16th October 2018 – What should have been an easy day became a long and slow process of getting the Watergeus on the slipway. I arrived at 8 o’clock, my skipper one hour later. The engine was running, I woke up my neighbour and he also started the engine.

The fridge and freezer were off because some skipper had decided to unplug me in favour of his ship. I can throw away all my food.

First, they had to move a spits barge with a dismantled engine, then they had to block a steilsteven, , unblock a spits and launch it in the water. Halfway the operation, it was lunch break. It took another two hours before they pulled the Watergeus out of the water.

Cleaning the hull is a job they will do tomorrow. There is to much work on the yard.
When I got back from the shop to get some new food, I started chipping the bollards. Since there are no ropes around them, it is the perfect time.

My new neighbour has a lovely steilsteven. A very nicely shaped vessel. Nice to look at and friendly people.

10th October 2018 – The tug Kobbe came alongside the Watergeus. It will be drydocked somewhere next week.

7th October 2018 – I didn’t sleep at all! To many boats passing by, to many waves, to much shaking around. When I was back from Aalter, I started working on another content project for Museumschip Tordino. I didn’t have the energy for working aboard the Watergeus. Maybe tomorrow evening.

6th October 2018 – I was up way to early, but nervous as usual. Not like Tordino, the Watergeus is a ship that doesn’t move at all.

There were still a few ropes I had to undo. In Bruges, it is sadly enough often the habit of people to undo ropes for fun. Therefore most boats have enough ropes and a steel cable to make sure it doesnt’t happen.

The crew arrived at 6:30 and we left straight away. The first part took us 45 minutes since we had to go in reverse. One we were through the lock and the multiple bridges in Bruges, the journey went flewently. The plan was to keep the engine running under 1000 rotations a minute and so we did. The journey took 2 hours longer because of this, but there was no overheating the fuel consumption was 70 liters for the whole journey.

At the yard, I managed to get some shore power, so I’m living now with extensions leads from the bedroom to the bathroom… Something I will change are my lights. I must be able, when I have no 380v available, to use the lights aboard.

5th October 2018 – There was a list if things I had to do and things I forgot to do. Both lists were equal. Slightly panicing of what could go wrong, I realised I was less prepared then usual. Since my car was already at the yard, there were no other options then to be creative with my tools and equipment aboard the Watergeus.

1st October 2018 – The anchor winch is fully working now. I mounted the last break. Another item I can remove from my list.