In the spring of 2014, I was lucky enough to be part of a project to build and sail a leather & wooden stone-age boat on the west coast of Norway. The story of the original build and maiden voyage of Havelgen can be found here.
This year, the boat was passed to a new owner in Denmark, Martin Dannevang. The boat was dissassembled in order to be shipped to it's new land, so I was called in as one of the original builders, along with Børje Møster the original owner/builder, to check on the status of the boat, and help put everything back together and made shipshape as we are the only two who know all the little intricacies. My trusty sidekick Ryan had been helping me with a job in France a week previously so I called him up, asked if he wanted to fly to Denmark with me, and off we went the next day.
It was fascinating to see how the boat has fared after three years in the sea. The leather hull had taken on plenty of marine life with shells clinging everywhere under the water line, and there was the odd spot of mould here and there but she was still very much sea worthy. We decided to carefully strip/scrape the outer hull and give it a good oil from both sides, then adding a fresh layer of tar to the outside along the waterline and voila, good as new! The rest of the work was more reassembling everything in the correct order and just giving each piece some tlc before refitting.
1 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
The elkskin hull after being in the sea for three years.
2 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
Cleaning the hull and fixing some planking on the keel
3 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
A little keel damage and some lac to remove from the hull
4 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
5 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
Connecting the two hulls together via the platform beams and bent boughs for tensioning the outrigger.
6 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
7 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
Adding some additional planks to shore up the frame inside the hull.
8 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
a dry and well maintained bow after 3 years
9 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
fixing the keel damage
10 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
oiling, more oiling, and oiling again...
12 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
strategic planning...
15 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
fixing the spraydeck for the main hull
18 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
rigging ropes
19 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
20 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
22 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
23 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
24 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
25 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
26 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
refitting the restitched and oiled spraydeck
27 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
28 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
testing the main sail
29 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
31 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
32 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
Have a normal day!
33 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr
A final celebration after getting Havelgen seaworthy again!
We look forward to seeing Havelgen sail the seas once again in the near future, and wonder what new adventures it will have.
If you would like to get involved with Havelgen, especially if you have any boat building or sailing experience, you can join the Facebook group Havelgen to learn more.
~Half-Goat~
This year, the boat was passed to a new owner in Denmark, Martin Dannevang. The boat was dissassembled in order to be shipped to it's new land, so I was called in as one of the original builders, along with Børje Møster the original owner/builder, to check on the status of the boat, and help put everything back together and made shipshape as we are the only two who know all the little intricacies. My trusty sidekick Ryan had been helping me with a job in France a week previously so I called him up, asked if he wanted to fly to Denmark with me, and off we went the next day.
It was fascinating to see how the boat has fared after three years in the sea. The leather hull had taken on plenty of marine life with shells clinging everywhere under the water line, and there was the odd spot of mould here and there but she was still very much sea worthy. We decided to carefully strip/scrape the outer hull and give it a good oil from both sides, then adding a fresh layer of tar to the outside along the waterline and voila, good as new! The rest of the work was more reassembling everything in the correct order and just giving each piece some tlc before refitting.
1 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrThe elkskin hull after being in the sea for three years.
2 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrCleaning the hull and fixing some planking on the keel
3 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrA little keel damage and some lac to remove from the hull
4 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr5 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrConnecting the two hulls together via the platform beams and bent boughs for tensioning the outrigger.
6 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr7 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrAdding some additional planks to shore up the frame inside the hull.
8 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickra dry and well maintained bow after 3 years
9 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrfixing the keel damage
10 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickroiling, more oiling, and oiling again...
12 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrstrategic planning...
15 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrfixing the spraydeck for the main hull
18 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrrigging ropes
19 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr20 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr22 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr23 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr24 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr25 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr26 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrrefitting the restitched and oiled spraydeck
27 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr28 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickrtesting the main sail
29 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr31 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr32 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrHave a normal day!
33 by Hamish Odinson, on FlickrA final celebration after getting Havelgen seaworthy again!
We look forward to seeing Havelgen sail the seas once again in the near future, and wonder what new adventures it will have.
If you would like to get involved with Havelgen, especially if you have any boat building or sailing experience, you can join the Facebook group Havelgen to learn more.
~Half-Goat~
