25th June 2010 – A longtime ago I helped a few people finding a barge. They would use her as a centre for young people. I recommended them the Arma, a strongly built maatkast with the look of a Luxe Motor. More on that ship, the Arma, can be found here and here.
Today it was the official opening of the barge, and I was invited. It felt good to see a successful project!
17th May 2010 – The Arma had to be moored the other side, so we turned her over in the evening. At least people have now an easier access to get aboard.
6th May 2010 – We moved the Arma to her new mooring, not far from the Watergeus.
14th November 2009 – The Arma had arrived yesterday. She has been converted but is still unfinished, like many boating projects. I helped closing a hole in the den so rain will not come in that easily. The windows were not delivered in time, so they left the yard half finished….
27th June 2009 – We left at 8:45 in the morning. Besides a lot of food, the skipper, owner and me, we also took plenty of water with us in case we needed filling the engine. We slowly sailed towards the first lock. This was the only one we had to wait some time. My parents came to say hello and wish us a good trip.
The next lock and bridges to get out of Bruges all went smooth and quickly. Between two bridges we had some trouble loosing control of the steering but the skipper quickly discovered the cause. The regulator was slightly bent on the control panel.
Since there were a lot of mussels the ship sailed slowly, even on full power. Every now and then we had to slow down because a red light was warning us on the temperature of the engine.
We arrived in Harelbeke, having sailed most of the time myself, at 7 o’clock in the evening. It was a nice trip with nice weather aboard a nice ship! Sadly it wasn’t going that quick…
More pictures: Click here
26th June 2009 – In the afternoon I went helping to close the floor in the hold, together with some people from the organization that owns the Arma.
Later that day the skipper came to make a little test drive with the ship. After a few minutes the engine started to overheat. We sailed back with the bow thruster and moored the ship again on his mooring. It was clear, we wouldn’t sail tomorrow to Harelbeke.
Since they really wanted to leave, I called a friend to come and help sorting out the problems. By the end of the evening, all covered in oil and grease, the engine was running. Air had come in the cooling system.
It was good to know we would leave Bruges tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be on full speed. On one year time, the hull was completely grown with mussels and weed.
22nd June 2009 – I went having a look at the Arma. The engine is running now. The batteries of the bow thruster will be replaced later this week, so we have no knowledge of the situation for this engine.
16th June 2009 – Friday we will sail with the Arma to a small yard in Harelbeke for a major conversion. As expected, the engine wouldn’t start. The only engine that ran was the generator since it is hand started.
26th October 2008 – I had the chance to remove all pieces I wanted from the back accommodation. Sadly the inside was redone in the 90’s and they didn’t use any quality stuff. While removing the new paneling to get to the roof, I noticed behind the walls and underneath the roof, there was another layer of wood, damaged to badly so no use in saving it. I saved some smaller lists and details for my own ship, also some furniture and cooking equipment.
In the afternoon, everything was loaded in a van and dropped on my ship. In the evening I started sorting out all the wood, making sure I could rebuild some frames, etc… I started sorting out the screws, but gave this up very quickly.
24th October 2008 – I went to have a look to the Arma where I could remove all pieces I wanted from the back accommodation.
16th June 2008 – Today we sailed the Arma, a Friese Maatkast from Sluiskil to Bruges where it will be converted into an office space and youth centre. It was a lovely journey that started at 5:30 in the morning in Sluiskil. At noon we had arrived in Bruges, where it took again a long time to pass through all bridges and locks.
She is a fully equipped ship, making use of a pilot instead of a traditional steering wheel. This is far more practical, but for my harder to handle since you don’t have that much feeling as with a steering wheel.
20th April 2008 – Lovely weather today. Since I had been working quiet hard for the last couple of weeks, it was time to have a break and visit my friends in Sluiskil and Terneuzen. Before leaving, I decided to take another picture of my crane, now with sunshine.
While in Terneuzen, I went looking at the Arma that was dry-docked for inspection. She really is a nice looking vessel. 
9th February 2008 – In the morning I visited a Friese Maatkast in Sluiskil with some people who are looking to buy a barge and convert into a space for young people (also office space, etc..). The weather was nice and we had the chance to make a small trip with the ship on the canal Ghent-Terneuzen.
In the afternoon I ran my engine, it had already been over a month since it ran the last time.