2nd January 2021 – The floor is now finished. We painted it in the evening. I welded some stairs, but I’m not happy with the result. Needs adjusting.
Category: MS Stad Rotterdam - page 3
30th December 2020 – All energy was gone. Luckily we found a wood shop that could deliver the wood we need to finish the floor. While one of us painted the remaining bit of the engine room, we did the frame for the floor. At lunch time we left for Belgium again! Exhausted after a few good days of work!
I was so tired, I only took one picture…
29th December 2020 – Another day of work, it is starting to feel hard. I continued with the floor while the other two did the painting.
27th December 2020 – Another day of removing paint. Progress went slower and slower. The bottom got a second coat of paint.
26th December 2020 – We arrived in the morning and started straight away with removing paint with a Tercoo-disc. While the two of us removed paint, the third person painted the engine room. In the evening we gave a first coat of black primer on the bottom of the ship.
19th December 2020 – Back in Franeker, today it was for working on the Stad Rotterdam. We cleaned the remaining bit of the hull and started with the upper structure. Sadly enough it was not possible to keep the current paint system. It was to damaged by the recent work and it had been outside without any maintenance. This means we will have to work another two days of removing paint.
12th December 2020 – Early in the morning we arrived at the yard where they had been working very hard on the Stad Rotterdam. Engine room was empty, the middle section welded and many more small things were done as well. We spent most of the day removing tar and paint. A lot was done but we still have to do another three meters.
9th December 2020 – The problem of yard that far away and so many parties involved is the discussions need to go through WhatsApp and miscommunications are often happening. Like today we had an argument about the watertank, what wood needs to be ordered, etc.. Every few lines we need to take paint and draw it so everyone understands us.
We are going back on Saturday to talk to the yard and to see how much progress went on the last two weeks.
30th November 2020 – We had a meeting in the evening about the heating system. There are so many questions that I wanted to speak to the technician who is going to install the system. The unit will need a lot of power and space. This is the only conclusion I could make.
28th November 2020 – We arrived last night and stayed in a b&b. The whole day we removed tar from the sides of the ship while the third person cleaned the bilges. The yard had made some progress, but not as impressive as last time. The bottom plate is done, but the sides and the ribs still needs to be done. I was exhausted in the evening and slept most of the journey back home.
21st November 2020 – We went with the three of us to Franker to have a meeting and to do some work. The meeting took some time but we got there in the end. Once in the hall where the vessel is being converted we had the unpleasant discovery that the ship is not as high and as wide as we believed so. We made new plans and by changing the position of the bulkhead, and adding the watertank to the front, we can keep the same living space.
Most of the afternoon was gone by removing tar from the side of the ship while one of us was scraping the bilges. A whole barrel of dirt came out. I hoped to discover some older marks, but instead I found a rotten spot and a few old old scratches from hitting something. It is so interested to be so close to to a ship, you start feeling her history. I removed some paint from the bow to find out the old colours that were used.
17th November 2020 – Working on a ship is more then just doing the technical planning. There needs to be done a lot on the mooring as well. There is no shore power. I’m using cheap extension cables for my yacht, but once there is proper houseboat, wee need enough power to run the ship.
Secondly, I contacted the Belgian survey company. It is only possible in Belgium or Germany to get a CVO survey done on an old ship…
12th November 2020 – We had another meeting with the architect to make a final plan and yes we did. How simple it looks, I would never have come to certain ideas and certainly not so quickly.
9th November 2020 – The contract was signed today for the Stad Rotterdam. A major step forwards in the project!
5th November 2020 – In the evening we had a good chat with the architect Wendy Rommers on the Stad Rotterdam. With the four of us we got an idea how the ship should look like. She followed our ideas and next week we have a new meeting. I’m glad not to be responsible for the interior. I have way to much a classical view on interiors with t&g, small rooms, etc.. Not really my thing!