Author: frederic - page 116

Aquarel – Running pipes

20th September 2015 – The idea was to work a whole day. Sadly enough, the evening before was a late one and I had a small hang over. I continued with the water system. I have now done the big runs with the pipes. It did take me much more time then expected, certainly when you are on your own. Now the pipes are done, I can concentrate on finishing the last side of the hold putting wood and t&g. Once this is over, most woodwork will be done.

Aquarel – Feeling ill

13th September 2015 – I have never felt so bad for a long period. On arrival at the Aquarel I decided to sleep and so I did the whole day. There is a photo shoot on my ship tomorrow and I wanted to clean it up. They will have to live with it…

Aquarel – Doubts on the kitchen

5th September 2015 – I had some doubts on my kitchen. When I built it, I didn’t like it. I still don’t like it now, and several people gave me the advice to remove it. Saturday morning, a good friend came and she advised me to replace it. She was the first person to see it in real and not on a picture. In some ways it is a shame since I did spent several days building that kitchen. It was a remake from the original kitchen of another spits barge.

It saves me work breaking down the current unfinished kitchen and putting one from IKEA. I can build an IKEA kitchen in one to two days, finishing the current kitchen would have taken over a week.

I’m no good with designing kitchens anyway, when the Watergeus was nearly ready, friends also told me to change it and luckily I did….

I need a big door to get to the boiler and pumps. I reused the kitchen door in the hold. It has the same pattern as the toilet door and now makes a nice combination. Never throw something away, it will always be useful one day!

It is fine when people come to have a look for the first time. If they ever come back, they are often surprised to see what has become of it. The little girl who came to have a look with her mother described the hold as a place where a bomb had exploded. And she was totally right. It is one big mess at the moment and it didn’t became any better after breaking down the kitchen.

At the moment, I’m finishing corner by corner. I’m now also hovering the floor to get a better idea of the space. It is motivating me every time I can throw away some stuff I can no longer use.

Aquarel – Plumbing

3rd September 2015 – As mentioned before I hate plumbing. The fitting I drilled through the hull had been leaking. Not much, but a ship should be dry and so I asked my neighbour to help. With the two of us I was able to give a few more turns and tighten it up. A new layer of silicon and it was dry!

One wall in the toilet had to finished, so I did.

Aquarel – Drilling and cutting holes

1st September 2015 – Drilling and cutting holes. I normally make one hole a day in my ship so I can check whether it stays dry or it leaks. Since I’m short of time and I want to keep my schedule as planned, I cut one hole in the side and mounted my chimney for the heather.

Aquarel – No bad weather damage!

30th August 2015 – After a heavy night of terrible weather, I had no motivation of working. Every excuse was fine to having to go to the boat. In the end I went in the late evening; Everything was fine. I expected a few windows to be broken, but there was no damage at all. While I was there, I finished the wall between the generator room and the hold.

Aquarel – Painting

28th August 2015 – A nice day for painting. My parents came and they painted. The deck was partly painted. The bedroom cabin I remade last year got its first coat of paint. It looks much bigger.

I can’t wait to paint the hold to let it look bigger. The light wood colour is still to dark.

I built the toilet walls and door. It went surprisingly well. Normally it takes some time to get the door right and this time It went so easy. These are the moments you get a boost and want to continue converting your ship.

 

 

Aquarel – Building a frame for the toilet

26th August 2015 – I only had half a day to work. I built the stage or floor for the toilet. Complex areas like kitchen, bathroom and toilets are built on a stage. In case there is a welding job at the bottom of the ship I don’t have to rip out the whole room with all the plumbing around it. It is going to be a small room since I like to keep the hold as big as possible.

 

Aquarel – Mounting a door

25th August 2015 – Between the metal stairs and the hold is a frame for the door. It took me nearly all day to get my door in position and mount it. I’m happy to be able to close the hold from the inside and still have light coming through.

 

Aquarel – Finishing the hold

24th August 2015 – I’m going to spent a whole week finishing most of the hold. The idea is to finish most of the hold before the winter starts. The majority of the t&g has been done, only corners and more difficult areas have to done.

Today I spent a whole day finishing the side where the electricity wires are. It is a construction that can easily be taken away to have access to the waterline in case I ever have to double the side of the ship.

A trip with the Titine

21st August 2015 – What is more relaxing then sitting on the front deck of a traditional french spits barge while it is cruising on the canals? Sunny weather, no wind and the engine running smoothly…

I decided to make a movie of the skipper and the whole journey. I mounted around ten camera’s on the ship.