9th January 2021 – There is still no ice on the big canals, but the small one between Nieuwpoort and Oudenbrug was slightly frozen. After a chat with the lock keeper we went for a small journey.
Category: MJ Vlet Djoey - page 2
6th December 2020 – It had been a long time since we made a trip on the Djoey. Busy times as we are both working on our own projects.
8th November 2020 – A beautiful day, nice weather, no wind and not to cold. A perfect day for a trip. After some hasle with batteries, the engine started and we went of from Oudenburg to Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide and back. I had never done the trip from Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide. Marvelous!
7th October 2020 – In the evening we made a small trip, enjoying the nice weather. On the way back we helped a little yacht who ran out of fuel.
20th September 2020 – Friends came back from holiday and stopped alongside the Watergeus. I joined them on the way home. Halfway the journey, I changed boat and continued the voyage on his sons boat. A small trip to close the weekend!
14th August 2020 – I am always in for a journey aboard the Djoey. I wasn’t the skipper so I could have a drink…
14th August 2020 – I quickly helped mounting a VHF antenna on the Djoey. Even with a longer antenna, the issue is the same. I think it is because the ship is to low in the water to hear any signal from a longer distance then 100 meters, but when I read the Internet it should be at least 3 km’s..
13th August 2020 – When friends of mine bought the Djoey, I never believed it would be used that much! I had many more ships but never used them that much as they do! There is an issue with the VHF, so I will have a look tomorrow. Now it is time for a drink!
7th August 2020 – BBQ in Oudenburg
18th July 2020 – My friend called if I wanted to join for a small trip to Nieuwpoort and back. Friends have a tjalk that is waiting for the crossing to the UK. We sailed to Nieuwpoort, but started rather late on the journey. It was a beautiful trip. On the way back we stopped for a drink, but we could no longer start the engine, a dead battery. We swapped the batteries and managed to start the engine, but had no navigation lights. We were no longer allowed to continue the trip unless we fixed it and so we did…
You don’t need to travel far to have such a nice evening like tonight!
10th July 2020 – I was invited by my friends to have a small trip to Bruges. It was just great, no engine issues, no bad weather, a real cruise! I was able to take some pictures from the boats in Bruges and to have drink since I didn’t have to take the wheel, until the dog felt into the water….
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…
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.
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.
30st May 2020 – A surveyor came to measure the damage. He gave us advice and explained some more about what to do next.
