15th August 2013 – Last time I was in Ghent to take pictures must have been last year, around this period. I was working aboard the old coffee shop boat.
I started my day at the Carron yard in Zelzate, followed by the Port Service yard in Ghent and ending on a few more houseboats at the Muide and Voorhavenlaan. It was a nice day!
3rd August 2013 – Breaking down some more of the old bathroom
2nd August 2013 – The hull needs a good coat of paint. I tried painting her, but yachts are passing to quickly and at the end of the day my little boat sank because of the waves and the hits to the hull it had to sustain…
Why can’t yacht people be social? I’m angry, very angry!
30th July 2013 – I put a little life or work boat aboard. I had been looking for years to fin a little boat that I could carry on the rooftop of my car. A little boat you can carry yourself and that doesn’t sink.
The plan is to work on the hull in the weekend. I want her to look a bit better.
28th July 2013 – The last remains of the floor in the bedroom were removed. I cleaned the floor. I’m getting there to give it an impression of a cargo hold. I just need to remove that little more and you feel yourself in an old cargo boat!
I’ve started putting new electricity in the hold. The old one was very unsafe and badly damaged during the rip-out work I had done the last two months.
27th July 2013 – For the first time in weeks it has been raining and badly! Just the moment to unload a generator and use a car crane. There was lightning all around us! My neighbour and me managed to load her aboard in less then fifteen minutes. Isn’t it great to have a working car crane?
My workshop is becoming a mess. Lately, I filled it with tools, useful stuff and less useful stuff. I started cleaning it completely. Time was running out, I’ll do the rest on a later date.
26th July 2013 – It is nice to have shore power when you are working. In case it falls out, you can’t do much these days. Most tools need power. If batteries are flat you need to charge them, etc…
I’ve just got hold of a 6kva Hatz generator, electric starting. It took four people to load her in my van. I’m by myself tomorrow to unload it…
21st July 2013 – Instead of working on the National Holiday, we did a little trip to Ghent. My neighbour has an old tug, nicely converted into a houseboat. We drove it to Ghent, enjoyed the nice weather and had a lot of fun!
20th July 2013 – Today I spent most of the time breaking out the living room and kitchen. There is so much wood, I will have to drive several times to th skip place. Like last week, behind every panel is another amount of stuff to be found. This time is is steel cable and a pack of new power cables.
In the evening I made a little test drive with my neighbours tug.
14th July 2013 – During the weekend I cleaned up what was left of the bathroom and removed the bedroom where I used to sleep. As I was not surprised, I found some more hidden surprises.
7th July 2013 – One of the reasons why I like Beernem is the amount of traffic on the canal. I’ve seen a lot of nice boats passing by. Sadly enough, I was often to late to take a picture.
6th July 2013 – A long time ago, I read in a book on surviving earthquakes, that a bathroom is often the most secure place to stay. While ripping out the walls of this bathroom, I can confirm this statement! This bathroom was built in massive wood, two frameworks and four layers of paneled wood.
30th June 2013 – You can’t always work, and so a neighbour and me decided to organize a BBQ! It took all day and lasted all day. So did I!
29th June 2013 – While breaking down the second bedroom, I started to smell and feel a lot of moisture. Quickly I discovered the bathroom must have been leaking for years (and still does). This means, I will remove the bathroom before I continue with the rest of the ship. Since I want no leaking water tank, I’m carefully disconnecting pipe by pipe and wire by wire.
During the removal of stuff, I discovered a little door? Once opened, it was filled with wood and rubbish, enough to fill half my car! Most people would be excited, I’m starting to have enough of discovering rooms with rubbish…
23th June 2013 – It has been raining the whole day. I was expecting it since the forecast was right this time. A perfect moment for an inside job. I broke down the second bedroom. So when you walk aboard the Aquarel, two rooms have rivets and wooden hatches visible!
Most work in breaking down an old interior is filling up the car and driving away with lots of rubbish! She is in a better condition then when I bought the Watergeus. Nevertheless I still prefer an empty hull then one with an interior….