21st February 2017 – I just managed to fix the issue with the lorry. I can now easily open my hatches again.
Category: MS Tordino - page 48
20th February 2017 – Just went shopping, new steel cable for the lorry, brackets for my workshop and paint for the hold.
19th February 2017 – The day started with bad luck. One of the cables of the winch on my lorry for the hatches broke. I could solve it with an old rope since all my tools were in the hold and I couldn’t get to it.
Once I was in the hold, I continued painting where I stopped yesterday evening. I was annoyed by some of the wooden cargo floor that was lifted out. I took it all out and rebuilt it. I will have to bolt a few planks, but I need my drilling machine for this.
18th February 2017 – I cleaned bilges today. The smell was terrible, but now the hold doesn’t have that smell anymore. My father cleaned the sides and all of us painted the bulkhead in the afternoon.
7th February 2017 – The macerator is broken in the Watergeus. To get to this device, I need to empty the workshop under my deck. It is filled up with wood, old tools and spare parts for my other ships. I started emptying this place to bring it over to the Tordino where I will need most of it. I had a van full of old wooden pieces, small lists and profiles.
12th February 2017 – I’m preparing the hold for the conversion. I built some tables and started sorting out my tools. It gives a good feeling to know how much space I now have to start building. I
can easily turn around with wood without hitting the sides of the ceiling. It is great to have a working space again.
11th February 2017 – Another drive with the van to my ship. When doing a conversion, you need a lot of equipment and parts. I never finished the conversion on the lemmeraak ‘Op Hoop van Zegen’. When I had to empty the ship, I put everything in boxes. these are the first boxes I will need. They contain screws, bolt, nails, etc… I was surprised to see how much was left. enough to do some conversion and construction!
6th February 2017 – Friends of me are cleaning an old barge in Zelzate. The ship is filled up with old stuff, rubbish and tools. I came to collect a few pieces that will serve in my museum.
5th February 2017 – Nearly finished. This is how I would describe my metal platform in the hold. I did another day of welding and I’m getting there! If it wasn’t for the rain, I might have finished it.
4th February 2017 – I asked several friends to come and help. The new stairs needed to be lowered into the hold and put in position. The weight of 120kgs was the issue. With four of them on deck and me downstairs we managed to do the operation very quickly. The stairs was quickly welded and the rest of the afternoon we sat down and talked, making plans…
3rd February 2017 – I bought the Tordino without radar and radar support. These pieces were sold by the previous owner. While I was in Leeuwarden last month, I managed to buy the support back from the new owner. It is a heavy piece that I already moved several times. I decided to weld it to its original position. Looks great again! I still need the controls, cables and monitor, but I’m sure I will find them one day at the right price.
24th January 2017 – A bit of planning…
22nd January 2017 – Another day of welding. I wasn’t feeling right and it was the coldest night so fare with minus six degrees. By the end of the day I was totally broken, but good progress was made. I’m happy!
21st January 2017 Two plates needed some adjustment since one of the major supports of the den is sticking out. The other sheets were the right size. They were quickly in position so I could weld them together.
When my father arrived, I used him as a weight to stand on the sheets while I was welding underneath. The sheets need to be welded to the ribs before they are welded to each other.
20th January 2017 – I went to pick up some metal in the early morning. When I ordered it earlier this week, I asked them to cut the supports for the roof in two pieces since I can’t transport them in their full length. I had to do the job myself, so I lost more then one hour. The sheets of metal were loaded with a forklift.
A friend helped me mounting the supports. They were not that heavy, but not practicable to handle and move. We put the sheets of metal on a pile on the ribs and both of us went home.