24th February 2021 – I made a temporary door aboard the Stern where most of my tools are. I drove to Beernem and mounted it. Never make something for a ship somewhere else but on the ship where it is ment for! I had to cut it twice, but it nicely fits. Just before I left, I gave it a first coat of oil. How long will this door last? No idea. I’m happy with six months!
23rd February 2021 – I sanded down the cabin on port side and gave it a fresh coat of white paint. The new entrance also got it first coat. It is starting to look a bit more like an integrated entrance. I had some trouble connecting the hose for the drainage of the water. It is now attached to the pipes, but it certainly needs adjusting. The pipe is no standard size so I will have to buy a bigger hose.
22nd February 2021 – I made some modifications to the entrance and then started removing some more green paint from the deck. I was happy with what has been done, but a lot more needs doing.
In the afternoon the metalwork for the entrance was finished and painted.
21st February 2021 – I started cleaning up the mess that was left last night. Then I started removing the green paint from the top o the kitchen. Something went wrong and the paint started pealing off. While doing so, I also removed most of the paint from the rivited lifeboat. My mother did the rest while my father started cleaning the deck with a high pressure machine.
20th February 2021 – We started early in the morning we were stopped yesterday. With a heavy jack we managed to get the cabin in position, a tricky and dangerous operation where many things could go wrong. Having the right tools is half the job. Not being afraid the other half.
19th February 2021 – We tried mounting the entrance but it did not work, so we try again tomorrow with proper tools. I was a bit frustrate and hoped to be much further. Also the weather was not as promised, or at least not in the morning.
9th February 2021 – I did a quick check on Tordino. After a phone call in the wheelhouse I felt asleep for an hour. It was so lovely in the sun behind glass….
The entrance was still in position. I was a bit worried when the ice would melt, that the whole construction could slide down.
30th January 2021 – Just like in Bruges, water is high on most rivers and canals at the moment. I had a check on Tordino to make sure everything was fine.
5th December 2020 – First the good news: the new charger is installed and I have heating again!. This is great. Thanks to my friends for helping me.
There was a small rotten piece under the door of the wheelhouse. While taking it away, I discovered more and more wet wood. So after about ten minutes of work, I just realize I can better rebuild the wheelhouse. There is now a cover over the roof. This will keep dry for a while. In the meantime the old interior will be removed. It is nothing special anyway and it exists of several layers of plywood and Formica. Time to make it look more traditional again. Maybe I’ll use some of the recovered interior from the Jeanne.
Together with my mother, we made some traditional curtains for the windows. The next step is to remove the modern rolling curtains and also replace them with traditional ones.
29th November 2020 – I had a quick check and the charger is holding it. In the meantime while I was there, I did some measuring of the new entrance and I’m getting there how to build it. It is difficult how to make a nice entrance and and still let it look traditional.
28th November 2020 – I already noticed late in the afternoon I had no AIS signal so there was no power aboard. When I checked the engine room it was not the mains power but the charger that is broken, a very expensive one… It lasted over ten years, so I can’t complain.
I used another charger to keep my ship alife since all my equipment is running of the inverter aboard..
11th November 2020 – Today we cleaned the decks of Tordino, worked in the museum hanging out new objects, adding more labels and lowering an one cylinder Bernard engine.
31st October 2020 – The last day in Belgium before the lockdown. Thankfully the DIY shops will remain open. In the early morning I went to a cheap tools shop that is closing tomorrow. I was there at 8:30 and the shop opens at 9:00. There was already a massive queue of people waiting. I bought some paint for the Stern, screws and tools.. I lowered it by 11 centimeters. It still looks high, but the difference in colour makes it look strange. Once painted, I hope it will be better.
Then I started looking at the wheelhouse. It needs a lot of maintenance as well. I was surprised to see how quickly Tordino is deteriorating. Next weekend, I will continue to work aboard.
25th October 2020 – I spent most of the morning welding and painting the framework for the skylight of Tordino.
24th October 2020 – The second box for the lights was mounted in the early morning. Tordino is starting to look better and better every day.
Later I went shopping, buying a metal sheet for the frame of the wooden skylight my mother is restoring. With one sheet, a few metal strips and hours of welding, I got very far today!
