The rot of ages

What a beautiful few days we've finally had in the flatlands (see photo below if you're not convinced of the flatness)

It was really quite glorious, so first things first, we took the opportunity to nip across the harbour and fill up with water. Bliss. We can now stop being quite so stingy with our ablutions and flushes. Actually, we've been using buckets from the canal for the loo for the last few weeks in order to save drinking water, such was our diminishing supply. I know. It's silly really as it's no real pain to fill up, but it takes a while and when it's cold and windy, we're not inspired, I must say.
Job done, I decided to go for a walk along the arm of the river to its junction with the Dintel and then back along the other side.  It really was quite lovely in the spring air. As usual, I forgot my camera and had to make do with my feeble phone. But never mind. When the light is good, even my meagre megapixels can't go too far wrong.
Here's the route I took.
I started where it says Vintage Brabant, walked north to the junction at Schans, crossed the bridge and walked back to the southern end and then north again to our mooring. The photos below are just a few snaps I took along the way.
Looking north at the junction. There's a small shipyard to
the right. The crane is a boat lift
Looking east to the Mark section of the river
The Dintel
The junction through the trees
Back along the Mark arm to the harbour
Mummy and baby Highland coos
And again. I've been watching baby coo grow and he's 
becoming a splendid little chap
The final stretch before Oudenbosch begins
Pretty, isn't it? Anyway, my walk over, it was time to get to work on a problem that's been plaguing me for years, yes, years. In fact, this is the problem that's behind the title of this post. It's hard to explain without showing you, and the photos I've taken have such bad light, it's almost impossible to see my rot of ages, but I'll have a go.

A couple of years back, some of you might remember I posted about the leak from my back window on the port side of the barge; a leak that had been going on for ages behind the woodwork, which resulted in my ripping the entire back wall off to expose the mess. Well, I managed to stop that one, only to have the same thing happen on the starboard side. I kept thinking I'd cured it and then it would start again. Unfortunately, what I didn't realise was that a real cure would be impossible without major reconstruction work. 

The problem stemmed from a faulty construction when the window frame was put in meaning that water could accumulate in a gulley I couldn't see below the window frame. Quietly, over the years, the gully rusted away with me being none the wiser. I have now exposed it all and it's a real mess, but at least I can see what the damage is even if I don't yet know how to fix it.

The picture below does perhaps show the gap and the hole that developed behind a steel strip that was only spot welded in place. This gap, made by progressive deterioration, is where the water has been coming in. Given that the strip was only spot welded, it's no surprise that it kept leaking. 

The next question is whether I can learn to weld. Or, should I use some mega-strong two-component epoxy to close it and then weld another strip over it? I do want to learn to weld, but I don't know if I can do so quickly enough to fix this before the rain starts getting in again. Decisions decisions. 

The rot of ages. See the gap and the hole underneath it
See also the steel strip on the left that has been cut.
The rot was hiding behind it.
A close-up of the gap and the hole.

So that's my news from the Vereeniging this week, allemaal. A fascinating life, isn't it? Rusting rivets rule. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on developments. I bet you can't wait now, can you? 😁