2018 Bad year for the Asmara

It will not have escaped most of you, the Asmara has been haunted by bad luck this year.

For example, the planned journey to Poland and back via Gotland, Sweden and Denmark was prematurely interrupted by a heavily polluted diesel tank. As a result, it was towed back to Norderney by the rescue from Bremen. The problem that actually manifested itself as early as 2015 cannot simply be solved. So in a third attempt to sail to Heligoland, I had to take the decision not to sail any further at sea. I turned the boat around and sailed back to the Netherlands. I had another exciting moment at the Schiermonnikoog. Here I called in the help of the KNRM to guide me inside. I would get spicy groundsea in the approach channel and that with an engine that turned off every 30 minutes.  They put two men on board during the approach and the lifeboat Koning Willem 2 continuously at my side. In this way we were moored at the Lauwersoog locks without any cracks in our clothing.

Once inside Dokkum, I replaced the booster pump, after which the engine remained reasonably stable. But that didn’t solve the problem, the tanks were still heavily polluted, after 45 years.

Because selling the boat was not an option, I did seriously consider it, I would not get enough in return, so I decided to tackle the problem myself this winter. In concrete terms, that means making two large manholes in the diesel tanks. Tanks made of 5 mm steel. I am going to tackle this project myself. After that I will hire a cleaning company that can clean the tanks professionally.

So I stayed in Friesland this summer and had a berth in Akkrum for two months, July and August. Because I bought a caravan just before I left, with the intention of putting it down in Spain for the winter, I decided to go and pick it up and try it out. So this is how I camped in Friesland. While I was camping my boat was moored twice by a rental boat, once with a German and once with a Dutchman. This resulted in damage to the starboard hull and dinghy. The latter has now been compensated by the landlord, after which I bought a rubber dinghy.

In Norderney I suffered paint damage to the port hull myself when my engine stopped another one in the harbour canal, causing me to crash into a ferry.

In consultation with insurances, in which I spent a lot of time, this eventually resulted in the boat leaving the water in Heeg on 3 Sept 2018. Here, the entire hull 2 components will be repainted. Luckily I still have my caravan here, so the time the boat is out of the water, I will stay in my Caravan.

I hope to moor again in Leiden on 2 October with a nice painted boat, as planned.

This coming winter I will repaint the railings and tackle the tank problem.