6th April 2012 – The ship had a railing on only one side. We never had the time to finish this project in Sluiskil. It certainly is not the most important job, but it looks nicer. When I’m going to the yard in May, I don’t want to carry all these length of pipe with me. They are now stored on the hatches of the Watergeus.
Today I cut the feet for the railing and welded them on the boeisel of the ship. A very time consuming job! Welding RVS pipe on metal is not that easy.
3th April 2012 – I continued welding on the bulkhead between the engine room and the bedroom. This is the last part of the metal construction around the engine.
27th March 2012 – There was a big steel plate on the Watergeus. It is in my way for the BBQ on Saturday. Therefore it had to be cut in two smaller pieces. I still need a bulkhead at the back of the engine in the Hornblower. I cut a third of a bulkhead out of the plate. It is now in position with clamps. If I have some time tomorrow I might start welding it.
When this will be finished, together with welding the engine room ceiling, all of it should be a totally sealed room. I bought a hatch last Sunday to enter this area. I will put two air vents from the outside to get some air for the engine and generator.
I still don’t know what to do around the shaft to make it sealed as well.
26th March 2012 – I managed to connect the newly mounted water supply to the engine. I’ve briefly started the engine and water ran through. I had no puddles of water underneath the engine. This means she survived the winter nicely!
24th March 2012 –My father came to help me with te t&g wood in the living room. With two people, a job is done more quickly!
23rd March 2012 – I redid the cooling in the morning. This time everything stays dry!
Some people recommended me to put a filter. When you are moving the boat in shallow water, mud can enter the cooling system. With this filter, I hope to prevent to much coming into the engine.
In the evening I bolted the anchor winch to the deck. When I have some time, I will replace all the bolts with RVS versions. I did the same thing on the Watergeus a few years ago.
22nd March 2012 – The cooling of the engine was a quick fix in October. It got damaged by the frost in February. I bought some new pieces, fittings and tools to do the job properly. When I was finished it looked good. A few hours later, the back area was filled with at least four cm of water. One of the fittings was not properly sealed or cracked. I didn’t take any risk and removed my whole system. I put back on the original tap. I’ll give it another try tomorrow.
17th March 2012 – I bought some fittings for the cooling system. Since I want to finish the hatch on the Watergeus first, I’ll try to mount the cooling somewhere next week. I bought a filter for the cooling as well. People advised me to do so in case, I’m moving the boat in undeep water. Mud and sand will first enter the filter before getting trapped in the engine.
I also want to mount a deck wash on the same system for cleaning the deck.
10th March 2012 – It was time to clean the boat. After working on several little things, it was becoming hard to find back my tools and to walk without breaking anything.
12th February 2012 – On the weather forecast they mentioned from today on the freezing period is over. Personally, I didn’t notice much difference. Ice melted on the boat, but the canal was still frozen and I had cold feet while working!
I’m running out of wood, insulation and even screws. I’m a little short of money this month so I might have to stop working on the boat. There are still a lot of other jobs I could do, but it is still to cold…
9th February 2012 – I’ve ran out of insulation, so I built the frame for the wall that will divide sleeping room from the back of the boat.
8th February 2012 – I started insulating the ceiling of the bedroom. I hope to keep the heat more in the boat. The bedroom is a small area, but with with a difficult curve. Everybody knows there is nothing straight on a boat, but this area is a real disaster!
7th February 2012 – I did some measuring in the bedroom and realized I barely have some space to put a normal two person bed. It was very disappointing…
5th February 2012 – Since it is to cold to work on the engine or to weld the plates and ribs for the wheelhouse , I cleaned the back area where all the wood is stored. I want to measure the area and make some plans for the conversion. I put some more blankets around to keep the heat in the engine room. Heating a a ship which has no insulation will cost me some money. Replacing an engine is more expensive!
4th February 2012 – It is still cold with temperatures of minus 9°C.