Month: December 2019

Stern – I just bought the ship

30th December 2019 – I just bought another ship. I have been looking twice at the ship and I don’t know why I just bought. It had a good running engine and that’s about the only positive element.  Maybe the price? Or just the idea to have something to do in the future? I don’t know…

Stern – Second visit

29th December 2019 – I called the owner and said I wanted to see the inside of the ship. He started the engine and it was running. Great to convince desperate people, but we had no idea where to look first. The bottom has so many pipes and fittings sticking out. It is like a ticking time bomb.  The size is good, I can stand up in the hold, but there is not much space left.  A project to do? I don’t know…

Tordino – Working on the supports

28th December 2019 – With all my tools in position and the museum stuff covered with plastic, I could finally start finishing the supports for the ceiling. I worked with t&g to finish the construction, but time wasn’t on my side. I lost a few hours in the morning moving the anchor winch to a different location. This heavy piece of metal weights around 600kgs.

Stern – First visit

25th December 2019 – Recently, an acquaintance contacted me about a yacht in Ghent. His son has passed away and the ship needs to go. It was a 8.5 meters motor yacht with work on the outside and inside.  I went to Ghent and had a look. The boat isn’t looking that great at all. After ten minutes, I drove to some friends and forgot about it.

Watergeus – Removing Ballast tank and lowering the heater

23rd December 2019 – In the morning we went to pick up a diesel heater for the Watergeus, a young model, perfect for my central heating.  Before we could lower it in the hold, I had to remove the old ballast tank. In 2007 we welded a ballast tank, but it had been used one time. Ii was taking so much space, we now removed it.

 

At lunch time, two additional friends came to unload the heater and lower it into the hold. Everything went well. Sadly enough at the last stage, lowering it into the hold, the rope broke and the heater felt down the hatch on the floor. So no heating in the next couple of weeks. No one to blame, a sad accident…

 

Watergeus – Cleaning the storage space

21st December 2019 – I’ve started cleaning out the storage space. It will be used for the central heating. The second part will become a clean room, probably for restoring my objects for the museum. This hold has been used since I own the boat for putting away tools and spare parts. You can imagine how much stuff was stored in this room. Even my old tins of paint from the start were still there. I filled up a van with rubbish…

The room is now empty and ready for cutting out the ballast tank.

Barges & their coal cabin

Many boats used to have a small cabin between the wheelhouse and the cargo hold. After the war most of these cabins were removed to create a bigger cargo hold. A few boats still have it, most of them house boats…

A coal cabin could be used as an entrance to the cargo hold. Then it remains on the boat and has a functional use when living on the boat.

The spits Marie-Galante has used it coal cabin as entrance to the cargo hold. The hold has been made higher, the same height as the coal cabin.

 

A coal cabin in detail

The following pictures were taken aboard the spits Reginald. This boat, built in 1927, is still sailing commercially.

At the yard

15th December 2019 – At five o’clock in the morning, they lowered the ship in the water. There was a lot of wind, but everything went well until we were halfway between the slipway and the pontoon of the yard. The beunkoeler (cooling unit of the engine and part of the hull of the ship). Sadly enough there was no more time left to dry-dock the ship again. The tide was getting out, so we had to wait until the evening to pull us back in.

During the day, we kept the pump going. There was nothing else to do. I took some pictures at the yard to keep myself busy….

In the evening we dry-docked the ship with assistance of a tug from the yard. Repairs will be for another day.

 

 

Tordino – All kind of jobs…

14th December 2019 – The bedroom was finished, the bathroom continued and in the hold, both beams were connected to each other. Another support was build.

Bedroom
Bedroom

 

Wooden support
Wooden support

 

Connecting wooden beams
Connecting wooden beams

 

Bathroom nearly finished
Bathroom nearly finished

 

Mounting the wooden beams
Mounting the wooden beams

 

A quick visit to the yard

10th December 2019 – I quickly went to see the Fabuleux Destin at the yard. I was to late to see the yard people working. I don’t know what it exaclty is with this yard, but it is one I like coming to.  I have been there so many times….

It was to dark to take any decent pictures….