Watergeus – Deck

5th April 2010 – My neighbour left for the yard in the early morning. I had a look and went back to sleep shortly after.

Another two meters of deck have been cleaned. Two meters of deck were one and I was surprised to see how bad this part was. A lot of pitting in the metal. It took me more then three hours to have it on bare metal. The result was good and a nice coat of metal primer is protecting it.

In the late afternoon I started again doing a piece near the wheelhouse. Fortunately the deck was in a much better condition.

Watergeus – Cleaning and gardening

27th March 2010 – Again time to work on the boat, this time I continued with the gangway. I managed to do a big part of two meter, so progress can be seen now. In the late afternoon I started gardening on my boat and put some flowers for the spring and summer.

My little davit for the front was delivered as well today. I’ll use it to hold an anchor like the old days.

Annual houseboat meeting

20th March 2010 – We had our annual meeting with the houseboat people of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp and a few other cities.

Besides the meal, party and performance of the band there was also an official part. Since today I’m the chairman of the Vlaamse Woonschepen.

Watergeus – Working on deck

13th March 2010 – The first nice day to work outside. I have some time, so I just started cleaning the gang board of the ship near the back accommodation. Two small pieces were cleaned, all paint and rust removed. Once finished, a good coat of primer was put on the blank metal.

In the late afternoon, I went checking the little boat. Since it is taking more and more water, while it has not been raining, I decided to have a closer look at the hull. While standing in the boat, water came into my boots. I discovered the plug for the air tanks is missing. I have no suitable crane so I added a few more heavier ropes to my ship. If it sinks completely, the ropes will hold the boat.

I really hope the owner will come and collect it.

Watergeus – Salvage of a small boat

6th March 2010 – In the early morning, when I was on deck, I noticed a small boat drifting by with nobody aboard. It was a little to far from my ship to grab it with a hook, so I went to land and threw an anchor to the boat to get it.

 

In the afternoon I put some green near the gangway.

Watergeus – Stoelen

10th February 2010 – I finally have them! After looking for over four years I now found a set of stoelen. These are supports, mounted on the den for putting your gangway, broom and other tools.

Thanks to the owners of the spits barge Julie!

No news

1st February 2010 – For those who follow the conversion of the Watergeus, not much is happening at the moment. I have many plans and will start working soon again! I’m looking for pieces at the moment. Once I have everything I need, updates will follow quickly again!

In the meantime I’m still working on my book for (new) barge owners.