31st July 2016
Month: July 2016
26th July 2016 – I continued welding the wheelhouse. A few hours later and two corners were filled, some ribs mounted and some holes closed.
25th July 2016 – A wheelhouse without a roof doesn’t look right. I went to the shop, bought two sheets of plywood and some aluminum profiles to go around them. The shop was able to cut the sheets the right size; Saved me a lot of work and time and their service was free. The aluminum profile has a U-shape. I fill the gap between the two legs with silicone and puss the side of the plywood into the gap. If it rains, water can’t get to the side of the sheets. Plywood can be used outside for a while, as long as the sides don’t get into contact with water.
24th July 2016 – Another day of welding. In the late afternoon, five friends came to help me mount the wooden part of the wheelhouse. I had an idea of doing it with two people, but I certainly needed all five. Sadly enough the wooden wheelhouse didn’t fit the frame. It took me three hours t make something acceptable. I have to adjust metal and wood, probably a few extra days of work…
23rd July 2016 – The engine room entrance is an old hatch, just about my size to get in. In case of a fire or I need to lower something bigger, it is to small. I can always open the big skylight, but this takes two man and time. I built a construction with a bigger entrance to the engine room. Compare it with a very small back accommodation.
21st July 2016 – A National Holiday, but not to me. Time to start with the wheelhouse. After a whole day of working, I managed to get the metal frame nearly ready. It looks big, I hope the shape and proportions will be right. A wheelhouse attached to a back accommodation of a den looks smaller then one built stand alone.
11th July 2016 – Every wooden panel that is linked to the bathroom needs a coat of paint. The bathroom is about to be tiled, but in case some water might get through the joints, the wood will at least be protected. I painted a few panels.
The next job was to mount the fusebox and to mount the power connector on the outside of the ship. It took me most of the day to get this job done.
11th July 2016 – Two more paint sessions on the Watergeus. I divided the den in several sections, makes the job more attractive to myself. I painted a section in the morning and one in the afternoon.
One of the decorative propellers on the front deck was still in bare metal. I put a coat on, so it doesn’t look rusty anymore. She doesn’t look great in a gray colour, but the metal is protected. As long as people don’t see rust, it is fine…
10th July 2016 – I ran out of screws today. I noticed that ever sheet is connected to the frame by 38 screws. That’s why I managed to use 500 screws in two days time.
9th July 2016 – I finished the frame for the bathroom and even mounted the door. I don’t have enough plywood to finish the walls, but you can now clearly see the size of the bathroom. I used sheets of volkern (trespa) for the floor. Solid and waterproof, but extremely hard to drill a screw through.
8th July 2016 – The wall for the bathroom is done. A frame, insulation and plywood. I started with the side wall, but it was getting late, so, this is a job for tomorrow. I had plenty of old rubbish hanging around, so the last hours of daylight were spent on cutting up the rubbish and putting it in bags.
8th July 2016 – As a try-out, I painted one section of the den of the Watergeus in a gray hamerite based paint.
6th July 2016 – Again a small amount of time spent aboard making the frame. I finished the wooden construction around the second window.
5th July 2016 – I only had some time free this evening, enough to do some small work on the framing around the windows. Since it was becoming late at night, I decided not to cut to much wood and wake up the neighbours.
3rd July 2016 – I spent most of the day at work. In the evening I managed to give the engine room a first coat of white paint. Looks much larger now.
While I couldn’t sleep I put four more sheets of plywood to the ceiling and some insulation. Halve of the ceiling is now done.