Week 247: Moving day

This week was about gearing up to move into our new apartment in the city centre. When we arrived in Belgium last year, Week 204: Exploring Gent and settling in, one of the first things we had to do was secure somewhere to live. Despite having a liveaboard boat, Belgian residence laws are pretty strict about what constitutes a domicile, and the waiting list for residential boat moorings is very long.

Our thoughts have evolved throughout the year, and it turns out that we're enjoying having a place to call home that's NOT the boat. Somewhere we can put down some roots after almost 5 years "on the move". We don't need a big place. It's just the two of us; we always have Delfine for guests and family anyway, but we wanted somewhere modern and very central. We've also come to love Gent, and while we could live in Ypres (where Delfine will spend the winters), we love the vibrancy of this city and its convenience to places we need to go (like the airport).

Moving can be stressful, but we have so little stuff (more than we did!) that it's not a major drama for us. What's difficult is working out the whys and wherefores and of the process of relocating. How to get a parking permit (or prohibition as they call it here) for the street. We're so central (literally under a 2-minute walk from one of the biggest tourist attractions here, Gravensteen Castle), that parking, driving, etc. are very restricted. How do we get gas, electricity and water? These are the challenges in a new country, especially when you don't speak the language.

We rented parking permit signs and on Wednesday, grabbed a Cambio (car share car) to collect them as they have 25kg bases they sit on, and placed them outside the apartment.

Thursday morning, we collected the keys and did the inspection. There are all sorts of companies set up to make moving services easy (no doubt there's some premium baked in there somewhere), but our agent nominated one and said he'd handle it. That night, I got an email with an "offer" for the water, electricity and gas, and it's all sorted now.

We're very excited by the new place, which has ticked most of our criteria. We'll have a washing machine at home instead of the laundromat, we'll get a TV again, and we'll make it a relaxing city pad to retreat from Delfine between guests and enjoy winter.

Karina stayed home and packed on Friday while I worked on sanding Delfine for the morning. Then in the afternoon, we cruised the Tweedehands (second-hand stores) looking for furniture we liked.

On Saturday, we grabbed a Cambio van, packed our things and off we went! There were only a few pieces of furniture, the bulkiest of which was the mattress, and we could move in without drama. As Karina said this morning, we aren't even stiff! Partially because there wasn't that much, but also I suspect because we do so much physical work on Delfine that we're much fitter!

There's so much around here within walking distance—restaurants, cafes, shops, supermarkets, and more. Everything is now right on our doorstep, and we're very happy. Once the apartment is furnished, it's going to be a lovely retreat. Our neighbours are literal monks—there's a monastery behind us, so they are very quiet, although they do like to ring bells every now and again. Despite being so central, it's a tranquil neighbourhood.

Driving in Gent is an adventure! The city has made a lot of changes to restrict cars, which is one of the reasons it's so quiet here, but it takes a while to learn your way around. A big loop road surrounds the city, and the interior is divided into sections. It's not possible to navigate (by car) between sections – one-way roads and blocked streets prevent it, so you have to cruise around the ring, then wind your way through the streets to get to where you want in the section. It works, but it's not intuitive when you start! If you drive into the wrong section, you keep being funnelled back out to the loop.

Progress has also continued with Delfine. We've been focused on sanding and painting the outside. The sides of the wheelhouse are completed, and the forward bollards are now blue again. The roof panels have been painted. Martin came back to the boat, and we installed the toilet in the stern cabin together, so we've now got a functioning toilet, which, after about 8 weeks of using the shipyard toilet, is much more convenient.

Another exciting thing has been getting deliveries for furniture on Delfine arriving. We'd been told that it would take 4-6 weeks for delivery, so we ordered and then everything arrived the next week. It seems to be impossible to time this stuff properly! Still, we've got some fantastic chairs and a mid-century table ready to go. Carpets for the guest deck and deck furniture on the way.

This week, Simon returns from working in France, and assuming things stay as planned, he'll come and finish off the wheelhouse and a couple of other small carpentry jobs. We're very close to completing all our work with him, which is both sad, because I enjoy working with him, but also positive that things are tracking well.

There was one minor hiccup with our ESTRIN (waterways certificate), a small technicality that we hope to have resolved soon. There are three classes of AIS (the system that broadcasts your position to other vessels). We installed a class B, but it turns out that because of our size, the regulations now insist on us having a class A. Shouldn't be a major issue, but it means removing the new radio and returning it, as well as finding a certified installer to install a class A system. With that done, the ESTRIN seems like it will be completed (there was no other feedback on all the other things we submitted to them).

So that's it! A slower week, but a productive one and a new location for us in the heart of Gent.

Until next time,

Tim & Karina