7th August 2015 – For the first time this year, I organized a BBQ with several of my friends who helped me during a difficult period. So many people helped me I’ll organize a second one later this month.
1st August 2015 – We had our annual Kolenkaai Feesten. All neighbours of the houses and the boat people who come together for a drink, barbecue and a concert.
18th July 2015 – Another month has passed since the last update. Once my study room on the Watergeus will be redone, I hope to update on a more regular base. I didn’t stop working since last month. Have a look at some of my progress.
18th July 2015 – I only have half a day, so I decided to do some smaller jobs like cleaning the corridor and hovering the dust out. Since it is my living accommodation, I like keeping it clean.
The weather was fine and I had to paint around the portholes inside. So I started outside, the bow needed a good coat of paint. It was cleaned last year when my foot was broken, but never got any coat of paint. Once the bow was painted, I continued with the supports for the zwierbomen and two bollards. Since the inside is painted and all the insulation is gone, I don’t smell any burn smell anymore. Everything will come right at some point…
16th July 2015 – Half a days spent of finishing the floor. The small front area now looks much bigger. I put a coat of primer on the wood and now you get a good feeling about the size. Together with the front cabin, it could be a nice accommodation.
Anyway, I will use it as my new study room – library. The front area was one of the last non insulated areas aboard. There is one more, but since it is a storage unit, I’ll keep it bare metal for now.
15th July 2015 – I finished the ceiling in the front area. It was much more work then expected, but it always is on boats!
My father cleaned some old shipping floor (azobe wood) and I mounted it as my new floor. Every planks has a weight of 30 or more kilograms. Cutting is very hard and by the evening, only halve was done. Since I forgot my electric screw driver on the Aquarel, I could only shoot a few nails. Half of the nails bent in the wood.
12th July 2015 – Before I could continue I had to clean the remaining stuff from the front area. I had enough of moving it from one side to the other. One piece of decoration, the old name sign of the Ross Leopard, was mounted on the wall. The black letters on a white background give a special effect to the room. It also means a lot to me hanging that old board in my ship.
11th July 2015 – With a small hangover, I decided to continue shooting t&g to the walls and ceiling in the front accommodation. By the end of the evening most was done.
10th July 2015 – With some friends, we had a small boat trip on the canal. It really felt like living the old days again. Being on the water and making use of it, just having fun and not thinking about working.
7th July 2015 – My plan is to put the water tanks in position so I have plenty of space in the hold. I know the frame for the water tanks has no spare space. Every millimeter matters. I managed to mount two tanks. The third one doesn’t fit…
A problem to be solved later…
6th July 2015 – Finished welding the stairs to the hold. Cleaned it, removed the dust and started painting. Since it was becoming dark I had to stop painting. Maybe another day tomorrow?
3rd July 2015 – The center of the mast was to thin. It was solid, but I found it to risky to use it. If the mast falls, it is more then 1000kgs of steel that will come down. It took us a few hours to move the mast, remove the center and put a new one in. I used an old shaft as cent er. massive, heavy and wider then the previous one. I also changed the access to it. Now I can remove and replace the center much easier in case something would go wrong.
29th June 2015 – So finally working a whole day on the Aquarel. I did manage to build most of the bar. The main issue was the heat. It was so hot aboard I couldn’t work for more then one hour before holding a break. I lost most of the time putting the hatch in front of the bar. I’m reusing a part of an old wooden hatch in front of the bar. I’m not sure whether I will keep it that way. It is dark and hard to recognize a hatch. I’ll have night sleep before making my final decision.
28th June 2015 – I opened the floor where the bar will be built. part of that floor is becoming fixed so I cleaned the bilges and oiled them. they are looking much better when they are greasy. I was surprised to see how much dust has been collected since I last cleaned them, nearly a year ago…
20th June 2015 – After a week of not being fit to work, I decided to try some work. The corridor between my workspace and the front of the ship is now nearly finished and covered with a coat of primer.
Outside on deck, the last black remains of the fire were repainted. I still need my new windows, but the deck and hull are looking better again.
