Category: MS Watergeus - page 53

2nd December 2006 – Since all metal work was finished and the last ribs were welded, it was time to cover it with a fresh coat of primer. The only primer I had was gray, so it looks a bit like a Navy vessel, but at least, it can’t rust anymore.

Painting two sides took us some time. It looks so much better then the wooden construction.

In the afternoon, my door was placed, a heavy job. The door has a weight of over 150kgs. She was carried by four men aboard my ship. The four of us had to walk over the two other ships first. Since it are all different ships moored next to each other, we had to be carefully of the difference in height of each of them. We had to strengthen the construction, so it could hold this door.

During the welding works on my door and it’s frame, my parents and I cleaned the cargo hold, sorting out the wood and removing the rubbish left from the construction works.

30rd November 2006 – The most worrying job I had left for this year was finding windows for my boat. A lot of people told me it would become a very expensive job and so it was. I didn’t have many options, since my den has a height of 62cm. The hatches are cut in and take 10cm, so 52 cm were left for windows.

I started looking two months ago for windows of an average height of 40cm. I didn’t want the small portholes, since the don’t offer me enough light; also I didn’t want house windows, like so many houseboat barges. Windows can ruin the whole look of a boat.

I bought 11 portholes from a friend and received six other windows for free. Windows I helped removing from another ship for him.

The portholes are 40cm height and have bronze storm hatches. They need a lot of cleaning, a job for the next couple of days…

19th November 2006 – Today, the electrician fixed the rest of the 24 volts power, switched on the navigation lights and made the 220v system to work, finally, again power on my boat!

I helped again with the spits barge and also bought a watertight door for the entrance of my boat. I can no travel over the IJsselmeer without having to worry if water would get on my deck. The door is heavy, so we might have to strengthen the door entrance.

In the late afternoon, I took some pictures of my boat from Lore’s boat. Here are a couple:

18th November 2006 – This morning, a big surprised had happened. The metal work was finished from the outside. The inside, ribs and welding the bulkhead still needs to be done.

My electrician repaired the 24 volts in the back accommodation, not an easy job since all cables were hidden behind the paneling.

Since Lore was moored next to my boat an a lot of work needed to be done on her spits barge, I decided to help her a hand.

5th November 2006 – An emotional moment when the last bit of the wooden construction had been removed, but that does also mean that the end of the big work is in sight!

We ended today, after a heavy week of work, in which the cargo hold is now nearly completely covered and watertight. Inside, a lot of work still needs to happen, such as the ribs, the windows and the slots for the hatches.

4th November 2006 – A big part of the wooden roof has been removed, so we could continue with building the metal sides, as can be seen in the picture here below.

The plates were fixed and two more were added. It does take a long time forgetting them right, without the tools. There are so many things, we need to think about, such as the width of the gangway, the height of the side, the width of the cargo hold and the supports for the hatches. It is more complicated then it looks!

3th November 2006 – Besides some painting, not much happened today. I took some pictures of the other vessels for my website and that’s about it.

In the late evening, some wood was removed and two more plates were loosely placed, without measuring. That was a job for tomorrow.

2nd November 2006 – I woke up, wasn’t to happy about the night, had a coffee with the neighbor and went for a short walk, before working. He moored his ship very loosely and made a lot of noise.

It was raining all morning, so I cleaned the wheelhouse and my technical room (extension to the engine room). The two dirty water tanks are placed on one side, my generator on the other side. In the middle I still have enough space for another two tanks. I also painted one side of the newly created watertight compartment.

In the afternoon, an electrician came to have a look at both my 24v installation and my future 220v system. Later that day, when the weather became better, we continued working on the sides.

1st November 2006 – The weather wasn’t to good for painting, sometimes sun shine, sometimes raining. In the morning, I was able to paint the new cabin and the deck. Those were the two parts that were completely finished.

In the afternoon, we continued with the sides. It is taking us every time more time to put the plates in position, maintaining the lining and distance between both sides, so the hatches would fit nicely.

In the late evening, my other neighbor came with a fully loaded spits barge, the Yannick. That night, he didn’t put his ropes nicely, so the whole night, we were all moving from one side to another. Bashing and the noise of tiers being squeezed made it horrible to sleep. The cold winter didn’t make it easier. Fortunately I had an petroleum heather.

22th October 2006 – Another two & halve meters have been added. Since there are now enough plates and ribs, one of the major supports has been added. This support should keep everything straight and tightly together.

While removing a part of the old L-profile, used for the water tanks in the old days, I felt overboard with tools and clothes. I made it safely to my boat, but the tools and gloves were lost. Quickly changed clothes and continued working…

21st October 2006 – In the morning, I helped aboard my girlfriends barge, cleaning the plates of the bow.

We have added the strips to the side of the plates. These strips will be the ribs of the upper structure. Just welding the side plates is not strong enough. Also the plates will have a waving motive if they are not attached to the ribs.

The set of hatches I’ve bought exists of a beginning and an ending hatch. For those to fit, a special gudder needs to be welded. It took us some time to get in place.

20th October 2006 – I arrived late in the evening. The roof was finished of my new entrance. It looked good. Since it was already dark, I decided not to work, but rather to have a drink on my girlfriends boat that was still at the yard.

15th October 2006 – The first part of the sides were put in position. A couple of the hatches were placed to get an impression. It is not easy to create a side over the length of 24 meters and keeping it straight. Halfway, sand will be loaded in the boat to get her in a better shape.

When the first couple of hatches are placed, the already build part will be finished first. The plates now need to be welded completely.

14th October 2006 – After a heavy night, we placed the roof on the newly created cabin. The roof wasn’t good, so we started again. A very time consuming job.

The Blue board was placed in the late afternoon. My ship looks again a bit more like a real commercial barge.

7th October 2006 – Inside painting is not exactly my strongest point, so my mother painted the back accommodation, while my father tried to clean and recover as many wood as he could from last week’s demolishing work. Where was I? Working at somebody else boat. My girlfriend, who owns a spits, is going to the same yard I went too.