Month: November 2014

MS Java – Water in the boat

24th November 2014 – The owner called me there was some water in the boat. He wanted me to find a welder and an option to drydock the ship, but the cheapest possible option. 

Together with a welder we visited the ship in Izegem. We didn’t come to early! The bilges were filled with water, not a bucket or two, but much more.  We suggested drydocking the ship on the spot and doing some repairs. The ship is moored next to an empty piece of land and the quay is big enough. There was shore power and and a crane will likely be the most expensive part of the job. We talked several ideas through and went home to calculate a price for this project.

Aquarel – Cleaning bilges

23rd November 2014 – First job was to clean the dirt that I made yesterday. Some water in the bilges, a lot of dust and some old wood. I was little motivated, so I didn’t do much in adding some new wood to the sides. Will be for tomorrow…

Aquarel – Lowering a metal sheet in the hold

22nd November 2014 – Getting one sheet of 3m by 1.5m in the hold through a hatch of of 1m by 1.2m is not an easy job when you have no tools and only two people to do the job. It took some time, but after half an hour the sheet was in position and ready to be welded to the bottom of the frame. The frame is used to hold the watertanks in position and the sheet will make sure the water that could leak from the tanks is captured before it gets to the bilges of the boat.

Some more bits and corners were welded today. I make the promise to myself not weld the next month and just tidy up the ship. All metal is gone from the hatches, the lifeboat was cleaned and the mast painted. With a jack, I managed to lift up the mast for 40cm. This made it easier for giving it a second coat of paint.

Aquarel – Emptying the hold

18th November 2014 – Cleaning the hold is always a major issue with me. Somewhere next week we have to lower a big sheet of metal through the new hatch. Seems easy, but my wood supply lies underneath that hatch and my tools are located where I should put that sheet…

I have to much stuff in the hold…

Aquarel – Some more ceiling

13th November 2014 – It is not good when you start abandoning your boat conversion for other things. Then again, I now realize more then before there is more then just working on a boat. Anyway, it was time to do something. Another few square meters of ceiling are finished. It is an intensive and annoying job. Insulation, multiplex and t&g, and from every layer, some dust gets into your eyes.

Aquarel – Green mast

8th November 2014 – Half a day, that is what I can spend on the boat this weekend…. I did some ceiling and painted the mast green. It was the only visible piece of metal that was looking rusty. At least, it now looks more acceptable to the public and the metal is protected. I will continue on the mast somewhere next year, once the inside of the ship is finished.

Aquarel – Ceiling

3rd November 2014 – Every minute I can work on the Aquarel, I’ll try to do so. The ceiling is a major work. I have to do it alone and the sheets of multiplex are heavy. I already cut them in half, but even then, it is struggling to hold them while I add a few screws….

Aquarel – Entrance hatch

1st November 2014 – Nearly ready for my winter stop. It has been enough for this year. I must admit I haven’t done as much as planned since August. Nevertheless I’m happy with what has been done.

Same mistake as on the Watergeus, I have no big entrance left to the hold for big stuff or artwork. So I needed a hatch for lowering stuff to the hold. The hatch can’t be that high since my aluminum hatches must cover it. I want to look like a traditional ship and nothing is going to change this.

It took all day to build the hatch and mount it. I haven’t tried it yet since it was dark when I stopped working.