22nd January 2018 – Navigation lights are running, so is the blue board, the horn, the radio’s and much more! My 12v circuit is working. It feels good to know that another thing on my list is done. Next thing is to clean up the engine room and get the engine running.
Author: frederic - page 95
21st January 2018 – Every muscle in my body was hurting. Working was no option today. I drove around in Holland to pick up several museum objects like namesigns, paintings and books. First time doing long distances with my new van! Was a great journey.
20th January 2018 – In the early morning, I mounted OSB on top of the frame from the old accommodation. I can now walk on it to finish the walls above and to build the ceiling of the hold.
In the afternoon, I lifted and mounted an 80kg wooden beam for the support of the ceiling. I had to move it up to a height of 3m30. Wit a wooden construction, a few screws and a rope, I managed to get one side right. The other side needs to be another 20cm higher, but I had no strength left, neither was my temporary construction strong enough to hold any more pressure. Will be continued…
19th January 2018 – Wood had to be delivered today. The company couldn’t tell me exactly when they would come, so I started working in the hold. It was a lovely dry day. Hatches were open and it felt like working outside on a sunny day. fresh air, not to cold!
The door in the corridor to the second part of the hold was mounted. It is the same style of door as the main entrance. Last year I bought three similar old cabin doors. They have nice brass fittings.
Wood was delivered in the afternoon. I cut the wooden beams on the right size and mounted them above the old accommodation. I took beams of 14cm heigh to make sure it could support itself. I now have a frame for the ceiling of the old cabin!
16th January 2018 – I’ve just spent an evening working on Tordino. The walls are now finished on the outside of the old cabin. It now looks like a square box. I was surprised to see how much plywood went into making these walls.
15th January 2018 – I just moved the story on the Escapade from the old to the new site! The conversion of the Aquarel is a bit longer. I’ve just moved the year 2016 and 2017 to this new site!
14th January 2018 – Eighteen square meters done with t&g. I’ll have to do at least that amount again somewhere next week. It is a job without thinking. Just unpack it and shoot a few nails through each wooden plank against the wall. So repetitive….
The more I’m finishing the hold, the better the room starts looking. I can’t wait to hang the paintings, furniture and objects.
13th January 2018 – I started unloading the van, then drilling holes for the remaining day. I ran out of bolts, so I couldn’t continue with the frame. Annoying, but there was plenty of other work to do. I don’t think I will make my deadline, the end of March.
12th January 2018 – All the wires in the wheelhouse had to be connected to three switch panels. Maybe a mistake I made, I should have counted how many instruments I had because three panels aren’t really enough. It took us several hours to get it all connected. Testing will be for another moment.
10th January 2018 – Just unloaded three fuel drums to put clean fuel in, while I can clean my tank for the journey in May. I removed some rubbish from the engine room, it starts to look clean.
Once the bulkhead is finished, I can do some updates on the paintwork.
9th January 2018 – When I came back from Tordino, I drilled two more holes through the wheelhouse to put some cables into the engine room. It is a very busy week and I wouldn’t know any other moment where I could do it. On Friday, we start connecting the cables to the batteries.
9th January 2018 – My father is coming this weekend to do some insulation jobs. Therefore, I need to finish the wooden frame around the den. In the end, I only built seven wooden ribs. It was slightly getting to cold to continue.
Earlier this year, I got three similar doors, probably from cabins aboard a bigger seagoing vessel. They were used in a houseboat and when it got scrapped, I put them in my garage. One door was already used to enter the hold in Tordino. Now I will use the two other doors as well.
Since I have a van again, I put them in the back and will drop them of tomorrow evening.
I spent most of the day in the wheelhouse. A few more cables had to be pulled through the floor. I mounted a second life ring, my life jackets and ropes around the other life rings. Some cleaning was done and now it is again possible to walk in the wheelhouse!
The year didn’t start well, broken car and a broken heater in the Watergeus. Today I got another van, a smaller one, but I don’t have intentions of doing another boating project in the next three or four years. Maintaining Tordino and Watergeus is already a lot of work! Keeping a museum up and running will also take energy!
My heather was fixed as well in the late afternoon.
I had a chat yesterday evening with a friend living on a boat, a bit further along the quay. He recommended me to stop doing project and to enjoy a bit more of life. Maybe he is right!
