Ieper BE 19-20 March 2022 On Saturday, after a nice breakfast and a quick stop to pick up a SIM card for Howard, we drove to Ieper in Belgium arriving in the early afternoon. And there she was, Moondance, at last. First view of Moondance It was a lovely day, and our first glimpse of Moondance was great. Although looking in need of some TLC, she was in pretty good condition considering she had been left for about 2 and a half years. It was a bit of a bittersweet arrival too, as our friend Barrie, co-owner of Silk Purse - the boat on our left, had died in the marina after being blown into the water during a storm and suffering a heart attack. We had been looking forward to seeing him and his partner Carol, who has returned to Canada. In addition the green boat on our right, Maria of Zaandam, has been sold and our friends Tim and Jo are no longer here either. However the harbour captain Freddy and his wife Jeannine were there to great us. Great to catch up. But of course we were keen to see the newly refurbished kitchen. First view of the new kitchen We were so happy to see the new kitchen. It looks lovely, just as we had planned it with Davy. And Davy had brought his wife and daughter over to clean up, so everything was looking great when we stepped on board. Even welcome flowers.
As well all the plumbing had been reconnected and the power was working so we were ready for living aboard. Then started the work of unpacking (what we had brought and what we had packed away 2 and a half years ago) and setting up - after a cup of tea of course. It was a little like Christmas as there were plenty of things that we had forgotten about. But it will take a few days to get completely sorted. Happily everything was dry and we found no mould except in one vacuum sealed bag - probably due to something being a little damp when it was packed. But we hope a good wash will fix that. Unfortunately we discovered in the evening that the pressure in the radiators was too low to turn on the heating. But after a sunny day the boat was quite OK. However the next morning with the temperature at 2 degrees C it was very chilly. We did use our portable electric heater for a while until we'd had a chance to refill the radiators. They are on again now and the boat is nice and warm. Howard also did the first shopping trip on Saturday evening to get a few supplies on board. We have found quite a few things that have passed their expiration date and had to be thrown out. We are keeping our hire car for a week and will be working away to get everything ship shape, ready to start cruising in a couple of weeks.
7 Comments
20/3/2022 05:52:53 pm
Hallo darlings. Nice that your back in the Netherlands. Your boat looks great. Unfortunately our boat burnt out last week Tuesday. So we have no boat anymore. Plus as I think you know. Our Son Danny died on 6-03-3021. Its been a very hard time and we are still struggling. But lifes goes on... we have to get through it somehow. God is helping us.... anyway. We hope you have a wonderful time again on your boat. Love to you both...
Reply
Johanna Hersey
20/3/2022 08:58:17 pm
Kitchen looks fabulous!
Reply
Hilary
20/3/2022 11:53:06 pm
Deb
Reply
PAM KERSHAW
21/3/2022 04:41:34 am
Looks fabulous! Sounds like you're getting everything well organised.
Reply
Geoff McDonald
21/3/2022 08:56:17 am
Kitchen looks fantastic.
Reply
Andrea Thomas
24/3/2022 11:00:57 pm
Hi Deb and Howard
Reply
Gerri & George
26/3/2022 10:36:21 am
Glad to hear the boat is in good shape. Very sorry to hear of your friends' tragic news. We hope your foot recovers quickly. Looking forward to happy cruising news.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
|