17th March 2013 – I’m running behind on any schedule you could imagine. I will update the blog and conversion work whenever I have some time. Progress on the Hornblower continued, but very slowly.
I was in Furnes today to have a look at some boats. There were less boats then in 2007. The old yard of André looks like it was used yesterday. What a shame the site closed down. How long will it take before flats will rise on this piece of heritage…
9th March 2013 – Anna invited me for a theater production in Brussels. I wanted to visit a spits barge, so I combined both events with Filip and made a day out in Brussels.
There are a few houseboats in Brussels and some more in Anderlecht, next to Brussels. I had a look and was surprised to see a collection of different vessels.
It was becoming late, so the quality of the pictures is not that good.
2nd March 2013 – As every Sunday, I have been driving around to see boats, this time I went to Kortrijk and Antwerp.
23rd February 2013 – I did some work on the Hornblower this week. It is all getting closer to being finished. The last bits take the most of time. I’m not working that hard at the moment, it is just too cold!
Therefore, or maybe I use this as an excuse, I decided to go boat spotting again, this time in Péronnes where I had been last month. One of the people here is at the yard with his ship. Time to have a look and chat to the other boat people in the area!
29th December 2012 – I happened to be in Antwerp. A bit further is Schoten. It has a big canal full of old barges. I spent he whole afternoon driving there, taking pictures and speaking to people. It was dry for the first time in ten days as well!
9th December 2012 – Always working is no good to anybody. I drove to Izegem to see some boats and to visit a small exhibition in the local yacht club. I have pretty much the arrogance to say I know most spits barges in Belgium. Nevertheless, I discovered one I didn’t know. I looked it up in the evening and found her history. Sometimes I wonder what I like more, converting them or looking for their history…
7th December 2012 – It’s been quiet on the blog and the website. This doesn’t mean I took some time off, not at all! I’ve spent a lot of time driving around to see some boats. It is becoming colder, so working in the evening aboard the Hornblower is not that nice. We had our first day of snow as well today.
When I have some more time, I’ll try to update the site again!
3rd November 2012 – I’m back after a week of being ill. I worked on the Hornblower. It was a big disappointment to find back the boat full of water . There was no place that was dry! I should have taken some pictures to illustrate what water can do and where it can enter a ship…
28th October 2012 – I made a trip in the country instead of working. I went to Péronnes, Oudenaarde and Ghent. The weather was surprisingly good. Besides a lot of nice pictures and some ideas for my own conversion aboard the Hornblower, I found some ships where I believed they were scrapped a long time ago!
I’m planning to go there more often!
19th September 2012 – While I’m continuing to convert the Hornblower, I now realize I have to do it a bit slower. My back has became worse again.
This morning, a nice small Beurtschip passed along our ships in Bruges.
4th September 2012 – After three days I barely did something on the Hornblower. I’m struggling badly with my back. My parents and friends came to help me on some occasions. I had plenty of time for planning.
Once more I realized that clamps can help you a lot when doing a job.
Today was probably the day of tjalken. I noticed three tjalken passing by.
26th August 2012 – Today I did something that you should never do. Take it as an example of how not to go to sea! If I knew everything when I arrived in Blankenberge, I might have considered going back home! Upon arrival I discovered there were no charts, binoculars or a working VHF radio. I had my mobile phone with all the important phone numbers with me. There were life jackets and our navigation lights were working.
With a simple plan of following the coast line, I thought we could make it easily. When I left Blankenberge, it was still dark. I had trouble leaving the harbour because of heavy waves hitting us. Quickly I realized following the coast line was not that easy. I then tried moving the boat from one buoy to the other. After two buoys, I never found a third one. By then the day came and I could clearly see the coast and all the buildings. Three hours later I was in Ostend. The harbour authorities didn’t like it I had no VHF. We had to wait for some time before they let us continue the journey to Bruges.
Nevertheless it was a nice experience and a good journey.
While sitting on my own boat in the afternoon, a nice little Luxe Motor passed by. It was the Hielke.
20th August 2012 – I had a look at a yacht of a friend in Blankenberge. It had been a while since I last visited the yacht harbour. It is a small port along the Belgian coast.
18th August 2012 – A friend was in need of some help to move the spits barge Waterbloem. We brought it from Ghent to Bruges. I helped him. It was around 34°C and standing in a wheelhouse above an engine was not exactly refreshing!
12th August 2012 – A houseboat in Belgium needs to go to the shipyard every five to six years. This means I can join on a lot of trips for pleasure or working. Today I joined for both! We brought a spits barge from Ghent to the yard in Rupelmonde. It is the same Yard I took the Watergeus to in May 2012.
