22nd May 2022 – I barely had any time to scan books or work with the archives. Many people came to visit the ship.
21st May 2022 – I welded a metal pipe for the mast on the second distance keeper of Tordino. I will mount the spare mast of the Watergeus with some flags I received on Tuesday.
While I tried to scan some documents and book covers, I had many visitors. All of them had heard about Tordino in the newspaper….
20th May 2022 – Together with my girlfriend, we visited Oostende voor Anker, in the morning we did the barges and little boats. It was raining heavily.
In the evening we made a boat trip. Nice weather, a little breeze and a lot of sun! I must admit that the barges were looking better on the canal then docked alongside each other….
19th May 2022 – The weather was unstable so I continued scanning books and brochures in the Library.
18th May 2022: Some nice barges sailed on the canal for the event Oostende voor Anker .
17th May 2022 – There was a big nautical event in Gorinchem. It is a fair with all the big companies from Holland and some Belgium companies. It was nice to meet some people again, have a drink and a meal!
The previous owner of Tordino was there and he gave some old navigation lights, flags and an anchor!
16th May 2022 – Another ship for Oostende voor Anker passed by.
15th May 2022 – Just to warm to work outside, lovely to be inside the hold where it is still cold. So I just continued scanning old documents.
In the evening when it was a little colder we made a nice walk… Walking along the canal is like a holiday.
15th May 2022: Some more ships for the event Oostende voor Anker were passing by.
14th May 2022 – After a heavy morning, some change of plans, I had a good breakfast with my girl and went to Tordino. I lowered an extremely heavy porthole from the sunken lightship Westhinder into the hold. I did some scanning to change my mind.
In the evening, some friends came and we had a drink! A day well spent, despite missing a good friend!
13th May 2022: I noticed a first barge arriving for Oostende voor Anker…
13th May 2022 – Tomorrow I will deliver the keys to the new owners. I closed down the website watergeus.be and the Facebook page of Watergeus. The website Living Afloat which was intentionally built for people to follow the conversion of the Watergeus will remain online. I’m not leaving the water, still having the Stern and Tordino and living along the water in a canal house…
I will continue to help people with tips and tricks to live on a barge. And who knows, maybe one day I might just buy another one. All my tools are in storage, not thrown away!
For the followers of my blog, not much will change. I hope to start soon on finishing the Stern and in the meantime, you can follow the life on the canal and the museum aboard Tordino.
where it all started in December 2005
13th May 2022 – I did some scanning after a heavy week of moving stuff. In the late evening I still had to empty the entrance of the museum. I’m glad I will have some more normal weeks arriving….
12th May 2022 – Today I removed the bedroom furniture. These where the first proper pieces put in the Watergeus. I also removed the cactuses from behind the windows, they have been there for nearly 15 years! The bedroom will be reused as firewood and the cactuses will move to Tordino for a second life!
I took some nice pictures of a clean Watergeus, ready for her new owners.
11th May 2022 – In the evening, we removed all the old metal from the ship. It looks much cleaner now, less looking like a workshop and more looking like a houseboat again. In many ways a shame I have to throw away so much stuff. On the other hand, who will ever need rusty metal plates or a half rotten lifeboat…
Tomorrow I need to remove the bedroom and then the ship is ready for delivery to her new owners.