Month: March 2012

Slavery or Hobby?

27th March 2012 – When I bought the Escapade and later the Hornblower, I always made myself a promise: I shall not work as hard as I did on the Watergeus.

I’m still keeping that promise, but it is fading away. Since last week, I spent every evening (except Friday) working on the Hornblower. Most of the weekend was also gone into working aboard the little ship.

I’m really starting to wonder if this is hobby or just me becoming a slave of all the work on both vessels?

Hornblower – Bulkhead

27th March 2012 – There was a big steel plate on the Watergeus. It is in my way for the BBQ on Saturday. Therefore it had to be cut in two smaller pieces. I still need a bulkhead at the back of the engine in the Hornblower. I cut a third of a bulkhead out of the plate. It is now in position with clamps. If I have some time tomorrow I might start welding it.

When this will be finished, together with welding the engine room ceiling, all of it should be a totally sealed room. I bought a hatch last Sunday to enter this area. I will put two air vents from the outside to get some air for the engine and generator.

I still don’t know what to do around the shaft to make it sealed as well.

Hornblower – Cooling and anchor winch

23rd March 2012 –  I redid the cooling in the morning. This time everything stays dry!

Some people recommended me to put a filter. When you are moving the boat in shallow water, mud can enter the cooling system. With this filter, I hope to prevent to much coming into the engine.

In the evening I bolted the anchor winch to the deck. When I have some time, I will replace all the bolts with RVS versions. I did the same thing on the Watergeus a few years ago.

Hornblower – Cooling part II

22nd March 2012 – The cooling of the engine was a quick fix in October. It got damaged by the frost in February. I bought some new pieces, fittings and tools to do the job properly. When I was finished it looked good. A few hours later, the back area was filled with at least four cm of water. One of the fittings was not properly sealed or cracked. I didn’t take any risk and removed my whole system. I put back on the original tap. I’ll give it another try tomorrow.

Watergeus – Hatch

18th March 2012 – I made a simple design for the hatch / cover of the box. Two T-profiles were welded to the side of the box. On those profiles, a sheet will be sided. This sheet is also the cover. It is not waterproof yet, but it will at least stop most of the rain from getting to the generator.

While cutting the metal for the hatch, my grinder gave up on me. It is now the second tool that breaks down in less then a week. I guess they are become old…

Wategeus – Cleaning underneath the hatches part I

17th March 2012 – The area between the metal roof and the hatches had never been painted before. I used it as a storage space for metal, tools and ropes. Today, we cleaned half of the area. Most of the metal has been lowered in the engine room. It does not only helps for the weight (propeller needs to be under water), all my metal is now in one place.

Once the area was cleared, I cleaned it with a metal brush and put some Zinga paint on the bare metal. I hope it will last several years!

Hornblower – Cooling system

17th March 2012 – I bought some fittings for the cooling system. Since I want to finish the hatch on the Watergeus first, I’ll try to mount the cooling somewhere next week. I bought a filter for the cooling as well. People advised me to do so in case, I’m moving the boat in undeep water. Mud and sand will first enter the filter before getting trapped in the engine.

I also want to mount a deck wash on the same system for cleaning the deck.