7th June 2010 – I was up very early, since the deep loader would be there at 7 o’clock in the morning. This means they would lift the Frantsis up at 6 o’clock. Half an hour later as expected a man came to tell me they lost the key of their crane, which made me even more nervous. I had no experience with heavy lifting and moving a boat by crane. I was totally dependent on these people. They have enough experience, but it was new to me.
It took more then a hour to get the boat on the truck. There were no problems, except one: the barge was to high to fit underneath the bridges on the highway. I had to remove a chimney and the grease pump in the wheelhouse was to high as well. Once these issues were solved, we drove to Terneuzen. A little less then four hours of driving in a very comfortable truck!
At the yard, the crane was ready to lift the boat from the truck and in less then 15 minutes she was mounted on supports. It was nice to know in a week she will be in the water, where she belongs.
I started cleaning the hull, mainly where the welder had to start working. The boat had to covered by sails so no dust could get to the other boats at the yard.
A boat with no wheelhouse is often a sad view. In the afternoon I quickly remounted the wheelhouse. At least she is no longer looking like an empty hull.
In the evening we started welding the hull. Since we want to do it right, we took 6mm plates for the waterline and bottom. With chalk I marked the places that needed repairing or where I believed it was thin. It is easy to mark, but the welding might take some time. I prefer doing it now and to have a good hull to start with.
