My 4th Ship Upgrade on a Tight Budget—Reusing Old Steel Before My Next Cargo Trip!

Hello, my dear friends! Welcome back to another video of my life aboard our little cargo ship in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.❤️❤️ First of all, I wish you and your families a beautiful, peaceful, and happy day. Before sharing today's activities, there is something important I want to say. I sincerely apologize to all of you who care about me and have expressed concern for my health and safety, especially regarding wearing protective glasses and a mask when welding work is being done nearby. In this video, I made that mistake again. It was entirely my responsibility, and I don't want to make excuses for it. I know that many of you have taken the time to remind me about protecting my eyes and health because you genuinely care about my well-being. I respect and appreciate every thoughtful suggestion and sincere reminder. Thank you for looking out for me. I will take your advice more seriously and be more careful about using proper protective equipment and keeping a safe distance from welding work in the future. Fortunately, this time only a few small parts of the ship needed welding, but I understand that even a short period of exposure can be harmful. Safety should never be overlooked. Today is the fourth time we're making improvements to our cargo ship, but this upgrade is a little different. After the expenses of replacing our batteries, the unsuccessful propeller experiment, and repaying the $1,000 we owed the kind shipyard owner, we need to be especially careful with our spending. Instead of buying lots of new materials, my husband and I are making a few practical improvements using steel we already have aboard the ship. First, we're making a new cover for the engine compartment using old steel pieces we saved when we dismantled our previous living area during the third upgrade. This will help cover the top of the engine and make the engine-room area more practical and spacious to work in. I'm very happy that these leftover materials can still be useful instead of going to waste. While the work is being done, I also prepare a simple vegetarian meal with fresh straw mushrooms, vegetarian sausages, and tofu. Sometimes my husband and I enjoy eating vegetarian food, not for any particular reason, but simply because we like having a lighter meal once in a while. Another small improvement is a new ladder for the cargo hold, made from old 21 mm round steel bars that were already on the ship. This will make it easier for workers to climb in and out of the cargo hold. We are also welding two 5 × 10 cm rectangular steel tubes together to make a crossbeam across the cargo hold. It will support two long wooden planks running lengthwise along the hold, making it easier to arrange and support the rain cover. This is especially useful during the rainy season here in the Mekong Delta. Heavy rain often causes water to collect on the cargo-hold cover. When that happens, we have to pump the water out, which uses a lot of electricity from our storage batteries. With this small improvement, we hope the cover will shed rainwater more easily and reduce the need for pumping. These upgrades may look very small, but they can make a real difference to our daily work and help us save money in the long run. And the best part is that most of the steel we're using was already available on our ship, so we can keep the costs as low as possible. After finishing these small jobs, we'll stay at the shipyard for one more night. Tomorrow morning, I'll steer our cargo ship back toward Ca Mau, where we'll wait for another shipment of mangrove wood. At the moment, there aren't many other suitable cargo opportunities available for us. Transporting mangrove wood to charcoal kilns is a slow business, and sometimes we have to wait quite a long time before we can load the ship. It looks like I'll probably continue carrying this type of cargo for a few more months before I can return to transporting rice in Vietnam's beautiful Mekong Delta. I really miss those rice-carrying journeys, but for now, we'll keep working with the opportunities we have. Life aboard a cargo ship doesn't always move as quickly as we hope. Sometimes we have to wait, save money, repair what we already have, and patiently prepare for the next journey. I'm learning to appreciate these small steps because every improvement, no matter how simple, makes our floating home a little more comfortable and our work a little easier. Thank you so much, dear friends, for watching my videos, sharing your experiences, giving me thoughtful advice, and continuing to accompany me on this journey. Your kindness and encouragement mean more to me than I can express. I hope you'll continue joining me as we leave the shipyard and begin another journey toward the mangrove forests of Ca Mau. Wishing you and your loved ones good health, happiness, and peaceful days ahead. With love and heartfelt gratitude from Vietnam, Diễm An ❤️❤️