31st January 2021 – The plans for moving Tordino to Oudenburg are getting more serious. For a few days now, water has been very high and very low. The Government managing the waterways claims that it is very undeep near the sides. It was the perfect moment to have a look and see it myself. Believe me, I don’t want to end up on these remaining walls from the early days…
30th January 2021 – Just like in Bruges, water is high on most rivers and canals at the moment. I had a check on Tordino to make sure everything was fine.
30th January 2021 – I painted the bedroom after a good inspection. There was no damaged to the ship after last night. Once the bedroom was painted, including a few bits and pieces everywhere, I realized any further work was impossible until the paint was dry. We made plans of moving the ship but the wind is to hard.
29th January 2021 – I have never seen the water so high as today. I was glad to be at home so I could keep an eye on both my ships. The Stern nearly ended up on the wooden beam on the side of the canal. Watergeus is much deeper in the water. Since water was raising quickly, there was the chance that Watergeus could lift up its gangway or gets stuck underneath it. None of this happened!
29th January 2021 – Most of the woodwork is now finished in the bedroom, ready for painting. My mother cleaned the old doors of the cabinet and the bathroom.
28th January 2021 – I emptied the bedroom, so I can finally finish it, building a kind of a bulkhead between the front compartment and the bed. Now I have a lined out room, ready for t&g.
27th January 2021 – Having done nothing was not a good feeling. I went aboard the Stern, gave a second coat of green paint on the wall and painted a part of the bedroom. I took away two heavy toolboxes and put them in my car since I have no other place to store them at the moment. Everything is now ready for tomorrow.
27th January 2021 – The idea was to have a quick look on the wheelhouse of the Julie. They are building a new roof and I wanted to see how it was being made. We ended up having a few beers, then Port and in the end we had a pita. A whole day wasted, but it was fun.
26th January 2021 – The new pellet heater is installed. It took some time to build the chimney. It was in no time 20° aboard! Let just hope the power aboard is strong enough to hold it.
25th January 2021 – I quickly checked Tordino and unloaded some of the books I bought last week. Everything was fine. I just hope they will be able to deliver the heather tomorrow and that my power supply is strong enough to hold it.
22nd January 2021 – I quickly welded a bracket for the chimney of the new heather they will install next Tuesday. Power is so limited I only managed to stick the support. It is solid enough but it needs proper welding soon.
20th January 2021 – I started building a wall with insulation where the old toilet was. It took me some time but it worked out fine in the end. Then I extended the last electricity wires and finished the cupboard in the living room. At the end of the evening I gave the new wood a first coat of paint including the parts I hadn’t done before. Some parts got a second coat, the ones where I will put some tiles…
19th January 2021 – We managed to get a collection of books from a retired sailor. It is a large collection, so we picked it up from Dordrecht. It now needs an inventory, which will probably take a few weeks.
19th January 2021 – What had to be an easy job turns out in a small nightmare. I had to buy a hull skin fitting, then I had to buy the right drill and in the end the hole was made. When I removed the old toilet, which was totally dry, I wanted to seal the old hoses. I sprayed foam into them. It came out straight away including a lot of water. So there is still water in the old pipes. I hoovered out as much as I could, and I will go shopping again tomorrow to find the right fitting to seal them… A wasted afternoon and now a worrying evening!
18th January 2021 – Tomorrow, I will start working again on the Stern. I haven’t done anything since mid December. I went shopping for wood, tiles and other items I need. The tools were unloaded from the van and put aboard the ship.
