Calliope’s lift-out for hull cleaning and repainting.
July 10th to 22nd 2024
Boats like Calliope should have their hulls repainted with good black ‘stuff’ as part of regular maintenance. We were 6 months away from her 10th birthday, and thought she should be treated her to her new bottom early.
Over the past 9 weeks we had made our way North from Saint-Jean-de-Losne on the Saône river in France to Diksmuide in Belgium; previous blogs document this lovely journey. We were booked in with the highly recommended Thijs at Buitenbeentje.
On the morning of July 10th we were waiting a few hundred yards down river in Diksmuide port, waiting for our call from Thijs to say he was ready – and the call came at 0830. It was not long before we were by his quay and driving into the crane harness.
Then the grand lift out. This crane can lift up to 50 tons. Calliope is a mere 35 tons, so an easy lift. She went up, then a swing round, somewhat slower than the video and settled down onto the cradle that was to be her resting place for a while.
As soon as the sand blast cleaning finished we were walking round the all important hull, invisible most of the time. She was looking good for her 10 years; all the anodes were ok, propeller and rudder looking good. The only part showing wear was the bow thruster propellor, with just one blade missing. A new part was soon on order.
Small areas of surface rust were to be rubbed down and treated before priming, so they were not a worry to us.
A ladder was soon set up for us to use throughout the stay.
Our high rise living had begun!
The following days had us watching with interest the various stages of the work.
High pressure washing and sanding and had been done already, so on to the next stage.
Surface rust treatment (nothing serious here!).
Two coats of primer.
Looking smart already.
Top coat of Vikote 42 high build flexible vinyl, in black!
The half way stage was interesting.
And while Calliope was brought back to top condition we used our time to explore Diksmuide.
The Grote Markt (main square) is surrounded by wonderful buildings – some original and some re-built after WW1, when much was left in ruins. Once a week on a Monday it is covered in a good food market. The cheese stall is to be particularly recommended!
We went to some of the bars.
One was in the Grote Markt, with the church in the background – showing how early we were out for a beer – but it was a hot day.
On a walk through the commercial estate adjacent to the boatyard I came across a pleasantly funky pop-up summer bar; we enjoyed our El Dorado moments.
But it was mostly pleasant to stay on board in the evening, looking down at the river and across to the Iser Tower.
Sometimes it was just Stu and I; other times we invited boaters who were also temporarily living in the boatyard.
On this occasion we rather pushed the boat out, so to speak. Often its just crisps and nuts!
One of the other places we visited was the Begijnhof – a place of refuge for single women of all ages in earlier centuries, and a regular sight in many Belgian towns. They always have a feeling of tranquility.
This begijinhof is now home to people with learning disabilities, providing secure semi-independent living for them all. It seems a very happy place, and during the day os open for all to wander in.
There is also the Iser Tower, and its museum of war and peace. It describes much of the local area’s involvement in WW1. It is Interesting, harrowing, inspiring and exhausting! The latter description, exhausting, is because the museum is laid out over the 26 floors off the tower and although a lift takes you to the top and you walk down through the layers, it is still quite a journey.
In fact there are two towers. The first tower was built in 1928–30 to commemorate the Belgian soldiers killed on the surrounding Iser Front during WW1, and as a monument to pacifism. However, it became an important political symbol for the Flemish Movement and, as a result of its association with Flemish nationalist collaboration during WW2, was destroyed in 1946 .
The current tower was rebuilt alongside the remains of the original and copied its design.
Just walking up to it is an experience; a shame it was covered in scaffold when we were there.
Installations made of metal remnants from the war line the path.
Once the lift has taken you up 26 floors and you have walked up the last stairs to the roof you have an amazing view out across the Belgian landscape. We made sure we went on a clear day to get the full benefit of this panorama.
I didn’t take photos within the museum – there is so much to take in and learn.
Meanwhile, back to the boatyard…..
The boatyard is not only a place for repair and maintenance of boats. This family business includes many other water based activities – kayaks, motor launches, paddle boards etc – and, away from the water, paint balling.
Then there was the normal river traffic too – including in this photo on the left the trials of an AI driven barge! There were always goings on to watch from our vantage point above it all while at at Buitenbeentje.
The 10 days sped by.
One beautiful sunset after another.
And then it was time to inspect Thijs’s finished work.
The anchor was back in place; the rope fender round the bow was fixed on again; the new bow thruster propellor had been installed; the patches where we had been held aloft on the cradle had been fully treated through all rust, priming and top coat stages.
It seemed that our high rise living was coming to an end.
And so it was, on a Sunday morning 11 days later, that Calliope was swinging back around to be set back into the waters of the Iser river.
A memorable sight, with Thijs in the foreground and the Iser Tower in the background – hopefully not really leaning to one side!
I know there’s a lot of photos etc of Calliope, but if you want to see the splashdown, with some applause from on-lookers, and Captain Stu helping move a raft, its here.
We stayed alongside at the quay for one night and after a short journey upstream to a turning point we came back, temporarily, to the Diksmuide port where we filled up with fuel and with fresh water.
This is rather a nice filling point.
The gazoil (diesel) pump and the water are almost adjacent so filling is easily accomplished.
This blog post has been all about our time lifted out at Diksmuide and if any reader has questions about it please send a message.
We were off for a two week holiday, aboard Calliope, at Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast – less than three hours away.
So it was off down the Iser for us, past the moored boats of Diksmuide Port. Maybe the next blog post will include a little of that holiday. 😌
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