Week 244: A tough job but someone has to do it...

I don't want people to think we work hard ALL the time. While there's no doubt we're doing a lot of physical work on the restorations, we are also enjoying some unique and novel experiences, which are a core part of the business we're trying to build.

Only this week we've:

• Done a walking food tour of Gent
• Enjoyed lunch at Pakhuis with Stephanie from Barge Lady Cruises
• Indulged in a chocolate walking tour with Sophia, one of our guides and Stephanie
• Travelled to East Dunkirk on the coast of Belgium for lunch with Chef Keam

On Sunday, we joined a group in the centre of Gent for a walking and food-tasting tour with another potential guide. It was a good experience to try another tour for ourselves and learn how the guides approach Gent. This one covered a lot more of the recent history of Gent and showed how much of the historic centre was devoted to street car parking only 20 years ago. It's fascinating how Gent has made such a deliberate decision towards removing cars and how it's evolved. It's a fun topic to discuss with locals. The choice wasn't always popular, but now, it seems universally well-received, with the town centre welcoming pedestrians and tourists.

Of course, we tasted Fritjes (fries), Stoofvlees (beef stew) and Waffles, but we also got to experience more modern cuisine, including a local cafe and a vegetarian specialty restaurant. It's a good reminder that while there are regional delicacies everywhere you go, that's often not all that modern cities have to offer. The vegetarian curry was delicious.

Easter Monday was a public holiday, and we did our best to respect the quiet hours they take very seriously here. We headed out to Delfine and continued to paint the interior for a couple of hours, then relaxed for the rest of the day, enjoying a bit of a break!

On Tuesday, there was a bit of a panic as we realised that the builders were going to be closing in a wall in the stern cabin bathroom so the painters could continue finishing the surfaces, but we needed to extend a pipe around a corner first. I rang and chatted to a couple of people, and Martin popped by to help me plan what needed to happen. Then Glenn, the general contractor who did all the plumbing and electrical rough-in, was able to pop by and complete it quickly that evening. I started sanding the stern of Delfine, and Karina finished the trim on one side of the wheelhouse. I mistakenly said it was completed last week, but there was still a small section to go.

Wednesday was a big milestone day. The builders returned to fit out the stern-cabin, and there were also many little jobs to do on Delfine. Simon came over with the roof panels, and we fitted them onto the wheelhouse for the first time. That was an exciting milestone! All that work on them over the last few weeks and months is finally coming to fruition, and they fit perfectly! Next steps are to take them back to the workshop, add some insulation and a finishing panel on the inside and put the final coats of paint on. Then, return to Delfine, fit it, and add the hardware. There are still several steps to go, but even as they are, it's a significant improvement from before and after several days of rain, no leaks! We'll start all this again tomorrow. If we get a good run at it, we might complete it all this week, but it will depend on Simon's other commitments.

Thursday morning, we changed our routine. We took a shower after we got up (instead of before bed). We wore nice clothes. We brushed our hair. We applied makeup. We did our best to ensure we were presentable and ready to meet people! Stephanie, the representative from Barge Lady Cruises, was coming to Gent to meet with us, see Delfine, and learn a bit more about us, our history, and what our cruise has to offer.

She was an excellent guest, and we had a lot of fun getting to know her and picking her brains, learning about the ins and outs of the cruise business. While we have a good general idea now, there are a lot of specifics she's very knowledgeable about, like when 4-person boats (like ours) book out compared to 12-person boats. We took her to Delfine, answered all her questions, headed to lunch at Pakhuis and then off to a chocolate tour. We appreciate her time and input into what we're doing. We were so engaged that I forgot to take photos (even though we'd asked at the start and she was okay with it), we were all having so much fun that it barely crossed my mind.

The most important outcome is that they are happy to represent us, but we also know exactly what our next steps are before they can begin considering bookings for us. We need to finish the boat and get high-quality marketing photos. Stephanie was very clear that without the pictures, there's no realistic chance of bookings, which all makes sense. If we can get this in place by the end of June, then there is the possibility of picking up some late-season bookings in August and September.

Friday, it was back to Delfine, and in the day we'd been away, the builders had completed the framework for the stern cabin, and Bjorn, one of the painters, was back to start finishing it. Although the builders had finished, there was still a lot of little jobs I had to knock over–filling a few holes, removing some window trim and positioning the toilet and making holes, etc., so that Bjorn could apply the concrete render properly.

In the afternoon, I had to head for a dental appointment (one small repair required on an old filling), and Karina stayed back out at Delfine and finished prepping the corridor, then cutting in and painting it with primer. Phew!

Yesterday, we picked up a car and drove off to Oostduinkerke, near Niewpoort in Belgium. This area was the far edge of the Western Front during WWI. On the map below, Oostduinkerke is where the purple line touches the coast, just below Ostend.

This is one of the areas we will cruise, so of course, we wanted to learn more about it. We walked past memorials to the Western Front and explored potential moorings in Niewpoort. Although I didn't get photos (as I was driving) there are a lot of physical reminders of the war around. The war memorial was built partially on a concrete bunker. The fields, full of fat, round sheep, were also scattered with concrete bunkers that now seemed to be used as sheep shelters. And of course, there are a lot of extensive war cemeteries around.

The main reason for the visit was to go to lunch at Chef Keam's house. We met her a couple of months back, before we went to Greece, and we agreed that the next step was to do a taste test. Finally, after a couple of reschedules on our part because we were selling Matilda, we could make it happen.

We're pleased to report that Chef Keam is an exceptional chef, and we're excited to continue working with her as we plan our cruise experience. As we move forward into the fit out, we want to have her more involved in helping us select the essential small appliances in the kitchen, the cutlery and the crockery so she can deliver a world-class dining experience on board Delfine. We're planning a test stay with Ella & Inge and Inge's mother, Gro, in late June, and we've arranged for Chef to come and serve aboard Delfine as part of the shakedown.

Today, we're heading on our bikes to the northwestern side of Gent to do an architecture tour, specialising in post-war architecture. Our architects, Eva and Emile, are also joining us on the tour, and we're looking forward to learning some more about Gent's history and enjoying some mid-century modern buildings.

Until next time!

Tim & Karina