The White Week

Winter arrived in it's full glory!! Let me tell you I think we have forgotten how cold it really can get over here and living on water makes it even colder.... but, I am jumping the gun!

Let me first talk about the progress that has been made so far. I started cleaning the portholes and what a job. All the old paint has to be stripped and I can assure you that over almost a hundred years quite a few layers of paint were added on top of each other and it takes a full day to strip it all from a porthole.

 

Before...





....after

Last Monday the fuel boat arrived with our diesel for the little stove and that was another new exprerience! I just call it "Die Petrol Lorrie". It parks right at the back of our boat and hey presto 180 liters of red diesel  and 171 Euros later and it chugs off again with one very friendly petrol "joggie" on board. Quite a colourful contraption really!

Just want to make absolutely sure that everybody understands that I have once again decided that camping is definitely not for me, I am a woman who insists on and loves her comforts! I am getting to the point where washing and rinsing dishes on the floor from two buckets ain't no fun at all but let it also be said that I know how to go with the flow. A kitchen eventually will be fantastic!! I was hoping that by now we would have a kitchen, but I am glad we didn't rush it because the whole layout would have been disastrous seeing that the fridge and micro wave and washing machine have moved so many times on the plan! Now we have decided that the steel cupboard for the gas bottle must move to the back of the boat because it just continues to cause havoc with our planning and layout and only then can we move on with the installation of the new kitchen. I do declare that it is actually all my fault, insisting that we do not install temporary "things" but go for the real thing! Stupid woman!

Kitchen, dining table, workbench and card table



After a days slogging and planning and carting stuff to the boat, etc. etc. it is so pleasant to create order again, putting tools away, decide what's for dinner and then sit down together at 6 o'clock (no not before then!) and have a glass or two of red wine or a beer for Attie and discuss our day's progress and planning what is in store for tomorrow!

Birthday drinks at The Black Smith pub

Had a lovely birthday last week. Went shopping at Het Goed and the Kampeerwinkel with Lisa, bought a few things pretended to be busy the rest of they day while Attie was grafting away and later the afternoon we hopped on our bikes, in the rain, to buy a microwave/convection oven (Magnetron combi!!), printer and iron The microwave had to stay behind because it weighed 31 kg and was impossible to tie down to the back of the bike. After delivering the printer and iron we bought at the boat, we went out for a drink and dinner with our marina friends. It was a fabulous evening and we felt quite civilised again dressing up a bit and being served in a proper restaurant, although the service was really poor the food was great and we had a grand time!!

As I have mentioned, Attie went back to this huge electrics and electronics store the next morning to bring Maggie (magnetron) home! He actually took the wheelbarrow into town and pushed it all the way home. I thought my whole life is going to change in the instant having Maggy around, but it is a new and strange machine that has to be fully studied again! Also there is a limit on the amount of shore power we can draw and all other apparatus has to be switched off to ensure we don't trip the mains! Attie always says that on this boat of ours nothing can be done before a hundred other things have been done first, so there I was having to study this machine for hours before I can actually use it. You must realise that this is also a conventional oven, so I do have the chance to study again, even if it's only the workings of Maggy!

The other miracle in our lives is experiencing what it feels like to sleep on a proper bed again!! Attie the clever sticks, built us a bed!! No more sleeping on tne floor and what a life changing difference! My fault again, because we should have done it first thing after arrival. Ces't la vie! Notice the homely rug. Our Dutch  neighbours, Klaas and Griet had placed this outside with "neem gratis mee" sticker on it and asked Rudi whether she would not like a nice rug for free. While maybe not the long term design solution, it has made a marvellously warm difference.



Made with old sailing barge wood



This has been the white week for various reasons. First we have eventually more or less completed the insulation of kitchen, albeit without first installing new larger windows and hatch. We started insulating with rolls of rockwool, something akin to fibreglass. Less itchy, but still a bit of an effort to install without having hazardous dust and itchy bits floating around. Also the gunnels in the kitchen do not have wooden slats to which it can be properly stapled. We decided to revert to flame resistant styrofoam which is considerably cheaper, can easily be cut to size and leaves only light snowy waste that does not itch. This insulation of the kitchen area has been quite a frustrating stop-start exercise with the planning of the electrics, placement of new entrance hatch, bigger windows etc continuously getting in the way of practical progress. Now we have decided to remove the gas bottle bin which is going to open up the planning options considerably and allow for a proper fridge etc.

Secondly, the temperature has dropped below freezing and we have had frost and snow. Today the temerature is expected to drop to 12 degrees below freezing!

David, Penny and Rudi in the snow on the "steiger"

Are we pleased we have a diesel "kacheltje" that keeps us warm and allows us to watch a movie in comfort every now and then?

Thirdly, given the fact that the marina warned they were due to close off the main water taps to avoid bursting of pipes, I therefore decided to fill the main water tank, which I had wanted to paint inside first with special paint, but did not have the time to do, and install a (temporary!) tap. We still do not have a sink installed due to our agreed principle of not doing temporary installations, a principle that we have religiously kept to, but now have relented on for the sake of immediate comforts like running water and a bed off the floor.

We still have some 15 days before we return to SA for Christmas and remain committed to this incredible adventure, despite the cold and the slow progress. We have laughed and sworn often and with exceptional innovation, but never in anger. We have friends who have taken the same journey and are now well advanced in their restoration and are very comfortable on their beautifully restored barges. This week Alan and Sharon arrived from Scotland for a three month stint on the boat they bought earlier this year. Hurrah, we are now no longer the greenhorns and can say "we have camped afore ye"!