November 2006
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.
New cabin is being painted
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.
Painting the side
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.
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.
Neighbor next to my boat
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.
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.
A ghost fleet; fog in the early morning
In the late evening, some wood was removed and two more plates were loosely placed, without measuring. That was a job for tomorrow.
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.
Piles of wood in the cargo hold, a sad view
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!
The contrast of the wood and the metal. Nearly the same angle...
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!
All the wood removed and a view of the new metal construction with aluminum hatches
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.
18th November 2006
This morning, a big surprised had happed. The metal work was finished from the outside. The inside, ribs and welding the bulkhead still needs to be done.
My hatches, all lined up
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.
Lore's spits and my Luxe Motor; nicely together in Sluiskil
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.
In the late afternoon, I took some pictures of my boat from Lore's boat. Here are a couple:
The bow of the MS Watergeus...
My new Den and the hatches
Just enough hatches to make it till the end
31st 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.
The portholes are 40cm height and have bronze storm hatches. They need a lot of cleaning, a job for the next couple of days...
