Category: MS Tordino - page 41

26th March 2017 – While my father started insulating the library, I cut the holes in the wall for the portholes. Since it is a maritime library, I want to give the feel and look of a ship.

Nice to have a working system. I check my generator once a week. While I was in the engine room, I noticed she had no oil left. I filled her, but it took some time before I noticed there was oil in the carter again. When she ran, oil ran out of the filter. There was a serious crack in the case of the filter. I replaced the filter and she ran again nicely. All the batteries were flat, so I will have to check more often!

25th March 2017 – My water containers arrived in the late afternoon. They were a little more heavy then expected. It was getting time since I couldn’t close the wall behind the Library. After the tanks were in position, I continued building the frame for the wall.

22nd March 2017 – The frame is nearly finished. A few more pieces to strengthen the four walls and I can start to insulate.

Insulation arrived today, 25 roles. Looks a lot until I opened a few packages. I hope to have enough for the Library room.

18th March 2017 – Still recovering from yesterday, I didn’t do that much today. Finished a bit of framing in the hold and helped a friend in Bruges fixing his wheelhouse.

17th March 2017 – Getting up early, driving to the yard, loading a wheelhouse, driving back and waiting for the crane and the toilet unit to arrive. This is briefly explained what happened today.

16th March 2017 – While I had to order a crane for the wheelhouse, it came to mind to order my toilet unit as well. This means I only had to order a crane once. I drove to Temse to have a look for these units. I found one at the right price and ordered it. They could still deliver it the next day, which was perfect. Talking about good service!

I drove to the yard where the wheelhouse was stored. I did some extra measuring to make sure it would fit on the transport. The cabin was 8cm longer then expected, but this was not a major issue to my driver.

Most of the afternoon, I was painting the hold to clear my mind and stop worrying whether everything would work out as planned.

15th March 2017 – Time to be constructive again. I built the back wall for the Library room and mounted a heavy beam to the ceiling. This will server as support for the fake wooden hatches. It took me some time to lift an 80kg beam by myself. I’m happy the frame was holding the beam. I’ve strengthened the frame in the meantime to have no accidents.

13th March 2017 – Planning is important. This evening I had a small meeting with the craning company. I wanted to make sure they understood what my plans were and if the ground was strong enough for the weight and pressure of their crane. Communication through mail is one thing, but talking to each other and showing photos makes it totally different.

12th March 2017 – My parents came to help painting. Once they were busy, I continued with the wooden frame in the Library room, drilling holes, bolting wood and gluing sheets of plywood. I went to all the neighbours in the street asking if there would be an issue if I put a crane on Friday, blocking the road behind their houses.

Friends from London came to my ship in the afternoon. We had a drink and sat outside. Spring is coming!

11th March 2017 – Earlier this week I found an ad on a second hand website for doors. It was a separation of two living rooms in an old house. Three door panels with glass. The price was right and bought them. Transport had to be done carefully since it was carved glass. While I was at this persons home, he had some more doors for sale. I bought another one so the Library Room aboard will have four doors with the same glass.

It took me more then one hour to unload them aboard. These doors are extremely heavy and I had to lower them slowly in the hold.

9th March 2017 – I managed to get a set of portholes. They are looking good, but I wouldn’t want to use them anymore for their original purpose. They will serve in the Library room as decoration. The intention, for the Library room, is to recreate the feeling of a cargo hold that was converted as a houseboat. Fake wooden hatches and portholes to make it look more traditional.

7th March 2017 – It wasn’t raining today. I had a few hours left, so I managed to paint another few areas in the hold. By the time the wheelhouse will be arriving, the hold needs to be painted, or at least the area behind it.

5th March 2017 – I finished the floor and started building one wall. A few neighbours came for a drink. Late in the evening, I painted the floor to protect it from possible water leaks or dirt that could come during the rest of the conversion.

4th March 2017 – While my father was putting insulation between the beams, I screwed and glued the sheets of wood on the beams. After two days of work, I felt every muscle in my body. I was broken, but happy with the result!

3rd March 2017 – My wood arrived. It didn’t look that much till I had to start bringing it aboard. The wooden beams of 6.7m long were heavy. With the two of us we managed to lower them in the hold. Sadly enough it was raining the whole morning while we were loading the wood.

I build the frame for the Library room in the afternoon. It seems easy, but over 1000 screws were used to connect the beams together.