11th January 2015 – The frame for the ceiling is finished. I continued till I ran out of insulation. Around one third needs insulation and the ceiling is finished. Another step forward!
Author: frederic - page 121
8th January 2015 – Found a solution for adding more strength to the roof. It is a bit of struggling to get to it, but it is strong. It holds my weight for a minute. Then I have to drop because the wood is cutting in my fingers….
6th January 2015 – A bit cold to work late in the evening. After a few hours, it was warm enough. Insulating the ceiling, building frames and mounting the sheets of multiplex. Progress is visible again!
In some ways, I’m starting to doubt whether the ceiling will hold. The frame might be bending or breaking. I don’t know exactly how to solve it, something to think about and not to sleep the next couple of days.
4th January 2015 – Taking pictures for future generations is important. A lot of ships go to the scrapyard or are getting converted to a floating object, you will never recognize their origin. I went to Furnes to take some pictures. A blue sky, not to cold and dry. The perfect weather for a relaxing afternoon!
3rd January 2015 – Just continuing where I stopped yesterday. Shooting nails, cutting t&g, measuring and seeing how much progress I’m making. The packs of wood are going quickly, the ceiling isn’t…
2nd January 2015 – After a short, but fabulous holiday in the Ardennes, I decided to give it a go. For the last two weeks, I didn’t do much. In some ways a shame, but you need a break sometimes.
1st January 2015 – I had a quick look to see if everything was fine. Sometimes, a commercial barge mores alongside. This is the moment you realize who has the biggest boat…
21st December 2014 – As usual, it is busy and my body isn’t recovering from a cold as it should be. I wonder why…
Progress is slow on the Aquarel, I’ve done some more insulation, cleaning up, T&g and I mounted the chimney piece for the diesel heather in the hold.
21st December 2014 – I continued insulating the ceiling and around the framework for the watertanks. Once the watertanks are in position, I have some space to walk around in the ship.
20th December 2014 – Dry weather, but a lot of wind. I decided for a go and cut a few holes in the ceiling. One was for air ventilation at the entrance of the hold. The second one was for the chimney pipe. The cutting was the easiest part. It took some time since I had to run downstairs several times to check if everything was safe. I had nobody to help me with checking for fire or smoke…
1st December 2014 – The boat was craned out today. The welder had some metal chairs to put underneath the ship and four heavy profiles to keep the ship stable on the chairs. Craning took some time. We needed a big crane and they always come in two parts, the crane and a deeploader with the ballast and the remaining accessories for the crane.
1st December 2014 – A special day for some people, me included. I worked aboard the Aquarel in the morning and then drove to Izegem, where we dry-docked this ship with the help of a crane.
1st December 2014 – Just the morning free to do some work on the boat. I finished lining out the den on the other side. It now has a good thick layer of insulation and one layer of multiplex. The T&G will be for another day…
24th November 2014 – The owner called me there was some water in the boat. He wanted me to find a welder and an option to drydock the ship, but the cheapest possible option.
Together with a welder we visited the ship in Izegem. We didn’t come to early! The bilges were filled with water, not a bucket or two, but much more. We suggested drydocking the ship on the spot and doing some repairs. The ship is moored next to an empty piece of land and the quay is big enough. There was shore power and and a crane will likely be the most expensive part of the job. We talked several ideas through and went home to calculate a price for this project.
23rd November 2014 – First job was to clean the dirt that I made yesterday. Some water in the bilges, a lot of dust and some old wood. I was little motivated, so I didn’t do much in adding some new wood to the sides. Will be for tomorrow…