monday was the hottest day in the past week with the mercury rising to 25.4C (78F). It was also the windiest day of the week with a top average daytime wind speed of 14mph, rising to 18mph in the early evening.

People making the most of the sunshine on Maryport beach on Monday

Tuesday’s temperature peaked at 22.6C (73F) with a top average wind speed of 11mph.

On Wednesday, the top temperature was 20.8C (69F) and the top average wind speed recorded locally was 7mph, but it was definitely higher than that while we were out on Ravensdale.

Blue skies and sunshine for our trip out on the Solway Firth on Wednesday

The hot, sunny weather continued yesterday (Thursday) although, during the afternoon, there were a few more clouds than we’ve seen for a while, but they cleared again as day went on. The highest daytime temperature was 20.3C and the top average wind speed during the day was 18mph.

And, so far, today (Friday) there has been a bit more cloud and it has been a bit cooler than of late. The temperature has risen to 15.4C (60F) but I'm sure it will increase as the day goes on. The top average wind speed so far is 9mph.

High winds stop play, stunning skies and our new lobster pot

Ravensdale moored up at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK

High winds for most of the past week have meant we’ve been unable to take Ravensdale out to play on the water.

However, the forecast is looking better for Sunday and the start of next week. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s correct, so we can get back out on the Solway Firth in search of the smooth-hound that got away – other fish are available😊

The wind has been well into double figures, with considerably higher gusts, for most of the week, which means Ravensdale has been stuck in the marina.

On the up side, it has given us a chance to do other things, one of which involved adding another string to our bow on the fishing front and hopefully this one will actually provide us with edible catches.

We’ve acquired a small lobster pot that we’re planning to take out and drop in the Solway Firth very soon in the hope of catching some juicy lobsters for our supper.

Meanwhile, we had an influx of visitors at Maryport Marina in Cumbria, UK, last weekend for the marina’s open day.

The world is our lobster 😊

Phil with our new-to-us lobster pot and flag pole

Much as we enjoy our fishing trips on Ravensdale, it’s been a bit of a disappointment that we don’t get to eat many of the fish we catch.

Many of them are too small to keep and the tope have to go back because they’re a protected species.

We ate a couple of decent-sized cod we caught in the winter and very nice they were too 😊

We’ve yet to catch a thornback ray that’s big enough to keep and eat.

We haven’t tried eating dogfish as they’re a total pain to prepare and not considered particularly good eaters anyway so really not worth the hassle. 

Hopefully we’ll get to try smooth-hound soon as the fillets from the one we kept from our fishing trip on Saturday June 9 are still in the freezer.

We read that they needed to be frozen for a fortnight before eating to get rid of the ammonia in them, so they should be ready this weekend.

But lobster, now that’s a totally different kettle of fish 😊

Any that are big enough to keep will definitely be going in the cooking pot.

Phil has applied to the North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority for a permit to catch lobster, crab and whelk.

Phil testing the flag pole floats

Meanwhile, Phil has tied an old fender onto the flag pole that came with the lobster pot to make it float. We now need to make or buy a flag for it.

We also need to get a small buoy and a length of rope to attach the flag to the pot.

Once that lot’s sorted, all that remains to be done is to decide on the best bait, find a good location in which to drop our pot and then go back and check it on a regular basis.

I probably shouldn’t mention this, but it made me laugh when Phil first told me he needed to find a small boy. Yes, that’s what I thought too 😊

Thankfully I’d taken his comment out of context and what he really meant was that he needed a “small buoy” 😊 Phew! He had me worried there for a minute 😊

(For readers in the US - we pronounce “buoy” and “boy” the same in the UK. I can now see why your pronunciation makes so much more sense 😊)

Double figure fish

Phil with the big tope he caught on a recent fishing trip on Ravensale

It looks as though we need to get new scales for weighing the fish Phil catches (no pun intended 😊)

The biggest tope he caught on a recent fishing trip weighed in at just over 4lb on our fishing scales.

However, last weekend, we showed Glyn Dixon, who operates a charter fishing boat out of Maryport Harbour, the above photo of Phil holding his catch and Glyn said it was definitely a double figure fish.

We’d been surprised it hadn’t weighed more so will have to look at upgrading our scales.

High water alarm

Leaking stern gland on Ravensdale's port prop shaft

The horrible experience of discovering a rising water level in our engine room bilges when we had a leaking stern gland earlier this year led us to install an automatic bilge pump.

And we have this week ordered a high-water alarm.

It was pure luck that we discovered the stern gland leak, which caused a significant amount of water to collect in our bilges, before the situation became considerably worse.

The stern gland on the port prop shaft was fixed and we haven't had any further problems with it since.

Phil went down into the engine room that day because he found water in the forward bilges while doing a totally unrelated job.

He then discovered that the water level in the engine room was higher than the metal grating over the walkway between Ravensdale’s two 300hp Volvo Penta engines.

The high water alarm will hopefully make sure this – or worse - can never happen again.

Links to my previous blog posts about the stern gland leak are below -

Winter cruising joys and the misery caused by flooding bilges

Sleeping more soundly thanks to our new automatic bilge pump

New look marina

Maryport Marina looking ship-shape with its new paint job

When work began on painting the marina a couple of weeks ago, I really wasn’t sure about the shade of blue that had been chosen.

Maryport Marina last winter before its facelift

It looked much too bright to me and I really couldn’t see how it was going to look good.

As work progressed, it started to grow on me and the addition of dark blue window frames and corner stones transformed the whole appearance of the building.

I now love it. It looks great whatever the weather.

The combination of blues is very appropriate for a maritime business and a vast improvement on the drab brown walls before it was painted.

Maryport Marina's new colour scheme

The painting contractors, who did a fantastic job and went out of their way to ensure they didn’t cause any inconvenience to marina customers, worked flat out to make sure it was completed in time for the open day on Saturday.

And the picnic bench that appeared on the paved area in front of the marina facilities overlooking the pontoons a few weeks back has apparently been breeding as there are now three of them 😊

New picnic benches on the paving overlooking the pontoons

Maryport Marina open day

Boat trips in the rain at Maryport Marina Open Day

After more than five weeks of wall-to-wall sunshine, it was so sad that it poured with rain through most of Maryport Marina Open Day on Saturday.

Passengers disembarking after their boat trip

A few hardy folk turned out during the wettest parts of the event, with more arriving when it started to clear up a bit during the afternoon.

I can only think the bad weather put some people off coming, but those who braved the rain appeared to be having a good time.

The most popular attraction seemed to be the free boat trips offered by Glyn Dixon, who owns the local Venture West charter boat.

He took four trips of up to 10 passengers out of the marina into the basin and around into the harbour.

I believe at least one trip also involved heading out between Maryport’s two piers into the Solway Firth, but high winds prevented him from doing so on the other outings.

Maryport Inshore Rescue volunteers at Maryport Marina

Maryport Inshore Rescue brought their rescue boat into the marina for the event and the local Sea Cadets had a stand to let people know about their activities.

Visitors were also offered guided tours of the pontoons and a look on board Solway Adventurer, a Bavaria 38 yacht owned by a charity that provides sailing trips for elderly and disabled people and disadvantaged children.

Two young children enjoying a ride on the roundabout

Other attractions included a children’s fairground ride, a free raffle and the chance to buy food and cups of tea and coffee and to meet the marina customers.

Houseplants or boat plants?

Our new spider plant (right) and a plant we brought with us when we moved on board

If you keep houseplants on a boat, I presume they’re no longer called houseplants 😊

We brought a couple of plants with us when we sold our house and moved onto our 43ft Neptunus 133 motor cruiser in November 2016. And they're still alive – just!

But it’s obvious that neither the peace lily (Spathiphyllum – also known as the white sail plant) or the other plant, the name of which I can’t remember, are thriving.

I don’t know whether it’s the dramatic changes in temperature onboard or too much sunlight scorching them, but I seem to spend a lot of time cutting off dead and discoloured leaves. So much so, that the peace lily is destined for the bin very soon. I just haven’t had the heart to do it yet.

We bought a tiny cactus garden in Lidl supermarket a couple of months ago and that seems to be doing well.

Our miniature cactus garden

And we’ve just bought a spider plant - Chlorophytum comosum variegatum - to replace the very sad-looking peace lily so we’ll see how that fares on Ravensdale.

I haven’t had one of these for years but, if I remember rightly, they were pretty much indestructible. Guess I’ll soon find out if that’s true 😊

Marina wildlife

One of the pigeons that has taken up residence by the marina ramp

A couple of pigeons seem to have taken up residence at the bottom of the ramp from the pontoons to the marina facilities at Maryport Marina.

And they seem totally unconcerned about people walking within a couple of feet of them.

We think they’re young pigeons that have been kicked out of their nest, possibly because their parents have another brood.

I guess they’ve been left to fend for themselves now and one thing they really need to learn is a healthy fear of people or they may not last very long.

A heron on the rocks by the marina slipway

The heron taking a rest from fishing

Meanwhile, the heron has been back hunting from the bottom of the marina slipway on a number of occasions this week.

He also likes to perch on the rocks down the side of the slipway for a rest and can often be seen standing there with his head tucked under a wing.

We haven’t seen the swans that used to be regular visitors to the marina since they arrived with their cygnets while we were heading out of the gate on Ravensdale on Monday of last week.

I’m told they returned, again with their young, last Friday while we were out shopping.

I was so sad to have missed them as I want to start feeding them in the hope they will become regular visitors again.

We've also seen a couple of young pied wagtails sitting on the pontoons over the last couple of days, but I couldn't get near enough to get a decent photo of them. In fact, when I attempted it one flew away. The photo below was the best I could get.

A young pied wagtail sitting on a pontoon at Maryport Marina

Spectacular skies

Interesting cloud formations over Maryport Marina on Wednesday evening

Sunset and sunrises tend to be particularly popular with photographers, but I often think unusual cloud formations at other times of the day can be just us interesting.

We were sitting watching TV on Wednesday evening when we caught sight of some great clouds out of the window.

If I’d spotted them sooner, I might have tried to get to a better location but there was no guarantee they would last so I took a few shots (OK, quite a few shots 😊) from Ravensdale and the pontoon on which she's moored.

Unusual clouds over Ravensdale (at the far end of the pontoon)

Another view of the clouds over the marina

Light-coloured clouds standing out against the dark sky

Another view of the clouds over the marina building

I didn’t get up for sunrise at all this week, but Phil happened to wake up at the relevant time on Saturday morning and took this photo from Ravensdale’s aft deck.

Phil's sunrise photo from Saturday morning

Summer has arrived!

Yesterday (Thursday) was the Summer Solstice – the official start of summer in the northern hemisphere.

So, we will be expecting good weather from now all the way through to the official end of summer on Sunday September 23.

Sadly, the chances of that happening are less than nil ☹

Summer got off to a good start yesterday, but the rest of the past week was decidedly unsummery.

Clouds gathering over Maryport Marina on Friday afternoon

It rained overnight Friday into Saturday. It continued to do so on and off until about 3pm, with heavy downpours at times, but the rain cleared up and the sun came out in the evening. The top daytime temperature was 13.3C(56F) and the top average wind speed was 21mph, gusting to 31mph.

Marina open day visitors wrapped up against the weather on Saturday

Sunday started dull and it was spitting with rain. The rain never really came to anything but the sky remained overcast with dampness in the air. The highest daytime temperature recorded locally was 13.8C (56F) with southerly winds averaging up to 21mph.

Monday was overcast and windy, with a top temperature of 14.8C (59F) and average wind speeds of up to 19mph, gusting 31mph.

This was followed by a fairly windy night with a top average wind speed of 19mph, gusting up to 29mph.

It was bright first thing of Tuesday but clouded over with a few spits of rain late morning. It started raining properly during the afternoon and kept it up throughout the evening. The top daytime temperature was 13.4C (56F) with average wind speeds of 10-13mph.

A grey day at Maryport Marina

Tuesday night into Wednesday was a very windy night. Wind speeds were considerably lower than during Storm Hector the previous week, but Ravensdale seemed to be rocking around more.

We could hear the wind howling around Ravensdale. She was rolling around, the ropes were creaking and the fenders were complaining as they were squashed against the pontoon.

The top average wind speed overnight was 26mph, gusting to 38mph.

Wednesday started overcast and the high winds continued throughout the day, with average wind speeds peaking at 23mph and gusts of up to 36mph.

The sun came out during the afternoon giving a top day time temperature of 14.4C (58F).

Maryport lighthouse on Wednesday evening

Wednesday night and the early hours of yesterday (Thursday) continued windy giving us another noisy and rocky night on board. The highest average wind speed recorded was 30mph, with gusts up to 43mph.

We awoke to a lovely sunny morning yesterday, but it was still pretty windy. The top daytime temperature was 14.7C (58F) and the highest average wind speed recorded locally was 23mph, gusting to 31mph.

Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky herald the start of summer yesterday (Thursday)

And today (Friday) is a proper summers day. It's calm and sunny with very little wind. So far, the highest temperature has been 12.7C (55F) but I have a feeling that will increase as the day goes on.