10th December 2019 – I quickly went to see the Fabuleux Destin at the yard. I was to late to see the yard people working. I don’t know what it exaclty is with this yard, but it is one I like coming to. I have been there so many times….
It was to dark to take any decent pictures….
8th December 2019 – We left in Merelbeke in the early morning. It was dark and wet. Around six hours later, we moored alongside a platform at the yard. A successful journey. The ship will be drydocked tomorrow. It was busy at the yard.
6th December 2019 – I joined the Fabuleux Destin on their jouney to the yard. I got aboard in Bruges and left in Beernem. Tomorrow the journey continues to Merelbeke. I will not be joining that part.
5th December 2019 – The last of a three day training. Today we went to the MAS in Antwerp. It was amazing to see how big their collection is.
1st December 2019 – We went to Sas van Gent to have a look at the historical harbour. There are some nice vessels moored in the old part of the Canal.
30th November 2019 – While my mother painted the bedroom and bathroom, I worked in the hold, making the frame for the ceiling. The middle section of the hold is the only part that is not insulated.
It took me some time to lift a five meter wooden beam three meters high. The second beam is now resting on the wheelhouse roof in the hold. Mounting this one will be for another weekend…
24th November 2019 – The bedroom got it second coat of paint. I pulled a power cable through the engine room into the kitchen accommodation. The hatches were covered with leaves. I had no chance to clean them last month, so I did it now. It took me some time, but if now rains, it will be clean again.
23rd November 2019 – My mother came to help. She painted the bedroom while I did some smaller jobs like drilling holes for powercables and plumbing, cleaning the kitchen and living room, etc…
Wheelhouses used to be built in wood and were removable for passing under some lower bridges. These days they are built in aluminum and can be raised or lowered by a hydraulic system. A wheelhouse is very often the area where the skipper spent most of his time.
In the early days many windows in a wheelhouse were blended or it was just a wooden panel instead of glass. This was for two reasons:
Nowadays this is no longer allowed since you must have an all-round view from the wheelhouse. This is also one of the rules in getting a CVO.
Some inside pictures of the wheelhouses from Dutch Barges. Most of the pictures were used with permission from the broker website Fikkers.
While walking around in Amsterdam, I discovered that several people had their kitchen made in the wheelhouse. It is not such a crazy idea after all. If you don’t move your boat, the wheelhouse is a perfect place to see what is happening and what is nicer then cooking with a good view?
29th October 2019 – During the upgrade of the website, the old articles on converting a barge were removed. Many people asked me to put them back online. I’ve just created a new category in this website ‘converting a barge’. There you will find the articles from the early days of Living Afloat, when it all started in 2005.
When I publish the articles, I will try to update them.
Have Fun!
14th October 2019 – A job that will take several evenings is painting the front engine room. It is now dark red and it is hard to see anything without a good light. Sadly enough there is not much room to stand or to paint…
12th October 2019 – We started with the back accommodation. The cupboards in the bedroom downstairs were falling apart and several shelves were missing. I rebuilt them and gave a good coat of primer at the end of the evening.
Old tape was removed from the good shelves. The stairs were covered by old carpet. The freezer who had not been used for at least three years was also thrown away. New wires were put behind the walls with proper sockets and switches.
5th October 2019 – We went to the Furiedagen in Maassluis. Friends of us were there with their ship.
28th September 2019 – The second day was better. There was more wind but nearly no rain. We had a lot of visitors and were very happy with the result.
27th September 2019 – We arrived a little early on the event and decided to build the tent ourselves. It worked and we were the first who were fully active.
It became windy and it started raining a t 5 o’clock. We closed our tent and had a look on the event. The ships arrived and I took some pictures and made some movies.
