30rd August 2018 – My neighbour in Beernem needs to go to drydock for its periodical maintenance. He has a beautiful air started Klockner Deutz engine. We tired starting the engine, but it didn’t show much life. An air pipe was broken. We managed to get the auxiliary engine started and the bottle filled with air.
We give it another go tomorrow evening.
When I was back aboard Tordino, I built that Library cabinet I got on Monday.
27th August 2018 – Just driving up and down to Ikea to get another storage unit for the Library. With the additional collection of Books I got last week, there was no other option.
For the future, I might remove my workshop and convert it into a book storage unit. This means I have to insulate that area as well. There is always something to do aboard Tordino.
26th August 2018 – Another afternoon of labeling paintings and objects aboard Tordino. I was surprised to see how many new objects were mounted the last couple of weeks. Every time I’m open, I try to hang a few paintings.
25th August 2018 – In two weeks time, there is Open Monumentendag. I have a special exhibition about Belgian shipping. The last preparations were done today. Some frames and paintings can’t be lifted by one person. Earlier this year, one of the paintings came loose, felt down and damaged one of the boat models.
23rd August 2018 – A nice addition to the Library, I managed to get over 100 books from a family in IJmuiden. After work, I drove up and down, nearly 600 kilometers in one evening. It was worth every bit of the journey.
20th August 2018 – I don’t like it when people are passing at high speed. A neighbour has a nice small boat with an 50hp engine that needs some adjustment. We made a small journey….
The conversion of the Aquarel has moved to this new site. The conversion of the Watergeus and the Hornblower will follow as soon as I have time!
18th August 2018 – In the morning I went to an auction on maritime objects. I bought some nice pieces for Museumschip Tordino and for the Watergeus. I had been looking for some time to get myself a proper ship’s bell.
After I moved paintings and objects from the Watergeus to my museum, my living space started looking empty, soulless. I found a few nice decorative items I will now mount.
I spent painting a part of the gangway in the afternoon. The outside needs to be looking good as well!
17th August 2018 – So much grinding todo….
16th August 2018 – The generator was removed today. At least some more space on the front deck. It took us three people to get it of the boat.
You need to put the dimensions of your ship and the Certificate number on both sides of the ship. I made some wooden name signs and welded a bracket today.
I grinded some rust of the deck in the evening.
15th August 2018 – Another item on my list of upgrading the Watergeus is mounting a porthole in the engine room door. This is something I wanted to do for years.
14th August 2018 – Years ago, I welded a metal box on the front deck for a generator. I’ve never used it and now it is time to remove it along with several other objects. The old petrol engine for the anchor winch, a support for a bench vise and some old brackets were also removed. I now have some space on deck and it looks more like when she was a commercial barge!
10th August 2018 – Since I put away my tools aboard Tordino last month, it feels like I have nothing to do, no active conversions. I had the preparations of the crossing, but now this is done as well.
There is still so much I need to do, like making the Watergeus ready for her survey, painting Tordino, working on the content of my museum, etc….
I am now making plans of converting the last space aboard the Watergeus. This is a low budget project. I first need to cut away a ballast tank I welded 11 years ago. There is still the cleanup of the frontdeck, removing an old generator and a support for a workbench.
At the beginning of next year, I will insulate the middle section of Tordino. I’ve seen this summer it was to warm.
So where to start first…
9th August 2018 – I bought a camera and a wireless router. The idea is to monitor the entrance of Tordino while I’m working in the Library. So I can easily follow if people are getting aboard the ship.
I work in the IT world and on the package of both items was mentioned ‘easy setup’. It took me nearly three hours and a lot of watching on Youtube to get everything running!
The camera wil be mounted Saturday morning. Hopefully everything will work!
5th Augusts 2018 – After a good night sleep, we started the engine and headed for Gravesend. At Southend, we dropped anchor, had a swim and picked a crew member up from the pier. It was an old friend, who I helped two years go bringing over her barge to London.
Just before arriving in Gravesend, we dropped anchor, had a second swim and went of to the mooring It took us some time to properly get the boat in position. We had no space left and had to pull her in by hand. She is now moored in a nice small dock with a lightvessel and a Thames Sailing Barge. The old tug Kent is on the other side of the pontoon.
