Hornblower – Railing (3)

Posted on by frederic - Updated

8th April 2012 – There are two more things that need to be done on the bow. One of them is a support for the cable sliding along the deck when the anchor is dropped. The other one is the railing on the bow. I wasn’t expecting to finish this job in a half a day, but we did.

The bow, which has been has been the subject of several discussions is finally looking like I really wanted it to look!

 

My parents came to help as well. They sanded the original ceiling in the living room and did some wood work.

MS Hornblower

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Hornblower – Railing (2)

Posted on by frederic - Updated

7th April 2012 – Today we put the railing pipes on their feet. The old feet still need to be cut. It might give a wrong impression, but I won’t use them as a fender or to keep boats away in a lock…

 

Last week, when welding a bulkhead in the engine room, a rotten pipe felt through the hull. Since this hole is only seven centimeters above the waterline, it is now closed by welding a little patch on it. I could have used fiber or something else, but it would not feel safe.

 

MS Hornblower

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Hornblower – Railing

Posted on by frederic - Updated

6th April 2012 – The ship had a railing on only one side. We never had the time to finish this project in Sluiskil. It certainly is not the most important job, but it looks nicer. When I’m going to the yard in May, I don’t want to carry all these length of pipe with me. They are now stored on the hatches of the Watergeus.

Today I cut the feet for the railing and welded them on the boeisel of the ship. A very time consuming job! Welding RVS pipe on metal is not that easy.

MS Hornblower

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Slavery or Hobby?

Posted on by frederic - Updated

27th March 2012 – When I bought the Escapade and later the Hornblower, I always made myself a promise: I shall not work as hard as I did on the Watergeus.

I’m still keeping that promise, but it is fading away. Since last week, I spent every evening (except Friday) working on the Hornblower. Most of the weekend was also gone into working aboard the little ship.

I’m really starting to wonder if this is hobby or just me becoming a slave of all the work on both vessels?

Daily Life around the water

Hornblower – Bulkhead

Posted on by frederic - Updated

27th March 2012 – There was a big steel plate on the Watergeus. It is in my way for the BBQ on Saturday. Therefore it had to be cut in two smaller pieces. I still need a bulkhead at the back of the engine in the Hornblower. I cut a third of a bulkhead out of the plate. It is now in position with clamps. If I have some time tomorrow I might start welding it.

When this will be finished, together with welding the engine room ceiling, all of it should be a totally sealed room. I bought a hatch last Sunday to enter this area. I will put two air vents from the outside to get some air for the engine and generator.

I still don’t know what to do around the shaft to make it sealed as well.

MS Hornblower

Hornblower – Cooling and anchor winch

Posted on by frederic - Updated

23rd March 2012 –  I redid the cooling in the morning. This time everything stays dry!

Some people recommended me to put a filter. When you are moving the boat in shallow water, mud can enter the cooling system. With this filter, I hope to prevent to much coming into the engine.

In the evening I bolted the anchor winch to the deck. When I have some time, I will replace all the bolts with RVS versions. I did the same thing on the Watergeus a few years ago.

MS Hornblower

Hornblower – Cooling part II

Posted on by frederic - Updated

22nd March 2012 – The cooling of the engine was a quick fix in October. It got damaged by the frost in February. I bought some new pieces, fittings and tools to do the job properly. When I was finished it looked good. A few hours later, the back area was filled with at least four cm of water. One of the fittings was not properly sealed or cracked. I didn’t take any risk and removed my whole system. I put back on the original tap. I’ll give it another try tomorrow.

MS Hornblower

Watergeus – Hatch

Posted on by frederic - Updated

18th March 2012 – I made a simple design for the hatch / cover of the box. Two T-profiles were welded to the side of the box. On those profiles, a sheet will be sided. This sheet is also the cover. It is not waterproof yet, but it will at least stop most of the rain from getting to the generator.

While cutting the metal for the hatch, my grinder gave up on me. It is now the second tool that breaks down in less then a week. I guess they are become old…

MS Watergeus

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