Week 225: Winding down

It's been a productive week, but instead of starting new projects, we've been focussed on winding down a few things.

The first of these was the skip arriving. This was a minor drama! We were supposed to pay cash (as they didn't know us to invoice us). I went to get the cash from the safe, but it was locked, and the code didn't work. It's one of those pin code safes with a battery inside. No worries, I went to grab the key. It turns out that when we bought the floor model, it had the wrong key. 🤦

I couldn't pay the driver for the skip. He says "Geen cash, geen skip" (No cash, no skip) and begins to load it back onto his truck. I call Peter, who talks to them and agrees to guarantee the payment so that an invoice can be issued. Talk about a drama. With the skip delivered, we could fill it with all the trash we've been accumulating on shore. A very satisfying process.

Of course, now we have a safe with cash inside and no way in. Unless you have an angle grinder. In which case, it's much quicker than you'd think to cut a hole in the side (literally two minutes). We'd hidden the safe under a seat, and when we dropped it in, the batteries fell out, which is why it wasn't working.

We did a little more demo, removing some more of the kitchen to take advantage of the skip and then I started to work on pulling out the gauges on the wheelhouse console. Despite the fact we're tearing the boat apart, in reality, we are trying to save as much as we can. Removing the gauges lets me punch out the old panel and we're working to fit a new one to mount everything so it looks good. This went well, right up until I tried to fit the new panel. Of course, the wooden insert I'd cut perfectly square didn't fit. The frame is crooked!

The welders continued to work on boxing in the bollards up the front. It took a lot longer than expected, but by Wednesday, they'd finished. Delfine is now as water tight as she's going to get! I washed the boat from front to back on Friday and there's no leaks anymore (with one exception, when you pressure wash the deck hatch, water does leak up and under, but that's expected and not a problem).

Martin returned and finished up in the engine room with the electrical upgrades. We've now got a brand new electrical system in place. A big step forward in the infrastructure upgrades for Delfine. We had fun pulling out old wiring and removing old switches. Now, we're designing a new plate for the navigation and bilge alarms to mount on the console. I can highly recommend Martin and Elektro-Zeeland for any electrical work on your boat. When they'd finished, Karina went down to clean the engine room and came straight back up, it was left spotless.

We've started work with Simon, who's a specialist carpenter that has experience with boats. He's designing and building the hatch which will go over the stairs. We want it to be similar to the existing ones. He's also going to help us refurbish the wheelhouse as well as replace the broken front panel from when we hit the bridge back in France... Week 213: Lessons galore on the Canal du Centre

The Belgian Health Care system continues to impress, but it has its idiosyncrasies too. Karina was sent off for a breast cancer screening and they refused to do it initially because she had no GP yet! "We can only tell you if you have cancer... if you have a GP." I suppose there's some merit in this, but our approach was more "If we need help, then we'll go find a specialist". Karina now has a GP. There's no fighting Belgian Bureaucracy. My ear (where the Basal Cell Carcinoma was removed) continues to heal well and I had the final checkup for that on Monday.

With the bollards finished, it was time for more painting. I still have all the paint from when I primed the inside of the window, and after chatting with Peter, decided I'd paint the bollards to save a couple of hundred euros. We really wanted the primer on them before we left – it's been cold, but dry the last few days, getting the steel protected before we left was important.

And with that, we've reached the end of our 2024 for Delfine. It's been a huge few months. Hard to believe that we only bought her back on the 29th of July, started moving her on the 15th of September and we've only been here in the shipyard since October 14th. We've achieved a lot in the last five months!

• Researched creating a hotel barge business
• Moved from Greece to Belgium and established residency
• Moved Matilda from Mytilini to Athens
• Setup a company in Belgium
• Found and purchased Delfine (formerly Clair de Lune)
• Brought her back from "dead in the water" to a state we could move her
• Relocated Delfine to Belgium
• Delfine has been through the shipyard, surveyed, minor over plating, new prop-shaft and 80% sandblasted. Hull painted, decks primed.
• Welded shut all the old hatches and boxed in the bollards
• 70% of sun damaged and peeling windows and dog hatches renovated
• Demolished 80% of the interior
• Branding completed with branding consultants
• Architects selected, plans created and a builder chosen.
• Detailed planning for the interior fit out underway
• Electrical upgrade complete

And that's just the highlights. I think we deserve our two week break! There's a lot coming up.

In January and February, we will repair the glazing, refurbish the wheelhouse, complete the window renovations, paint the decks, fit the solar panels, fit the new staircase hatch and interior fit out will commence. There's lots of adventures to come.

Somewhere in all that, we need to move to focussing on the "bigger picture" of getting a website and photos up, and taking bookings. We need to remember the goal isn't to remodel the boat, it's to start taking people on tours!

So that's it from Delfine for 2024. She's clean, winterised and tucked up safe in Gent while we travel for two weeks to spend time with family. Enjoy your Christmas holiday period. We'll be back with more adventures next year in 2025.

Until next time

Tim & Karina