1st September 2011 – I repainted the bow, adding one white stripe. She is looking nice!
30th August 2011 – I want to mount two portholes in the bow of the ship. It can be good, but it might look wrong as well. I must make sure it doesn’t look like two eyes watching like a fish. Instead of just cutting a hole, I took the little work boat and drawed them on the hull with chalk. I will take the second one, the nearest one to the anchor.
28th August 2011 – I finally started with the bulkhead in the engine room. Since I will bolt the plates first and weld them on a later stage, the main job was drilling holes.
27th August 2011 – Yesterday evening I painted the bow, outside and inside. Today I started early by cleaning and repainting the roof of the bathroom. In the afternoon I worked in the bathroom, insulating one side and putting in some basic wood. I mounted the portholes as well.
26th August 2011 – During the week the bow was raised. It has been done with a double feeling. It changes the look of the ship, it is not an original (historical) alternation. I’ve made the decision for a few reasons. She was not looking original anyway, but I need some more space in the ship. Once the deck is raised, you can sit on it as well.
I must admit, when I first saw her, it looked bigger then I expected. The pictures below don’t give an accurate view of the size. It is bigger then it looks. Once the anchor winch is mounted, the railing and the bollards, it will look different!
16th August 2011 – The whole deck is gone. In the afternoon we cut out the deck completely. I hope I made the right decision.
I spent all morning cleaning the back of the boat, removing rust and dust. I painted deck and a part of the cabin with an old paint. I hope it will last a longer period.
15th August 2011 – During the day I drilled so many holes. They are necessary for the wooden frame in the bathroom. While working I discovered multiple holes in the cabin. They were welded in the afternoon.
In the late evening we started burning out the deck at the front of the boat. Since it was quiet thick it took a lot of time. We gave up and drank some beer!
14th August 2011 – The weather still isn’t good. I removed the bulkhead. It took me all morning to get it out. In the afternoon I did some work in the bathroom.
In the evening I went to see some friends in Ostend during the Paulusfeesten!
13th August 2011 – In the morning the windows were mounted. I fixed the broken porthole. In the afternoon I went to look for some more portholes. I will use them on the Watergeus and the front cabin of the Hornblower.
The idea in mind is to create a big ‘bakdek’ on the bow of the vessel. I get more space in the front and the watertanks don’t have to move to the engine room.
12th August 2011 – Most of the welding was done in the bathroom. I cleaned the metal, removed the old ceiling in wood and started painting the metal work.
11th August 2011 – Some pictures of the Frantsis on her mooring
9th August 2011 – I continued cleaning the deck storage and the area around it. Later in the evening I painted everything, some bits a second coat, some of them for the first time.
6th & 7th August 2011 – I was in Amsterdam for a family visit and decided to have a look at the smaller boats on the canals.
6th August 2011 – When I returned from Amsterdam I had a quick look at the Hornblower.
3rd August 2011 – Near the wheelhouse are two storage units, also called tabernakels. One of them contains my deck pump, the other one is filled with spare ropes. I cleaned one today, painted it and it looks good. I’ll do the other one tomorrow.