25th December 2011 – A Merry Christmas to everyone!
Category: Daily Life around the water - page 24
24th December 2011 – Friends called me they had seen some nice ships coming to Bruges. They recommended me taking the car and have a look at them, so I did.
It was a Steilsteven built in 1906 at the Boelwerf in Temse and a spits barge from 1893 built in Bruges. Both ships are restoration projects.
22nd December 2011 – My ex neighbour from Sluiskil who has a commercial barge is coming over for the Christmas period with his barge and family. It will be a great Christmas period! Talking about the early days, having drinks and making fun in Bruges!
21st December 2011 – It has been raining for over a week. Water level has raised and lowered on different times. It has been a difference of nearly two meters between low and high water. This means we have to adjust our ropes nearly every day. When the water is on its highest point, rubbish that has been floating around gets stuck on the wooden supports on land. We need to clean this. If we don’t, it starts smelling badly!
11th December 2011 – Google Streetview can be a good utility to track down some boats. Here are two pictures of the bakdekkruiser Escapade in Wachtebeke.
9th December 2011 – I had to be in Leuven for a concert in the evening. I decided to get their a bit earlier to look for some houseboats.
8th December 2011 – There was another meeting of the board of Vlaamse Woonschepen. This time it was on the Watergeus. If only we had enough money, we should have our own barge as a club house…
23rd November 2011 – The last part of the journey, from Beernem to its mooring in Bruges. Sadly enough the engine wasn’t to stable and by the time we arrived it was dark.
20th November 2011 – It was to much fog to continue our journey. So I returned home in the afternoon after taking some pictures and talking with some local skippers. The skipper gave me his car. He will pick it up when he is in Bruges with his ship.
19th November 2011 – We left Amsterdam at 7 o’clock in the morning. The ship was moored in the Prinsengracht. After one hour we were near the Scheepvaartmuseum. I spent most of the time watching around and taking pictures. The Carpe Diem was designed to fit underneath every bridge in Amsterdam.
At 9 o’clock we were picked up by the kempenaar Harte Aas that would bring us to Rotterdam. Later that evening we arrived in the Merwede harbour.
18th November 2011 – Leaving early for Amsterdam doesn’t necessarily mean you get on time. Our train had two hours delay because of an accident. We decided to take the bus to Antwerp and then continue by train.
On arrival, we made a walk, the same we are planning to take tomorrow with the boat. It seems that every bridge is high enough to pass!
We had a good meal in the Restaurant De Fles in Amsterdam. Aboard we went to bed, since it would be a heavy day tomorrow!
17th November 2011 – Since we will have to move the boat before Monday, it needs a lot of preparation! This was done today. Since my experience with the Frantsis, Escapade and the Hornblower, it seems like an easy job. Certainly when you are with two people to do the job.
16th November 2011 – I went to see a boat in Amsterdam in the evening. After work I drove to Amsterdam to visit a snik / pakschuit. It was once owned by a Dutch painter.
12th November 2011 – The good thing of visiting several boats a month is you get an idea on how different people convert different vessels on their own way. They ship I visited today was a rebuilt beurtschip like the Frantsis. Her bow was raised like the Hornblower. The price was a little high and there was to much work. It was moored next to ship where there had been an explosion. So all the windows on one side were gone.
In the afternoon I worked on the Hornblower.
7th November 2011 – The first day was a success for that spits barge I was working on yesterday; They made it reasonable far. Another day tomorrow and the ship is on its mooring.
