Month: June 2020

28th June 2020 – I had a good night sleep. I should have lowered the living table earlier to sleep on, instead of sleeping on the floor. Wen we started the engine, we noticed a flat battery. With only cheap low amp battery charges, we would not make it. There was a liveaboard battery aboard.  The owner switched batteries so the engine started. Sadly enough we had no other power aboard. No radio, no monitoring of the engine, no lights… 

We left Terrneuzen and arrived around 9 o’clock in Evergem. Locks only open at 10, so we waited for an hour, had a chat with some skippers and filled the fuel tank. 

The skipper in front of us had issues getting into lock, creating issues for us as well.

Once we left the lock we had no more issues. The service in Bruges went fluently, every bridge opened nicely on time. The lock went quickly and we moored alongside my neighbour to unload the boat. We then continued to Oudenburg where the ship arrived at its destination, 40 days later after the owner bought it…

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27th June 2020 – No sleep and a a lot of mosquito bites. But when waking up and looking outside made my day. Beautiful weather, a little bit of wind.  

We had a look at the engine and gearbox. The issue was not the engine but the mounting of the forward / reverse handle. Something we have to alter at a later stage. We kept it in mind while moving the boat that manoeuvring would require more thinking / fendering the boat. 

Once we left the Biesbosch we were in open waters. A lot of wind and water coming on our deck. No issue since it was sunny and as quickly we vace wet were dry again.

After the lock of Hansweert, weather changed dramatically. A lot of wind, nearly storm and bad weather. I was engaged in crossing the Westerschelde and had no other option then making it to Terneuzen. I have seen the boat rolling and hitting the waves. At some points, even I was scared. 

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26th June 2020 – We left in Bruges at 5 o’clock in the evening for Werkendam where the ship was moored. I was tired after not having sleep for a couple of nights because of the heat. The ship was ready for us, but I went to the yard first to pick up the old shaft and the grease pumps. Since they were ours, I wanted it back. always useful for something when you are converting your own boat…

It was nice to sail in the Biesbosh until the engine started smoking and was doing weird. We lost performance and decided to moore near the local ferry boat. The mooring didn’t go as softly as planned since I had no reverse. We secured the boat for the night, had a few drinks and went to bed.

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