Sent: Monday, 16 June 2014 5:57 AM
Subject: FW: More on Dutch canal cruising
Hi friends,
We are now at Sneek after three peaceful days and one noisy night at Joure. Yesterday was the annual Vroam day and about 200 old cars arrived in town, parking out the main street. Nearly all were 50s,60s and 1970s with very few vintage vehicles. Fiat 500s were very well represented, with about 20-30 impeccably presented baby Fiats in attendance (our first family car was a Fiat 500 station wagon, so we have a soft spot for them). Today we cruised to Sneek, where our canal adventures all started five years ago. The Sneekerhaven manager, Frank, says he remembers us from then - he has certainly made us welcome with the Australian flag flying from the marina flagpole on our arrival.
Best wishes to you all, Andrew and Terry.
From: Andrew Macgregor
Subject: More on Dutch canal cruising
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:48:58 +0000
Subject: More on Dutch canal cruising
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:48:58 +0000
Cruising Europe -a reality check -looking after our forty
year old steel boat
After the
last couple of weeks of work following our return to Heerenveen this year, I
thought a few comments on the annual process might be in order.
People have often asked us if we make HOUTRIB
available for rental. Here is why we don't – it would be just too hard for a
casual user.
Prior to
our return, we had arranged to rent a heated shed at the Club for a week. The
shed is warmed to 15deg C so paint will dry and epoxy will go off. It rains at
least one day in two in May, and it is very difficult to do any work outside
under such conditions. Also, because of the high density of boats, there is no
yard space outside available to do dirty work, such as angle grinding or spray
painting which might damage other boats. The shed is equipped with ladder and
mobile scaffolding, and excellent lighting – and costs Euro20/day.
When we
arrived, HOUTRIB was waiting for us in the shed, on the cradle in which she had
sat in the yard for the previous 21 months. As you might imagine, there was a
lot of work ahead of us just to clean her up before we started work. The care
we had taken to keep her adequately ventilated and dry had paid off – there was
a lot of dust and grime, but very little mould.
Our first
step always is to remove the winter
cover – an old truck tarpaulin, cut down by us to fit. We riveted new eyelets
to suit around its periphery, with tools brought from Australia -we could not
discover where to buy them in Holland.. The cover is removed from a timber
frame which we then dismantle into a boat sized package which we carry around
with us for the season. Cleaning and folding the tarp always takes about half a
day. Dutch motorkruisers usually have a tent over the cockpit, with lots of
zips and plastic windows, and the tarp is primarily to protect the tent though winter.
Our work
program always includes patching of deep scratches with epoxy filler, scraping
below the water line and two coats of “anti-fouling”. We are in freshwater for
only three months a year and the paint used is a variant on tar, supplemented
with powdered bronze for the second coat. Traditional tar, per se, can no
longer be used for environmental reasons, but the Tenco Schwartz is a pretty
close approximation. The magnesium anodes last for many years, and we have only
replaced them once – when we bought the boat.
The
standard of finish below the waterline would shock the purist, but the speed
limit in the smaller canals is generally 6 km/hr and we are in no hurry. The
thicker the protective coating is, the better. Modern Dutch steel cruisers are
having the two pack tar epoxy treatment, but we cannot justify this for
HOUTRIB.
There are
always scrapes on the hull topsides -the bulk of the hull is finished in two
pack brushable polyurethane and we patch with epoxy filler, sand locally, then
touch up with two pack. Finding the right materials is often difficult and the
correct two pack took us, as strangers, several years to locate. The
traditional antifoul we use is not available everywhere, and we keep an eye out
on our travels for chances to buy supplies. We only have bikes for getting
around when we are not on the boat, so our range is limited. We are fortunate
that the Havenmaster (Club Manager) keeps a limited range of some essentials
and will order in others (like batteries) on our behalf, and that the local
shipwright is very helpful. However, even oil and diesel filters have proved
hard to obtain at times.
The steel
rails and rubbing strakes also always need attention and we have trouble
keeping up with them. They have many years of white paint on them and, in the
time we have available,we scratch away as much rust as possible from trouble
spots, treat with inhibitor, prime, undercoat and apply a finishing coat of
white enamel. One year we will set aside three days to do this properly, but
there are priorities.
This year,
the priority upgrade was the removal of the port aluminium 2m cabin window
frame, angle grinding the perimeter to remove rust, then treating with
inhibitor, primer, undercoat and finishing coat. The window is bedded down on
butyl tape and we still do not know where to buy it in Holland -we were given
some by the Havenmaster. This job was finished in the water, as we ran out of
time in the shed. The angle grinding was finished, but the window was
reinstalled a few days later – when it stopped raining. We were living on the
boat by then, with garbags taped carefully over the window, leaving airspace
for the paint to dry. I will add that, when angle grinding, as all our
possessions were on the boat, it took some art to create a sealed niche with
tarps, hooks and tapes so the job could be done without filling the boat with
rust particles.
Accommodation while working on the boat has
been a problem in past years, with a 7 km bike ride each way, usually in the
rain, from the nearest B&B having been the routine – then finding an
evening meal -you can't live on the boat when its in the shed. This year we
solved the problem with the help of the Havenmaster – we now rent an vacant
hireboat in the club marina for our week of work.
There are
the numerous small jobs associated with commissioning, greasing bearings,
checking oil and coolant levels, replacing torch batteries, buying new
WaterAlmanacs (up to date copies are compulsory in the Netherlands) etc etc.
Then, at
the end of the season, the process is reversed, washing and drying all the
bedding, in draining all water systems which do not have anti-freeze, changing
the oil, making sure the diesel tank is topped up and fuel treated with
inhibitor, then, after she is lifted out and water-blasted, re-building the
frame (the joints are numbered) and tying down the tarp, after the bikes have
been stored on board. This process takes about three days.
Now are you
sure you really want to rent her for a fortnight?
Andrew and Terry MacGregor
Andrew and Terry MacGregor
