9th December 2008 – On Friday we will sail with the Julie to the yard. The owners were talking to me today asking some simple questions. By talking and listening to them, I could perfectly see myself a few years ago when I had to go to the yard.
Category: Daily Life around the water - page 31
1st November 2008 – In the morning I went to Furnes to pay a visit to a friend who has his barge dry-docked for repairs.
In the afternoon, I continued on the sleeping room and office space aboard the Watergeus, finally finding some time to hang pictures and paintings on the wall.
6th September 2008 – Today we had our member party of the Vlaamse Woonschepen. As expected, the event happened on a ship, this time a kempenaar, the Oceana in Ghent.
29th August 2008 – For the last day I decided to make a trip on foot along the canal. I spoke to some people living on their barge. I found some very nice ships. It was a long walk, the temperature making it even harder.
26th August 2008 – Going to the Canal Du Midi area means making a trip. Very soon, I’ll write a whole section on the canal and the area, but here I briefly mention the trip.
23th August 2008 – Leaving on holiday so no updates for the next week….
20th August 2008 – In the morning there was a meeting for the house boat society. In the afternoon, we made a little trip through Ghent by boat. It is nice to see ships from a different angle.
9th August 2008 – We were holding a local event. The idea was to learn to know the people from the houses and they to learn us. As I expected, everybody was sitting with its own neighbours. But it didn’t make the happening less enjoyable!
Friends from Ghent came over an this made it a very good evening! Less nice was the feeling I had to get up early the next day?
21st July 2008 – I went talking to the new neighbours who had bought a spits barge. In the evening we went to a local party in the city.
17th July 2008 – Same trouble different day for my neighbour. I know how it feels to have trouble and don’t know to solve them. Sadly enough I can’t help her myself. My knowledge of electricity is so limited, it won’t even be of any use.
Those little problems make it often hard to live on a ship. Many people are giving up on these issues. Once you’ve passed them it is great to live on a ship, believe me!
13th July 2008 – This afternoon I went to the Cactus Festival. The last day brings a few good artists and groups like The Kills and Yossou N’Dour.
10th July 2008 – This evening there was the concert of Leonard Cohen in Bruges. This is a serious reason not work!
9th July 2008 – Again a meeting, being a member of the board of the Vlaamse Woonschepen is a lot of work. I must say I love the job and like to work for people who live on ships like me. This meeting is to talk about a small party we would like to give.
6th July 2008 – Again a rommelmarkt, this time in Ostend. This time I found a few nice pieces of decoration. Mainly metal decoration such as a copper coffee can, a green coloured metal plate, a nice biscuit box of Harrods, etc…
In the evening I had visit of two friends living on a spits barge in Ghent. They are still in an early stage of converting, but do have a lovely roef to live in. When boat owners are talking about converting a ship, you notice time is to short to tell everything! It was a great evening.
30th June 2008 – In the evening, my neighbour mentioned my gangway was moving all the time. I went to have a look and mounted a few bolts into the gangway preventing it from collapsing.
We then tried to start her engine but it seemed all batteries were dead, exactly the same problem as on my ship. She has an old loader who continuously loads the batteries They dry out and are slowly dying. Sadly enough, we could not start the engine.