Month: July 2020 - page 2

Making a barge ready for leaving the harbour of Nieuwpoort to the UK

11th July 2020 – I was in Nieuwpoort again to help putting the last bits together for the journey of the Anna Sophia to England. The skipper is a friend of mine and we chatted while fixing several issues. By the time most things got sorted out, it was to late to leave for the lock with the tide. The journey is now postponed… 

It wasn’t a lucky moment for the owners. Batteries were dead and charging them took a long time. Broken navigations lights are an issue when crossing at night. You must be seen on a busy shipping line like the North Sea. Weather wasn’t stable and it remained a little to windy.

A nice barge in Bruges

11th July 2020 – In the evening I met a nice English skipper with a beautiful barge, the Alberdina. He is planning to go to Paris with his ship, but needs a place for the next couple of days. Since the Minart is sold and the owners are not around, I suggested mooring alongside. I am always up for a nice ship alongside. This morning he arrived, I took a rope.

During the day, I noticed people starting to take pictures. 

Checking a tjalk in Nieuwpoort

8th July 2020 – I promised the owners of the Anna Sofia to have a check and to have some stuff done. Sadly enough I didn’t had any time yet. It took me some time to find the vessel and the jobs that needs to be done will take some time. Luckily enough I had silicon and a silicon gun in my car to seal the sink of the bathroom.  The other jobs have to be done Saturday evening.

It is a lovely interior, traditional Dutch, but with some nice details like old doors, stain glass, etc… It gives a cosy feeling! Some new nice ideas for my yacht came up. Only if I had the time to work on the Stern…

 

 

The repairs aboard the Maxx – Sinking again

7th July 2020 – I shouldn’t have taken a day off to help. The result was known before we even started. When the ship was launched in the water, the bilges became wet quickly. First through a small hole, later through the holes of the original plate. I tried with cement, but when closing one hole, water came through another one… There was nothing that could be done, but taking the ship back out of the water. The owner doesn’t want to give up on her and has already spent a fortune on a ship that isn’t worth it. 

I am pretty much doing the same with my little yacht and shouldn’t judge. Nevertheless I am talking about different amounts of money of realising the same size of ship. 

What annoyed me the most in this project is that the owner didn’t listen and had to say I was right at the end of the day, spending a fortune on craning that should never have happened. In my opinion there are only two options left: fiberglassing the whole hull or scrapping the boat. It is hard to say, but you will now already not get back any money you spent in the ship….

Moving the Mouette

6th July 2020 – With a group of friends we moved the Mouette to the Flandria yacht Harbour.  We started the operation at 5 o’clock in the evening, but had to wait for the batteries to get charged. The lock was busy since they hadn’t worked for nearly a whole day. It took us some time since the ship is taking a lot of wind and we wanted to go gently. Around 10 o’clock we were moored in the marina, just in time before it got dark.

 

Stern – Free insulation

5th July 2020 – I found an advertisement for free Rockwool insulation. I drove to pick it up and filled my whole van. There is enough for the Stern and even more for future projects… Only one issue, where to store it?

Friends going and leaving the yard

3rd July 2020 – In the morning I drove to the shipyard in Sluiskil to take some pictures of the Julie leaving.  There were some other houseboats t the yard as well.

While I was there, other neighbours called since they got stuck with engine trouble in Leffinge. It is always an adventure going to the yard, but it was nicely fixed by the skipper.

In the evening I helped the Julie in the lock grabbing a rope. They had made a nice journey.