Category: Daily Life around the water - page 4

A day in Antwerp

13th June 2021 – I went to see a little Dutch ship in Antwerp. It is a flat bottom sailing boat from around 7 meters. I like it a lot, but I’m not sure if it is worth the effort. It certainly looks traditional, but it hasn’t been maintained for years. I’m also worried about the logistic nightmare for bringing her over to Bruges, since I need to sail over the Schelde. The other issue is I’m still in negotiation about the sailing ship Baron…

 

The repairs aboard the Maxx – A journey to Ghent

20th April 2021 – The owner wanted me to move the ship to Ghent. I asked a friend to join so I was sure I had somebody reliable on the front deck. When we left, I nearly hit the lock but could quickly turn around. The ship  was so hard to steer and it didn’t listen at all. If you went to slowly it didn’t listen at all. Thankfully it had a reliable bowthruster that helped me a lot. We were not even out of Bruges of the engine was more or less a steam engine and in Beernem the engine stopped working. It started again and slowly we continued the journey but had to abandon the trip at the marina in Beernem. We are halfway….

My battery of the phone died in between, so I could only take a few pictures from the beginning of the journey…

The repairs aboard the Maxx – Launching the ship

3rd April 2021 – Today I helped launching the Maxx again. Sadly enough it was again no success. The manager of the marina wanted us to stay in the water, while I was sure this was not a good idea. After about 5 minutes I could no longer keep her up without pumping. I tried moving the ship with the idea of bringing her to a yard, but the steering was that bad I had to return and taker her back out of the water.

Tordino – Distance keepers

23rd March 2021 – The second part of the distance keepers arrived today. We unloaded them and put them on the street side to paint them. The whole construction is much heavier then expected. I got some paint left from another project and the first set of parts got a first coat of primer.

Boats are fine

15th February 2021 – I was worried about my ships. I had to work today and then go to the dentist. I was more afraid something would be wrong with a pipe then they would find some holes in my teeth. But both were fine! Nice weather is coming so I’ll start working again tomorrow. 

Those few degrees extra outside make it back  a warm feeling aboard the Watergeus. I now have again 18°C instead of 8°C.  So, one day of not heating takes three days to heat the whole ship!

When people can start skating…..

14th February 2021 – When people can start skating, it is time to worry about pipes and frost damage. I had trouble with the bathroom outlet but also with the cold water system aboard the Watergeus. I’m not sure yet if the Stern will be fine. I did put a lot of heating aboard but it is still worrying.  I had a few drinks in the evening aboard the Stern. It is a small ship, so easily to heat.  The canal is sill partly frozen so we shall see tomorrow. 

In the meantime, the outlet issue of the Watergeus is solved, but it is still only 11°C in the living room, 3°C more then this morning!

Cold weather

8th February 2021 – I just checked my ships today and it wasn’t a bad idea at all to do so. Snow blew into my door of the Stern. On the Watergeus, I had forgotten to switch on the heather but on Tordino everything was fine. I’m not feeling so comfortable with these temperatures. 

Bruges – High water

29th January 2021 – I have never seen the water so high as today. I was glad to be at home so I could keep an eye on both my ships. The Stern nearly ended up on the wooden beam on the side of the canal. Watergeus is much deeper in the water. Since water was raising quickly, there was the chance  that Watergeus could lift up its gangway or gets stuck underneath it. None of this happened!