18th March 2016 – I had the assistance of some friend to remove the remaining part of the wheelhouse. In the meantime, I started building the entrance. A had two metal doors and a sliding hatch from another ship. It looks traditional, but there is a lot of work to make it fit. At some point, I started doubting whether I should use it or not…
17th March 2016 – The current wheelhouse is ugly and not solid. It is big and made out of the wrong materials. The previous owner built it to double the inside space of the ship, a nice idea. I would like her to look a bit more traditional. Separating the wheelhouse from the accommodation and having a descent engine room. The current floor is built on the engine.
I estimated removing the wheelhouse would be a two day job. I’m only half the man I used to be…
5th March 2016 – One of the first jobs that had to be done was removing the plastic windows and replace them with proper aluminum windows. I always used RAFA windows because of their quality. They are expensive, but if you look around, they are easy to find second hand. Last year I bought four windows. This means I have two more to find. Since I have some portholes left, I will put in two portholes. Saves me some money.
2nd January 2016 – The Waterway organisation put up a sign near the ‘Op Hoop van Zegen’. Only moorings for commercial service was mentioned. A friend with a small ship came to move the ship. Maybe, what we used as a tug was to small and light. My ship has a weight of 35 tons. We managed to move her without hitting any other ship. It was sometimes close, but only a minor damaged to my rudder was the result of a near collision.
9th January 2016 – My mother came to drop some white dry-out sand on the concrete in the bilges. I hope it will suck the fuel out of the concrete. Once the sand becomes yellow I will replace it with new sand.
8th December 2016 – The whole floor, the metal sheets and some old furniture are gone. The room looks bigger and now I can clean it much easier. The fuel smell is still terrible. I don’t know what to do at this stage. The more stuff I remove the worse the smell becomes. May I should leave the windows more open again.
6th December 2016 – I removed the shower and the last remaining walls/ ceiling from the main area. Sadly enough, the smell of the diesel is worse again after removing the floor last week. I found out there were more puddles and even big ones near the bulkhead in the middle of the ship.
The metal is visible in every corner and now I can start cleaning, removing rust and insulation beads. No matter how carefully I had tried removing the insulation, many sheets did break.
4th December 2015 – I had some metal from a neighbour. It will serve to build the new engine room on the Lemmeraak.
29th November 2015 – The engine room is the only area I haven’t touched. Time to clean it out, fill the engine with anti freeze, close all the cranes to the water circuits and to make a list of things that can go. I closed the floor again. The engine is covered in some blankets and looking down, it is clean. At least one area…
I noticed most of the smell is gone in the main hold. There is still some rubbish around, but I’m making progress.
27th November 2015 – I removed the toilet, massurator and sink to clean the fuel from underneath. The plumbing behind was no good anyway, so I just pulled it out fo the wall. At least, I have now seen most of the ship in it’s bare metal.
26th November 2015 – A few hours more cleaning. There is still more diesel in the bilges then expected. Sometimes you wonder where it is coming from.
22nd November 2015 – Cleaning the ship by removing insulation and wood. An easy job where you don’t have to think. From the moment you start thinking on how much work needs doing, you kill yourself. It’s a phase you have to go through.
14th November 2015 – In winter time, boats get green and moldy. When the ship is painted white, something I would never do, you notice it much quicker. Therefore it took us two hours to clean her. She now looks white again, but for how long?
And this is how she looked before…
12th November 2015 – I had a few hours spare so I continued removing the old paneling and insulation. Nothing special, just work. While doing so, I realised how much work it will take to rebuild the interior. From a small project to a major conversion…
The current outdated interior looks simple, but it worked. Sadly enough, after being passed through several owners it was damaged during every conversion or adaptation. The main criticism on the previous conversion is the electricity. Loose wires with tapes or unprotected connected with blocks. I was surprised there had not been any fire.
While being aboard, you start dreaming, making plans and also realising none of them are going to happen. The idea that you have a certain potential with a ship is so nice, you should enjoy it.
11th November 2015 – I finished my first set of plans. It looks more like a children’s drawing then a serious plan. I will nearly change the whole concept from the current situation . Water tanks and bathroom will be at the front of the ship, followed by a bed, table and chairs. At the entrance is the kitchen area. Like a friend said, it is easy on paper…