28th February 2009 – We mainly finished some little jobs, like the side of the entrance, some frames in the windows and a small electricity problem. The corridor received it’s final coat of paint and is now ready for decorating.
Category: MS Watergeus - page 32
26th February 2009 – I prepared all my tools for a big job tomorrow, removing the bow rudder on the Julie. While asking around, many people were positive on putting one back, but only when you use a professional crew. Since I’m never going to sail without a skipper, it might be useful. If not, it’s another original piece I’m putting back on my ship.
25th February 2009 – The last couple of days have been mainly spent on planning the further conversion of my ship. Since several things need to be done and each of them needs the other to be finished, I had to think very carefully. Furthermore, I’m keeping the option open of putting back a bow rudder in the ship.
21st February 2009 – In the morning we went shopping; looking for a pump, toilet, boiler and the pipes. We did several shops and most of them sell the stuff at the same price. I was expecting a bigger difference, but really there wasn’t.
In the afternoon the corridor was painted the on the front deck a few little holes were welded. While removing a light in the fore peak, I discovered several holes that were closed with some kind of paint. I cleaned it nicely and welded it as it should have been done years ago.
16th February 2009 – My neighbour wanted the wood from the fore peak for his fire. I believe this was the only (good) solution for the wood. No matter how nice the floor once was, it is rotten and to dangerous to continue to be used. By the end of the evening I had an empty fore peak, ready for conservation and conversion.
14th February 2009 – I started having enough of the slow progress on the tank. I cut out a few pieces and used a hammer to bash her out the forepeak. After 4 more hours of work the tank was no more… cut up into several smaller pieces that would fit in a car. I started removing the frames and supports, but had to stop, since a party was starting in Ghent a few hours later.
11th February 2009 – The Government, responsible for our waterways has been working on new mooring rules and paperwork for the last couple of years. There are many good things, things that will become better, but there are as many items listed that will cause a lot of trouble to us. Therefore the television and another journalist came to take an interview aboard my ship. Instead of working, I had to clean the back accommodation and make it a little more presentable…
10th February 2009 – I continued cleaning out the area, and started removing an old water tank that has been leaking for the last five to ten years… A big hole in the side has been made for smoke and pressure to leave the tank. While bashing on the metal, the pipe that connects the outlet on deck and the tank pushed the outlet op, leaving a hole in the deck. It was really getting time that the tank leaves the ship. I believe to be busy another few evenings before she has gone.
9th February 2009 – In the fore peak there will be a small guest room. Now it’s a a storage space, or rather a big pile of useful stuff. I started cleaning it out. It took me around three hours before I could move a feet or two.
7th February 2009 – While in the morning we worked on the bathroom, a friend helped finishing the boxes around the windows. My mother painted the corridor.
Since I learned my lesson last month when all the water pipes were frozen, I do now take some precautions by building two insulated walls and having the pipes in between them. This should prevent them from freezing that quickly. When there will be heating they should remain good.
4th February 2009 – I did some small work on the bathroom, finishing one wall and starting another one. It is the last big room that needs insulation and wood panels to be finished. In a few weeks, I’ll start on the water circuit and toilet / shower so it needs to be finished.
1st February 2009 – During the conversion of the Watergeus, the real first project I did by myself, I made a few mistakes in the beginning that could become a problem later. I talked to a few people and they showed me where I made the errors. My floor exists of two levels of wood on top of a wooden frame. Between the two layers, there is insulation. When they are welding, there is enough space between the bottom of the ship and the first layer of wood. Even the wooden frame is high enough. When there would be water in the bilges, I could not be able to reach to it. Therefore I will have to make some inspection holes. My intention was to make two of them, but now I’ve decided to build several ones.
The sides of my interior are around 17cm away from the metal hull. Far enough for in case they need to weld. At the other hand I noticed this week when they were welding some of the insulation started melting a little and smoke appeared. I can look between the hull and the wooden sides, but can’t reach it. Therefore I’m now making side inspection hatches as well. I’ll hope I will never need them, but I like to have them instead of ripping out my interior if something would happen.
Besides making plans for the above adjustments, I cleaned the engine room.
31st January 2009 – Now that the Julie is at the yard, I could concentrate again on my own ship. I continued on the entrance to the living room. In the afternoon I went looking for some more furniture for the sleeping room.
27th January 2009 – Today was one of these days you have to work very hard, be carefully because a lot is happening. In the morning the wood was delivered to finish the hold. While my parents were loading the sheets of wood aboard the ship, I started working with the welder on a new bulkhead in the front of the ship.
By the end of the evening we finished the job. One meter high and five meters wide, with the ribs in place, just a little less then 400kgs of extra metal in the ship.
26th January 2009 – A small light can make a big difference in a room. We worked on the electricity, mainly the entrance and corridor. I have now electricity in most of the rooms in the hold.