12th July 2012 – People asked me I wanted to join them to see a spits barge. It has been extremely rare to see a spits barge in such a good condition. There was no rust, it has a beautiful air started engine, new hatches and a lovely accommodation. I forgot to take pictures from the accommodation, but have a look at the outside and you will know enough!
15th July 2012 – It is nice to see flags on boats. It gives some colour and some live to them. It can also be practical when you wake up and want to see in what direction the wind is blowing. At least I know what direction to cycle!
I’ve decorated both ships with flags. A small job, but it took me two hours! When friends go on holiday, I always ask them to bring a flag of the country they visit.
11th July 2012 – Some more work was done in the sleeping room.
10th July 2012 – Didn’t do much today. I worked a little on the Hornblower and helped moving a friends ship in Ghent.
9th July 2012 – The little time I had today was spent on the sleeping room. I tried finishing one wall.
9th July 2012 – There is an old yacht for sale in Nieuwpoort. I had a quick look. I’m not sure but she might have been a bakdekkruiser like my previous ship Escapde or a admiral sloop. She had been converted and rebuilt over the years. One thing was sure, I didn’t like the ship! I won’t put any complete picture online, since she is still for sale…
8th July 2012 – Yesterday I spent a day removing useful parts from a sailing boat. Two windows from the wheelhouse are just perfect for my wheelhouse! I will order a new one and then I need somebody to help mount them!
The weather is still very bad, a lot of rain. I have a busy week starting from tomorrow. I hope I can do something, progress is becoming slower and I don’t like that!
7th July 2012 – Today I was on an old wooden trawler. I don’t like boats being scrapped, but sometimes there is no other solution. When I was there, at least three people told me ‘there was a time of going’. The trawler was once converted into an expensive sailing boat. It had been neglected for years.
I bought a few items from the ship for my own little boat. In the early days I would take anything usefully. By now, I’ve learned to take only what is necessary. I’m running out of storage space…
2nd July 2012 – I see the welding work is coming to an end. I might need to weld a few more hours and then the bulkhead is totally finished, including the metal floor of the wheelhouse! The last big plate of the bulkhead is now in position.
I took the last bit of the exhaust. It is so thin I might as well make a total new one… It became to late to make noise, so I gave up working today!
1st July 2012 – There are a lot of things that I need to do in the coming weeks. I’m not sure where to put my priority…
There was one piece of the bow that was still in red paint. I was doubting what colour I should give. This evening I painted it white!
28th June 2012 – I finished one side of the hull of the Hornblower. She looks like it should be.
27th June 2012 – I ran out of paint yesterday. After going to the shop I painted some more…
26th June 2012 – I started painting one side of the ship. I will use gray, black and dark green. It is just an experiment. If it doesn’t look good, I’m going for another colour.
26th June 2012 – A couple asked me to have a look at a wooden ship and the options of restoring her. He had just bought it without realizing the condition it was in. The word salvage would be more appropriate then restoration. I wouldn’t know where to start.
While I was there, and after having a drink with them, I found some older fishing boats in wood. All of them I’ve known when I lived in Ostend as a kid. Nice to see them back!
24th June 2012 – The weather is not good at all. When there was no rain, I started cutting up my last metal plate. I want to finish the bulkhead of the engine room.
In the late evening, I made a little experiment with green paint. I have a look tomorrow to see if it is successfully and looking nice.