Living afloat

The story of the Luxe Motor MS Watergeus, the Groningse snik Hornblower and how to convert a Dutch barge into a houseboat.
Also containing one of world's largest house boat gallery

July 2011

2nd July 2011: Bollards, front hatch, engine room and mast

My parents came to help. I asked them if they could help me remove the floor in the engine room. Since the bulkhead is there, I need to lift everything through a hatch. By noon the engine room was clear and ready to be cleaned.

Most of the wood and insulation is gone

Engine is clearly visible again

In the afternoon I treated the mast with line oil and stabilised it with steel cable.

The bollards on the side, near the wheelhouse are finished. We now started working on the front hatch, adding some portholes and re welding it.

Before leaving Sluiskil, I took some pictures from the other side of the dock.

A view from the other side

A view from the other side

6th July 2011: Fuse box

While aboard the Watergeus, I started looking for some basic electricity stuff and made a little panel with sockets and fusebox. It is to be mounted in the engine room on the bulkhead.

During the day I made some plans of the engine room. Once they are digital, I publish them here.

8th July: A short visit

Since I was in Ghent, I decided to quickly go and visit my ship in Sluiskil. The hatch is finished by now and looks very good!

Portholes in the hatch

A nice paint job will do her good!

10th July 2011: Wood work

Instead of breaking everything down, I started building the two important walls. One to divide wheelhouse from living room and the other one to separate sleeping room from living room. It looks simple but at the end of they day, I built half a wall and the frame for a second one!

I cut out the floor where the wall is standing. This means I can always access my bilges without breaking down a wall. While removing the floor I discovered the bilges where still dry. This means the windows are not leaking!

The wall against the bulkhead, a gap of 1cm, 4cm of insulation (foamed panels) and 22mm of multiplex wood I got from the neighbours

The wall that will divide living area from sleeping room

Seen from the outside, just before leaving Sluiskil

15th July 2011: Wall in living room

I finished the second wall in the living room. If I had enough wood, it would have done completely, now I have to wait for the other side...

16th July 2011: Bathroom

In the morning I got some more sheets of wood from my neighbour. I cut them on the right size so they could enter the boat.

In the afternoon and evening I broke down the bathroom. I was disappointed I could not lower the floor. Shaft and exhaust of the engine are running underneath the floor. I felt through the wooden floor on four locations. I'll replace it next weekend with a descent construction!

Breaking down the bathroom

Not amused, the more I was breaking down, the more trouble I discovered

All the windows in the bathroom are leaking.

All the windows in the bathroom are leaking.

The price for aluminium windows (like the RAFA windows) are expensive. Rubbers around glass is much cheaper, but I have seen them go wrong on several ships. I needed a few buckets on the Escapde and now I need a few on the Hornblower.

18th July 2011: Anchor

I went to pick up an anchor. I found a small clipper anchor on Internet for sale. It was still in a good shape, but it was sold as a garden piece...

19th July 2011: Cleaning the anchor

Before I painted the anchor, I cleaned it with a steel brush. It looks nice now, but I will give it another coat tomorrow.

Cleaning the anchor on deck of the Watergeus

>> PART 2 >>