Project Weil - The end

Project Weil - comes to a Completion

May 16 - July 15

It took a little longer than expected, but with only 4 days delay we finally were able to leave our mooring on the side of the Mattmüller workshop barge.
So what did we do during these last 8 weeks?

	A view from the Palm-Rhein bridge to our mooring for the last weeks. The workshop barge, the cranes and in the background the buildings of the Mattmüller yard.
	A picture of a hole! How exciting. But it is the hole that will hold our second water tank. We decided that 1700 liters of fresh water was not quite enough and so found space for another 1400 liters, bringing our total capacity to a little over 3 tons of fresh water.
	The tank will be in the small forward bedroom or also called `our Puff-Zimmer' where the lower bunk was removed to make space for the tank. As you can see this is quite a narrow space, so no way to assemble the tank outside and bring it hole into its final location. As a result 8 sections of stainless food quality steel were cut and bent to form 4 U-shaped sections, 2 end-plates and 2 section-plates to prevent water sloshing around the tank. The new tank would be connected to the original tank on its lowest point to form one single closed drink water system. A valve between the tanks would allow to isolate the two tanks. In this picture we see one half finished and one of the U-shaped sections in the foreground.
	All this had to be welded together in a rather small space. For safety reasons a special low-heat welding process called Argon-welding was used. After over a week Bodo is a master in small space welding and will gladly accept other orders for similar tanks ;-)
	The final masterpiece - only thing missing is a nice wood panel around.
	The engine room got a small makeover - for safety reasons we now have all moving or hot parts covered and isolated.
	The heating system - a 19kW Kabola stove with a small Elco burner for our central heating system and warm water supply.
	Stefan performs a final inspection of the engine. New injectors, a refurbished injection pump, a refurbished turbo charger (the old started leaking with the new pump and injectors), inspection and overhaul the oil pump, change oil-filter assembly to get rid of the messy cartridge replacement needed on every oil change and overhaul of the ZF gear-box were some of the major tasks performed. We were told that there only was one problem with the engine for our ship - it is too powerful for the canal. So we have instructions to run (even tied if if not possible in the canal) the engine at full throttle to clean it out every few weeks! Water tank, blue-board, fairleads, engine overhaul, generator overhaul, heating system were done by the people of the Mattmüller boatyard. New Radio, second remote control for the generator, new Washer-dryer and electrical connection for the heating system all done by Elektro Erles, the ships-electrician.
	The granite kitchen counter was done by the Naturstein Indri company.
	Doesn't the parquet look incredible? It is a wood called 'doussie' (don't know what it means in English). Thomas Mehlin and his associate Mr. Meisen did the floor. Not a simple task with all the corners and trap doors to access the bilges and tanks! Hans-Rudi Lienin also called Holzwurm Lienin, was the carpenter who did the matching cocktail and end-tables and Glas Scheider cut the glass-plate for under the stove.
	The cocktail table was custom made using the same wood, doussie, as the floor.
	Attila, the Basel port police boat just to celebrate the end of our construction weeks?
	Disappointment: they just lead the way for the Swiss Transport Minister Leuenberger as he cruises by on a new Swiss container ship the Mürren, pushed by the ship Grindelwald.
	After 8 weeks of construction site living we are glad to have a livable barge again! In all a very exciting time; we finally put our stamp on the Avanti B, as it's interior looks the way we like it. A big thank you to all the fabulous craftsmen in Weil am Rhein and especially Thomas Mattmüller who was supervising and coordinating major pieces of the project. All are real craftsman and know what they are doing. There still is something to be said for German precision! So if you need phone numbers or references just let me know and I will connect you gladly.

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