Category: MS Watergeus - page 23

20th April 2010 – Today some major jobs have been done. In 2006, one of the recommendations was to close the engine room from the hold. I had built a bulkhead a bit further o extend my engine room, but this has not been approved, so I still need to rebuild the original bulkhead. When I would do that, there is a space that I could no longer enter. Therefore I wanted a hatch on deck to enter this area. Important was the size since my generator will have to enter this room in the future.

Many vessels used to have a davit (crane) on the foredeck to lower and raise the anchors. A while ago I was able to buy such a crane from a neighbour. Since you need at least two people to lift and mount this heavy item, this was the perfect moment. I expected to lift the crane with two, but we had to dissemble it completely. The foot of the crane, not more then one meter high, was so heavy we could barely lift it on the anchor winch. It nearly broke my back, but after it was mounted, I was satisfied with the result.

19th April 2010 – Some more paint has been removed today. It is now starting to look good. It gives me hope to continue.

I made some preparations for the tomorrow since a hatch has to be built.

14th April 2010 – One thing I don’t like living on a boat is filling the water tanks. It takes hours to fill up my 6000 litter of water. There is a connection in the street where we can take water, but it has a small hose.

13th April 2010 – Some more deck cleaning has been done.

12th April 2010 – Some more deck cleaning has been done.

11th April 2010 – Some more deck cleaning has been done.

8th April 2010: In the late evening I decided to remove some more paint. The wind was blowing the other side then the last couple of days, so I started working on portside on the deck.

I made a quick calculation. 2 meters a day, 80 meters in total will cost me nearly two months of work to clean the whole deck. I know what to do in April and May.

6th April 2010 – The remaining old paint between the wheelhouse and the tabernakels was removed this evening.

5th April 2010 – My neighbour left for the yard in the early morning. I had a look and went back to sleep shortly after.

Another two meters of deck have been cleaned. Two meters of deck were one and I was surprised to see how bad this part was. A lot of pitting in the metal. It took me more then three hours to have it on bare metal. The result was good and a nice coat of metal primer is protecting it.

In the late afternoon I started again doing a piece near the wheelhouse. Fortunately the deck was in a much better condition.

1st April 2010 – Cleaning the deck is an extremely boring job with slow progress. At the other side, it is the right job to keep the ship from rusting away. Another meter has been cleaned.

27th March 2010 – Again time to work on the boat, this time I continued with the gangway. I managed to do a big part of two meter, so progress can be seen now. In the late afternoon I started gardening on my boat and put some flowers for the spring and summer.

My little davit for the front was delivered as well today. I’ll use it to hold an anchor like the old days.

14th March 2010 – Some more flags are now hanging in the mast. The spring is coming (or let’s hope so). I added some more flowers since it brings some colour to the boat and to land.

13th March 2010 – The first nice day to work outside. I have some time, so I just started cleaning the gang board of the ship near the back accommodation. Two small pieces were cleaned, all paint and rust removed. Once finished, a good coat of primer was put on the blank metal.

In the late afternoon, I went checking the little boat. Since it is taking more and more water, while it has not been raining, I decided to have a closer look at the hull. While standing in the boat, water came into my boots. I discovered the plug for the air tanks is missing. I have no suitable crane so I added a few more heavier ropes to my ship. If it sinks completely, the ropes will hold the boat.

I really hope the owner will come and collect it.

10th March 2010 – Some boats have been passing at high speed, causing the little boat nearly to sink.

6th March 2010 – In the early morning, when I was on deck, I noticed a small boat drifting by with nobody aboard. It was a little to far from my ship to grab it with a hook, so I went to land and threw an anchor to the boat to get it.

In the afternoon I put some green near the gangway.