24th September 2006 – After two days of hard work, we found it was time for some fun, some amusement, so we decided to break down some more of the wooden construction.
The next phase will be the construction of a new entrance, but in the same style of the boat. Therefore, we lowered the metal plates in the hold of the ship. This part will be fabricated in the hull and later put in position by the crane.
23th September 2006 – The deck was placed on the boat, from the hatches to the compartment. A very precisely job, since the plates had to be placed as close as possible to each other. The bigger the gap between them, the bigger the risk that water will stay where the weld is.
22th September 2006 – When I arrived, the plate at starboard side was also put into position. The plates to the sides of the ship are the hardest. You have to take care of many aspects. The sides are not straight, the ribs are constructed with multiple plates. Some of these ribs have been damaged during her commercial career. The gangway goes slightly lower at the end. Some parts of the plate had to be burned away, what causes the plate to change shape of the heat.
That evening the third and fourth plate were placed. A small stroke was cut of a new plate, so the final gap was filled.
The watertight compartment has been created. It should be fixed properly with ribs in the next days. It will also become stronger, when the deck will be placed.
17th September 2006 – The first plate was put back in position and welded. So was the second plate. Working with two people only takes some time.
16th September 2006 – The Watergeus has always been used as a water supply vessel. The cargo hold was well protected with a white stuff, some kind of cement. Where the new watertight compartment will come, this stuff had to be removed. A job that took me all morning. It was so much dust that the area around me (including myself) was completely white. A bit of good advice, never do it without a mask. I still have difficulties breathing.
In the afternoon, we cut the first plate of the compartment, a job that took three hours. Nothing is straight on a boat…
8th September 2006 – The heavy plates needed a crane to be loaded on my ship and positioned in the right place., so my neighbour bought a crane. In the afternoon, the crane was delivered and mounted on his deck. During these works, we moved my boat a bit more to the front.
3th September 2006 – After a hard night we started working again. I didn’t sleep because of the loaded spits barge next to me. The boat was only connected to my boat and not to land… Ropes were loose and it was heavily loaded.
In the morning we created a first rib that should hold the plates. The ribs had to be rounded to keep curve the platform. We used metal strips and curved them ourselves.
2nd September 2006 – The plates for the new construction have arrived. It was quite hard getting them aboard my neighbour’s ship. He had already done the ribs and U-supports. Each plate had a weight of nearly 150kgs.
That same day, we broke down the first part of the original wooden construction. Breaking it down was a reasonable quick job. Once this was done, we all had a nice meal and started working again, now with the more heavier stuff, metal.
During that evening, the main rib and support for the flat roof had been welded. It was getting to dark to continue working, so we drunk another beer and went sleeping.
It is now a phase with no going back!