Lowering the mast

One of the things that Claudia insisted on when contemplating a loading mast, was that it had to be able to be lowered in a few minutes - just like Antoon aboard m.s. Nynke - and raised just as easily.

Here is the proof that I have, as always, listened to her every word.

Now we are ready to leave early next morning, out of Groningen to escape the fireworks.

(Time lapse film was inspired by Dylan Winter at keepturningleft.co.uk - ;)

Fir thwarts for Kees

Kees, our steel dinghy, needed new thwarts to match his shiny new paint job.
Here we've planed and glued up a couple of fir planks.
If it stops blowing and doesn't freeze they won't get finished until next year, because we'll be off with the barge for the New Year. Hooray!

There goes the kitchen

All carefully parcelled up and wrapped in tarps to keep it dry, the Schier kitchen sets off for Lauwersoog. There the trailer will be rolled onto the ferry and on the other side of the Waddenzee another towing hitch will be found to bring it to its new small home.
Once it has been installed we'll post more pictures.

Almost ready to bake bread.

Today the Stefano brothers (natuursteenstefano.nl) delivered this granite countertop to finish the kitchen block we have been working on these last weeks. A nice piece of work with holes in the right places for the tap, sink and induction hob.
Now it all has to come to pieces and be carefully transported to the island of Schiermonnikoog, then put back together again and connected up.

Upstairs in Beilen

Almost finished a set of cupboards and drawers upstair in Beilen.

Back tomorrow to place a light switch and some plug sockets.

I rather like the combination of painted wood and part finished planks, though when the painter has been back all will be shiny in white and blue.

Schier kitchen

While waiting for the paint to dry in Beilen we have started work on a small kitchen project that will end up in a little house on the island of Schiermonnikoog.

The cupboards are beech plywood and the doors, drawer fronts and left and right end panels are from an Ash tree that we bought for the interior of the Willem Johannes in 2010. I new that those last four planks were being saved for a good reason.

Next week the client is coming to do the varnishing work on the cupboards and solid wood and the Italian stone man, Giulio Stefano, is coming round to measure up for a granite worktop.

When finished the whole project will be packed up and transported accross the Waddenzee to the island, to be assembled and installed there. 

A letter a day #letteraday

After way too long I've now got this carved nameboard project moving by challenging myself to do one letter a day and placing the day's letter on Twitter with the tag #letteraday.
The name of the barge, and thus what I am carving, is somewhat ironic. You'll have to wait and see.