Week 263: Party time!
Back to the heart of Gent for our launch parties! (Yes, PARTIES).
It's been a very different week for a change! We are swiftly moving into a new phase of this project and enjoying every moment of it. This week, the goal was simple. Live on Delfine for the week and test, test, test.
We travelled to Beernem to explore one of our mooring spaces. The town of Zomergem has a memorial to the Canadians who liberated the village in WWII.
It's been a satisfying experiment. Delfine IS luxury accommodation after all! Our bed is better than the one at home. The temperature on the water is more pleasant. There are no mosquitoes. We've slept incredibly well.
It's funny all the little things you realise that you need that you don't find until you're actively living on board. For example, we rushed around to buy induction cookware, but then, when using the oven, realised we needed some decent oven mitts! Or a cheese grater for the block of parmesan.
Between eating our way through testing, we've also worked on filling in more gaps with silicon and some touch-up painting. That's reasonably complete now. When I look at the remaining tasks, everything on the list is now either pending someone else first (we can't epoxy the front window until the routing of the edges is completed) or involves someone else – like refinishing the table in the wheelhouse, where I need to take it over to Simon's workshop to do it properly.
Portus Ganda and a few locals.
What a feeling! We're enjoying the relaxation.
Thursday morning, we relocated Delfine back into the heart of Gent and Portus Ganda once again. It's becoming our second home! It takes Delfine to another level, having her visible on the dock, accessible, and in more pleasant surroundings.
Carp fishing for sport is very popular here in Belgium. It's all catch and release, as the fish are illegal to eat (too many heavy metals!) and frankly, probably don't taste great.
We moved back to the city for our launch party. Yes, there's still a small number of things to complete, but it's time to draw a line under this build phase and celebrate with everyone who has been involved.
Our crazy idea was an open house! Drop in, anytime from 4-8 on Friday or between 10-6 on Saturday. We wanted to give everyone the most flexibility to visit and bring their families and friends to see what we've all achieved together.
Some of the people who stopped by to visit. We appreciated everyone who took the time to come and celebrate with us.
It worked very well, but we subsequently spent about 12 hours talking nonstop with people and retelling the story over and over again. We're a little tired today! And there's still one more party to go. This afternoon (Sunday), between 4 and 8, we're hosting the residents from our apartment for drinks.
Many people stopped by, and we received numerous thoughtful gifts. Delfine is now properly launched. At times, we have become a little immune to what we've achieved. Having others on board and listening to their reaction is incredibly satisfying. We see every little defect and bit that wasn't "quite" what we wanted. They see the whole and love it all.
Snacks ready to relax and party
So what now?
Aside from what (I say) is a well-deserved quiet period, we're now moving further into the administrative side of things. We've been working with BargeLady on the itinerary, creating something more than a checklist of locations, but rather, captures the experience that we're trying to provide. As we dive deeper into that, it's obvious that we need to get out and really explore the locations we are visiting, especially with Delfine.
A selection of the thoughtful gifts we received from everyone.
One thing we love about Gent is the connections we're building with locals. Everyone is friendly and welcoming and happy to make introductions to people who might help us. Ief, from Books & Booze, has always been very social, and when we stopped off to buy some local Gentian Alcohol Free Gin, he wished us well for our launch.
A short time after, back on Delfine, I received a phone call from Martin, a photographer for the Belgian newspaper HLN. He said Ief had passed on our details and asked if they could come and interview us and take a few photos. Of course, we said yes, and in the two hours before the party, we did a brief interview, and the next day, we were in the newspaper! (Here's a link to the article - in Dutch)
This week, we're returning to the shipyard, where plumbers will be installing the new toilet seats, the correct bathroom taps and shower nozzles, as well as the final lights. Bart, the heating specialist, will return to troubleshoot the hot-water boiler and hopefully get to the bottom of the problem (which has reoccurred) with the AC unit in the main salon (fingers crossed I don't have to remove a wall again!).
Thursday is a big milestone day, with a visit from the Belgian Waterways commission to inspect us for our "commercial license". This is particularly useful for several reasons. The obvious benefit is that it allows us to charge money for using Delfine (important). Additionally, it means we can use commercial (lower tax) diesel, and we will also receive priority at the locks now. Due to the drought, some of the locks here are restricted to commercial vessels only. With our commercial license, we'll be able to pass unimpeded.
Until next time!
Tim & Karina