Living afloat

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

February 2011

5th February 2011: Back accommodation

Tiling was finished on the floor in the bathroom and toilet. The ceiling of the sitting area and the walls got their wallpaper. The shower crane was mounted and a part of the wheelhouse was sanded down. Briefly written what was done today.

6th February 2011: Measuring & cleaning

Recently I had removed some metal from the Escapade. Since I only had half a day to work I cleaned the back of the yacht. I did some measuring as well and removed some more rust.

After taking this picture, I removed the rust as much as I could

A few of the sheets of metal I will need

The future... (read more)

10th February 2011: Water tank

I removed the water tank from the Escapde. I now have complete access to the bilges at the back of the ship.

11th February 2011: Meeting in Ghent

Again a meeting for the Vlaamse Woonschepen. It is important for the organisation to continue to exist.

My mother spent a whole day oiling the inside of the wheelhouse. It starts to look good!

I made a small box to hide the radio equipment

The entrance to the back accommodation

The new control panel. Some more witches for the lights will follow one day...

12th February 2011: Finishing touch...

The whole morning I went shopping, or should I rather say: wait at the info desks of the shops.

In the afternoon, I finished the walls, adding a little piece of wood to hide any possible errors I made earlier during the conversion...

The bedroom

The toilet room

In the late evening, I put a new cover over the Escapade to prevent rain from getting in. Doubtfully if it will work, but anything is better then it is now!

13th February 2011: Colours

The back accommodation of the Watergeus is nearly finished. It is time to start thinking about curtains, paint and other coloured items. My girlfriend is the perfect person for this. She choose the colours and I must admit, I like them!

14th February 2011: Escapde

Most people will think that it becomes easier after a few boats to always do the same jobs. Well in some case it is true. Unfortunately, the Escapade is not easier at all. I'm even afraid it might become a bigger job then the Watergeus. If she had the same size of the Watergeus, the amount of work would be to much. Every day I'm discovering new problems. It seems like it doesn't stop!

Around the shaft, a lot of rust

One of the sides of the Escapde. It used to be a bench in front of it

Water tank lifted out and now on a wooden support

I removed some more wood from the side to discover the state of the vessel.

15th February 2011: interior no more

The interior of the Escapde is now gone. In 30 minutes, a friend and me removed the whole interior. Why? Well I discovered around 15cm of water in the bilges last night. I first tired hovering it out, but was to much. Once the interior was gone, I could estimate the amount of work needed to get everything clean. Once the bottom was visible, I noticed the condition was better then expected.

After 30 minutes

The interior: wood for the neighbour

19th February 2011: Rain and water

Again some water was visible in the bilges, while I cleaned it earlier that morning. It had been raining so much that I could gill a 12 liters bucket. The sooner I find all the holes in the side and roof the quicker I might get her totally dry.

21st February 2011: Bilge cleaning

As usual on a boat, one of th first job I always do is cleaning the bilges. It was no different with the Escapde... Different then with other barges, the Escapde was filled with led as ballast.

Led, rotten insulation, water and rust

22nd February 2011: Escapde and bilges

Another evening spent aboard the Escapde, cleaning bilges and removing rust. The ceiling of the bedroom was removed. The more wood I have removed, the more I discover. Melted insulation, burned wood and a black metal with some paint left. Cause of the fire must have been the electricity.

23rd February 2011: Windows in wheelhouse Watergeus

I replaced three windows of the Wheelhouse of the Watergeus. They were al broken when I bought here. It was now time to replace them with a decent solution.

One of the new windows

The toilet was tiled and the ventilator for the bathroom connected.

Two years ago, the old Scheepsdalebrug was removed. In the morning, one of the two big supports for the bridge was mounted. I took some pictures while I was working outside.

In the afternoon I continued with the bilges of the Escapde.

25th February 2011: Small jobs

In the morning I filled up my water tanks, a job that takes four hours. While they were filling, I cleaned one of my storage rooms. Since I need to break down the bedroom in the Escapade, all my tools and stuff that was located there needs to get to the Watergeus.

The afternoon was completely sp ended on removing pain on the Escapade.

26th February 2011: Nearly there...

One tile was replaced today. It was broken by drilling a hole yesterday evening. The toilet was mounted, the wheelhouse woodwork finished and the last corner of the floor sanded. A few bits of wood needed a primer and the area was cleaned.

What needs to be done the next weeks: Plumbing in the engine room, painting and getting the kitchen in!

In the evening I started cleaning the inside of the yacht. I used steel brushes and a hammer to remove rust and paint.

27th February 2011: Tired

I was looking for a few metal drilling bits when I noticed some water under my engine. First, I taught it was rain water, but very soon I noticed it came from a different area, the propeller. Friday afternoon, I ran my engine for an hour,so I know what caused the leak. Only it didn't stop. Looking closer, I noticed the belt of the automatic grease pump was broken. I now quickly used the manual pump, but water continues to drip. I'll have a look somewhere next week.

A bit more positive news on the Escapde, even with the heavy rain from last night, not much water had come in. I now properly sealed most of the holes on deck.

Thinking of what needs to be done this year, painting the outside of the Watergeus, going to the yard with my two boats, building a new upper structure on the Escapde, I realise it will be a bit to much for one person.

First of all, I want the back accommodation to be finished, so people can rent the area. Whenever the weather permits it, I must paint the outside of the Watergeus. It has now been three years and without maintenance it doesn't look good anymore.

If the Escapde stays dry, i'm not in a hurry converting her. She will take a large amount of my budget.

28th February 2011: Escapde

I traced a previous owner of the Escapde. I finally know where she was built and when! He even has some older pictures of her. I can't wait to see them.

The Escapde was built in 1937 at the shipyard Van Lent in Kaag.