24th November 2018 – Aboard the Watergeus, there was an old storage space. I didn’t use it anymore and most of the stuff that was stored there hadn’t been touched for the last ten years. It was time to sort it out. I want to make a spare bedroom in this room.
I removed a big workbench and a few cupboards. The fuel tank will be for next week.
23rd November 2018 – While I was in Ghent, I called a friend to help me picking up the old anchor winch of the Arma. It will become a part of my museum.
In the evening I finished two more Ikea cabinets for the exhibition space.
17th November 2018 – I went to Ikea to pick up some cupboards for the hold. Latelety I got some nice objects for the museum. The easiest and cheapest way to show them is now to work with open cupboards.
In the afternoon, we worked in the hold, hanging information signs and some more objects, including a restored model of a Dutch liner.
15th November 2018 – One of the next conversions aboard Tordino will the extension of the Library. Behind the Library is a big storage for my tools and spare equipment. I will move it to the Watergeus, so I can start storing my archives on Tordino. It will be a big job, but everytime I’m aboard, I will try to fill my van and bring it to Bruges…
11th November 2018 – Slightly ill, I decided to go Den Helder. It is one of the last nautical events this year. I was a bit disappointing, since I have the feeling it has become more of a antique shop then about people who are working with historical boats.
In the afternoon, there was a lecture about the European Certificate for barges. Very interesting.
On the way back, I knew it was game over. I was becoming more badly ill…
8th November 2018 – We left at 7 o’clock in the morning in Zelzate and arrived at 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Bruges. There was a small delay at the lock in Evergem and we had to sail behind a loaded barge in Bruges. The journey went fluently. I had my fingers between the ropes at the lock. Since one of them was already broken, there was no chance I could do anymore ropes. So the mother of the skipper got aboard in Bruges and helped me out.
7th November 2018 – The surveyor arrived as they started cleaning the hull. So no survey was done today. We walked around the ship. I had some arguments with the surveyor. The Arma is a houseboat, where the engines will be removed. Every five years, they tow her to the yard. Nevertheless he was demanding certain strengths to be put in the ship.
Later that day, some friends arrived with their houseboat, accompanied with two small tugs. It was a group of people from the local Scouting group. I’ve rarely seen such a professional way of handling. They moored the ship nicely at the yard without hitting anything or making any damage. A nice job!
6th November 2018 – As usual, when they take me out of the water and when thy put me back in, I always feel nervous. Today was no difference.
They started pretty early and I tried watching the whole operation until I had to go aboard the ship. There was still another ship behind me in the water. The owner did a bit difficult about moving, so they had to tow him somewhere else.
The engine didn’t start at once, but after a second attempt, she did. Going down in the water was new to me on a slipway. Normally I always go to a yard where they pull you out on the length of the ship. Going into the water was done in a few seconds. It felt slightly like your ship was breaking. Smoke came from the rails. Once I was in the water, we moored her alongside a 110 meter ship. The owner gave me power and we had a coffee.
I tried catching some sleep. I woke up and heard an engine running. I had no power. The ship alongside me moved forward. It is so nice to sleep on a yard!
5th November 2018 – While I had to wait till tomorrow to be back in the water, they put my neighbour, the lovely steilsteven, in the water. In between taking pictures I continued putting another coat of tar on the Watergeus.
In the afternoon the people of the yard picked up the Arma with a tug. It took them around one hour to get the ship to the slipway and another hour to pull her out of the water. Everything went very slowly since it is a heavy ship.
4th November 2018 – Fifteen degrees in November, I couldn’t have had it any better. Together with my parents, we painted the ship. A second coat of tar on the sides. My mother painted the rudders and bow in a red paint. We are nearly there!
3rd November 2018 – My parents gave the bow and stern a second coat of red and orange-brown. I was in Antwerp visiting a spits barge that is heading to the scrap. I found a few nice items for Museumschip Tordino like a big sign that was hanging over the bar, a few smaller pieces and some paperwork.
2nd November 2018 – The bottom was done with black Vikote.
1st November 2018 – A holiday, that would have been great if the weather was good and if the yard had finished my ship. There was nothing I could do. I mainly stayed on Tordino working for with some new content.