Month: November 2013

Aquarel – Small jobs in the hold

30rd November 2013 – When I woke up, it was cold and a lot of wind was blowing. I wondered why I’m always getting up early to go working on an old boat…

Once you are aboard, this idea starts to disappear and the work takes it place. Today was no different. I painted the second part of the roof on the inside and prepared some work for the new floor. Since I was out of welding rots, I’ll continue tomorrow.

Aquarel – Welding jobs

23rd November 2013 – There are so many little leaks in the boat. Most of them were nicely hidden by the previous owners. It took me a whole day to remove and close two portholes and two leaks in the old support of the towing mast – sleepmast -.

I decided to close the old outlet of the toilet. Most of the work was done yesterday. Today I welded a plate and bracket over the old pipe.

Aquarel – Welding frames

17th November 2013 – I mainly worked on the floor, removing some of the old planks and welding the frame for the new ones. It is a slow job, but it must be done. After a whole day of working, you barely see any difference.

The supports I’m making are also called kattensporen in Dutch. They prevent the ship from creating a ‘kattenrug’. This means the bottom of the ships starts bending or creating a specific shape.

Aquarel – Building the floor

3rd November 2013 – Welding the supports for the floor and the side does take more time then expected. I’m running out of clamps to hold everything in position. By the end of the evening I made a concept of the floor.

While driving home I was  changing plans slightly again. I hope to alter it tomorrow evening.

Aquarel – Painting wooden supports

2nd November 2013 – I bought some wood to temporary close some of the ribs. It is easier walking round and less chance to getting hurt!

The wooden frames are pine wood. To prevent any wood worm from entering the wood, I painted it. Since I already welded some side supports, I can now use them as a temporary table…

Aquarel – Unhappy surprise

1st November 2013 – The plan is to build a new floor in the cargo hold by the end of the year. I want to be able to walk freely around. Step one was to remove the old flooring. Seems easy, just cut the planks and lift them out. Sadly enough, when they doubled the bottom of the ship, bolts were mounted through the original metal hull into that wood. This a method I’ve never seen before.