Week 252: Underway again

Wow.

We've finally managed to leave the shipyard.

To be clear, Delfine is not finished. In many ways, not even close. However, as I've mentioned to people recently, we've now crossed the magical line where we've moved from a building project that might eventually become a habitable boat, to a boat we can live on, which still has a lot of building projects to complete. It's a significant milestone and worth celebrating.

Which we are. By spending the week in Portus Ganda, in the heart of Gent, with our daughter, Ella, and her husband, Inge, and for a few days, his mother, Gro. It's exciting to have them aboard as our first guests on Delfine.

There's still a lot to go from "habitable" to "ready for paying guests", unfortunately, but that will happen over the next month or two. The implication is that we will be bound to Gent until all the building projects are completed. Still, we can now consider taking short cruises for a week here or there while we wait for deliveries and return for installation.

The major quality of life things that are missing:

• No countertops in the kitchen, and therefore no sink, etc.
• Still a lot of appliances not hooked up (no washer, no dryer, no dishwasher, no cooktop).
• The bathrooms aren't finished – we're still waiting for the installation of the showers (with a temporary mixer tap in place while we await the proper delivery at the end of the year). The toilets are missing the buttons and the toilet seats.
• Lights – There's a lot of roughed-in wiring and no lighting in much of the boat (not a big issue with these very long summer nights).
• All the socket and switch covers.

Then there are endless finishing details.

• Trim in the bathrooms
• Baseboards in Albert
• Painting of the Clair cabin
• Trim in the Clair cabin
• A couple of cracked windows.
• Painting the wheelhouse ceiling
• Painting the sides of Delfine
• Painting the decks

And of course, the technical boat items:

• AIS install
• Deck lights
• Wheelhouse lights
• USB sockets
• Optimising the new battery install now we have all the powered items loading up the system...
• Fixing down the Starlink

And probably a lot more to go too.

Knowing we would be living aboard has meant completing a number of additional tasks. We need towels, cutlery, glasses, coffee, food, and... and... and... With each item, we have to make a decision – is this the "real" thing, what we want to provide for guests, or is it a temporary "hack", something short-term while we decide what towels we want, for example.

To put it mildly, it's been an exhausting week.

Everyone has worked incredibly hard to get us to where we are now, pushing for us to meet this Saturday's deadline for leaving the yard. It meant creative meetings with contractors, trading off items and priority lists. Yes, we could have the stair lights hooked up, but we'd rather you install the stern shower so we can live on the boat.

At times last week, up to 11 people were working on board Delfine (including us).

The curtains went in. Karina spray-painted the radiator covers. Endless bits of trim were fitted and finished on the furniture. Simon, Jones and Kaisen returned to complete the interior ceiling in the wheelhouse and fit the windows, as well as doing some additional waterproofing. The electricians were on site. Kristof and Emile were on site. The glass contractors installed the shower glass. Sliding doors were fitted. Jeff came out to do a lot of urgent electrical jobs for the boat (including fixing down the battery compartment and helping me reconnect the solar panels). The seating cushions all arrived and were fitted. Bart came and completed the air-conditioning install (just in time for a 35C day on Saturday).

Errors were made. We suspect (but don't know for sure) that when the curtains were installed, a screw was fitted too close to the glass, resulting in two sections of the wheelhouse glass cracking. Some bits of trim will need adjusting. The cushions in the wheelhouse are a touch long. For now, though, we've reached the goal. We can live on Delfine again when we want.

We said that this week we'd focus on completing, and not starting, new projects. I built the deck furniture and set out the carpets. We built the beds and made them. We pulled up all the paper and tape, finally exposing the new floors.

With each layer peeled back, Delfine transitioned from a building site to a boat, and new tasks were added to the list. A leak damaged that section of the floor, and there were scratches where it wasn't protected well enough. That section of trim is missing. That's where I dented the wood before we protected the sideboard. Someone bumped that paint and chipped it. I bumped the paint and chipped it. Did I say there's still quite a bit to go?

On Saturday morning, we hired a Cambio car to transport a load of items from the apartment to the shipyard. Then, Karina unpacked and set up while I ran errands, including picking up a shopping order, taking more trash to the recycling park, and then returning the Cambio and riding out to the boat.

Delfine was ready to get underway. However, there was a bit of a challenge first.

We had boats in front, boats behind and two alongside.

So in 30+ temperatures we hauled the two boats alongside back beside Sophie's boat. Her daughter saw us and helped us with her friends which was hugely appreciated. Next, we dragged Delfine out (after solving a sticking throttle cable first!), and pulled her alongside the boat behind us. Then, with Martin's help, we dragged the first two boats back along side the quay. It took a couple of hours and we were exhausted at the end of it.

Finally though, it was time for us to get underway. With some trepidation – it's been over 9 months since we've done anything more than back out of the dry dock and to the quay, we set off into Gent.

It's funny. There's always a lot of stress and worry about what could go wrong, but in the end, it went well. The railway bridge opened when we called them. The Gent radio control answered when we hailed. The one other bridge that needed to be lifted was. The nasty right-angle corner in Daamport, where we hit the wall last time, was much easier now that we knew what we needed to do. The harbour master, Rudy, at Portus Ganda was very helpful and friendly and enjoyed a tour of Delfine.

A follower on Instagram – a local Gentian who lives on a boat took some footage of us underway too, which was deeply appreciated. It was a surprise to have a message and see photos of us cruising down the canal.

We have made it. For now. A week to rest, relax, and enjoy the company of family while we add a few more items to the list of things to have checked out on Delfine.

It left us exhausted, though, and then we had to run around and make the beds, as well as continue some last-minute cleaning, before Ella and Inge arrived safely at about 11:30 pm. On Sunday, we crashed, and I made the (radical for me, I know) decision to skip the blog for a day and relax. So here we are, all caught up!

Now, it's time to head back to Delfine (I'm currently in the apartment, doing a bit of washing, collecting some more deliveries of needed items, etc.) and relax (after a couple of small jobs and phone calls, no doubt). It's fun being in the centre of town, and we're enjoying people looking at and commenting on Delfine. She's a fantastic boat and will only look even better soon.

One final note is a quick thank you to Jon, who reached out to share his stories of travelling on Delfine when she was Clair De Lune, back in the late 90s. He still knows one of the former owners and plans to try to put us in touch so we can say hello. He kindly sent a series of photos of the then-Clair-de-Lune as she was during her early years as a hotel barge. We love them and will proudly share them with our guests. I believe there are a couple of people reading and watching on YouTube who have been on Clair De Lune; we'd love any information and photos.

Until next time,

Tim and Karina