This spring we have successfully built and sailed a leather and wooden stone-age boat here on the west coast of Norway. I thought I would share my experience with you all 
It all started when we came to help out on Godjord farm, just north of Bergen in a small town called Manger. The farm is owned and run by Børje Møster, a man of immense energy and passionate about the natural world. Børje has spent half his life on the sea as a skipper and in the navy, and now uses his farm to teach various outdoor activities to schools, and also holds free-diving and boating courses.
It is Børjes dream to build a stone age camp in this area together with a team of archaeologists, and so the boat project was started to raise awareness and get people interested in the stone age.
The boat is an experimental build, designed by Børje with help from archaeologists and from his seafaring experience. It is as true to form as we can hope for, as very little evidence remains of stone age boats like this in Norway.
The boat is designed as a catamaran with a main hull 12 metres long, and a shorter side rigger attached via a central platform. It is made with a pine keel and frame, all steam bent into place and secured with hemp and sealskin ropes, with a body of elkskin that has been sewn together and stretched over the hull and soaked in fish oil. There are two masts in the main hull for the four sails, and interestingly a double steering oar system which is a joy to steer in rough conditions.
When we arrived on the farm, most of the main hull had been completed, but on day one we began building the side rigger and from there continued with the project until it was finished and we were ready to set sail!
Here are some pictures of the building process we were involved with.
1 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Our first day working with the side rigger
2 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Tying the frame together with Gautier
3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Oiling the frame
4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Stretching and glueing skins together for the hull
8 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Stitching the skins together from the inside to hold them in place
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Stitching the skins together
7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Inside the side rigger
9 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
10 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We begin work on the main hull making an elk skin spray deck for the bow
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
13 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Making platform connections which move on a pivot to be flexible
14 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
She takes shape!
15 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The out rigger finished and sealed
16 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
17 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Moving them down to the sea
18 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
19 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
20 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
working on the sails
So we finished the wooden frame, keel, and platform connections on the side rigger. The most important joints were fitted together using oak rods like nails. We then oiled all the wood and fitted elkskins over it all. These were glued together into two pieces (bow and stern) and stitched with a machine as we didn’t have the time.
When they were finished we put them back on and stretched them together using rope so that they overlapped very tightly. We then saddle stitched them together. Another layer of wood was added around the rim of the side rigger to protect it and then after making the platform connections, we stretched the elkskins over the entire side rigger to make her fully water tight.
This involved an entire week saddle stitching on patches and sleeves and adding more fish oil to the whole hull. A four metre section of the upper side rigger can be lifted off so that we can get inside to pump out water and effect repairs. Man was Børje happy to have a leathersmith on board to do all the stitching!
With the side rigger finished we fitted her to the main hull and fixed other jobs here and there like the rope systems, the side platform (not in any pictures here) and a dozen tiny things you can’t even see! The whole process involved a lot of problem solving, being an experimental project there was a new challenge every day we had to discuss endlessly to come up with the solution.
After giving both hulls a coating of tar she was ready to be tested on the sea! So we dismantled the platform connections, loaded both hulls onto trailers and drove them down to the local marina. This took several days in itself as it was such a delicate job. Once on the water we fitted them together again, made some final repairs and got ready to set sail. This involved 3 nights of working on the sails until 2 am.
Before the trip we briefly done some publicity for the local media, getting dressed up in stone age clothing we had been making over the previous weeks and talking to them about the project . The other focus of this project was to protest the mining pollution in the Sognefjord, so we had a banner with us that we hoisted between the sails when we reached port to get people interested. You can read about it in a newspaper article HERE (in norwegian)
Fionn also performed the naming ceremony whereby she named the vessel Havelgen (the sea elk) and poured a horn of wine over the figurehead and wished it many happy journeys
Sailing
Building a leather boat is one thing, but sailing it is quite another! Luckily our fearless leader Børje had enough experience for us all and we followed his every order without question. Besides myself the other crew was Daniel from the Netherlands, a previous wwoofer with sailing experience. Gautier from france, who has been with us on the farm working on the project. And finally Jan from Norway, a freediver for Frivannsliv, who was filming the trip for a documentary. Fionn was happier staying to look after the farm as the goats were ready to give birth and she was needed.
We all had stone-age clothing that I had mostly made for us, and some made by previous woofers, but also modern gear for safety such as floating suits, life jackets, flares, and a two man kayak trailing behind us.
Our plan? Go where the wind takes us and enjoy every minute!
Day 1.
Børje assigned us each a place on the boat, each with its own job. We were new and inexperienced, but learned very fast our roles and how to interact with each other to get the job done.
My place was at the front of the boat just behind the front mast. It was my job to rig the Row sail (the square sail made from reindeer leather), the Stor (big) sail behind the mast, and the triangular folk sail at the front, and to have control of the anchor should we need it in a hurry.
We left a few hours after noon and sailed for around 6 or 7 hours south, our first real taste of Havelgen. It was really exciting for us to finally see how the boat performed, and completely relaxing watching the Norwegian coast pass by. It was a fine first day, everyone learning their place and we were all knackered by the end of it! We found a small harbour for the night and got the lavvuu up. With an open fire inside we had our share of meat and boiled Jerusalem artichoke and settled in.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The chief
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Jan
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
8 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Our first days route from Manger to just west of Knarvik
Here is a short video of her pouring through the waves https://flic.kr/p/njrchM
Day 2.
Still brimming with enthusiasm we headed out around noon as the wind was perfect. We headed south again, sailing past Bergen, down to Klokkarvik where we moored for the night. This was a relaxing day as we made it to the harbour in good time so had the rest of the day to get the camp set up and work on the boat.
By the second day we were recognizing some practical problems with the boat, the first being that the side platform was too long and kept catching the waves. So we borrowed a chainsaw, cut away half a metre, and used it as firewood to cook up some venison over the fire.
We set up camp near the harbour, next to an abandoned school house. Klokkarvik proved a very friendly place and we had several visitors over the evening. The first was the harbour manager who let us borrow the chainsaw and some other tools for fixing up the boat.
The second was an interesting fellow who brought an old whale fishing crossbow he had made. He was so excited he had an audience to share it with, and we had some laughs sitting in the lavvuu listening to his stories of the whale hunt and his Scottish ancestors. Before he left we all went out and took some pot shots at the old school house for some fun. Luckily this would not be the last time we crossed paths.
The third visitor was an old friend of Børjes, who brought us some extra rope and a few bottles of homemade blueberry wine. That went down a treat with everyone before night fell I can assure you!
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Børje, Daniel, Gautier, Jan.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
8 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
9 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The old school house
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The route south to Klokkarvik
Day 3
By the third day we were starting to feel tired and passed the morning working on the boat. We improved the central platform a little and carved some simple hooks to help rig the sail ropes better with less friction.
It was then a long day sailing south yet again to Bekkjarvik; A somewhat posh harbour. We rigged the banner up straight away and were met by several people interested in the cause but most just thought us crazy. We were unsure about where to sleep so hit the pub to work out our aches and pains instead. After a few pints it was nightfall and we found a small stand of trees tucked away to rig up the lavvuu and grab a rough night’s sleep.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Daniel fixing the flag pole
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The coast guard shadowing us for several Kilometres
5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Here you can see the improved platform and one of the rigging hooks
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The route south to Bekkjarvik
short video https://flic.kr/p/nhJYCL
Day 4
The longest day of all! We set sail early, and the wind was so good we managed to retrace our steps over the last 3 days and sail all the way home in just 9 hours. For the long journey we rotated the roles every few hours to give each other rests, if you weren’t steering or rigging ropes you were sleeping. I was lucky enough to be on the steering oars as we sailed northwards past Bergen, what a feeling!
1 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Bekkjarvik harbour
2 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
It was such a long day and we were so shattered already that a rest period was needed. We also had some big problems to fix on the boat, the main one being the hull leakage with the side rigger (named Calf the night before in the pub). So we spent the night at home on the farm. The next day we hauled the Calf out the water and realised why she was leaking so much. There was a 16mm hole through the keel we had forgotten to plug with an oak rod!
After fixing the Calf, me and Daniel built a solid floor in the main hull as before we had draped sealskins over the bottom of the hull, but it was too easy to step between the frame onto the leather hull. Gautier made more rigging hooks, and the chief made some changes to the steering oars as they had been twisting slightly over the previous days. As we were working away we had an unexpected visit from the chap with the crossbow who came to see more of the boat and have a good chat it was great.
7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Our new floor!
9 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We spent another night on the farm. It was then that Jan announced he could not continue for a recurring back injury. We all knew how tough this was for him, as he was so full of energy and really brought the group together, but he made the right decision for his health. Jan was gutted because he had been filming the trip for the documentary, but he gave us the filming gear and Gautier took over for the rest of the trip hoping to catch some nice shots for Jan. We would also miss Jans never ending supply of chocolate morale!
Day 5
The trip continues here with day 5. This second half of the trip was intended to be a more focussed stone age trip. Funny how things turn out!
We said our sorry goodbyes to Jan and headed back out to sea. We were all clad in our stone-age clothing and enjoyed a few hours sailing west in beautiful sunshine. We found a nice natural harbour bereft of people which suited us just fine. We dropped the anchor and set up camp.
It was very strange just being four people now, but today we would relax and enjoy the day on land. Daniel made a hammock from some netting he found washed up. We also set up some hobo handlines and done some stone age fishing but sadly no bites. We spent a nice evening relaxing in the lavvuu on reindeer skins drinking Børjes holy mushroom tea (chaga).
1 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Daniels flotsam hammock
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
13 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
14 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Me and the chief fishing
15 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
16 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Day 6
Good wind today meant we were all feeling the windchill, so the chief decided we would switch to modern gear as it was to be a day of hard sailing north. I was lucky enough to be on the steering oars again this day as we sailed past the mouth of Sognefjordan. You get such a kick when the wind slings you forward.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Daniels interesting clothing combination!
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
11 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
The route north
Although we were in good spirits, we were also all wet and cold and drained of energy after the sailing. I had only brought my stone age goatskin socks and simple leather shoes so my feet were really feeling it. So when we finally pulled into hardbakke, Børje treated us to a nice meal in a greek restaurant and booked us the night into a hotel. We then met some of the locals who invited us back to their party on a balcony overlooking the harbour. We were really living it up in the stone age!
After a long night it was good to have a nice bed and shower. I fell asleep with my shoes drying on the heater and was woken up at 4am with my room full of smoke. OOPS! The goatskin socks were fine, but the leather outer shoes had burned almost to a crisp. Luckily I woke up just in time to get the windows open and avert any panic!
Day 7
After a good night we were nice and relaxed in the morning to do some odd jobs on the boat tidying up ropes, fixing the flag poles etc. And then the locals came to see us off as we paddled out of the harbour back in our stone-age clothes and to the sound of our skin drums and the horn blowing.
After two hours or so paddling free of the harbour it was evident we were getting nowhere. We dropped the anchor and decided to relax and wait for the wind. We had our fill of smoked mackerel and dried sheep leg we had been living on for the past week, took some pictures, and then put the paddles back in the water to try and catch some wind. We caught enough to stop paddling, but ended up mostly drifting for around 4 hours, relaxing in the sun. We rigged Daniels hammock up between the masts so the chief could have a kip.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
2 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
8 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Smoked mackerel
9 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Dried sheeps leg
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
cosy goatskin socks
11 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
Gautier assuming his usual role
14 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
15 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
16 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
eating mackerel
17 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
18 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr
We had a deadline to be back for Monday and as we were getting nowhere decided to call it quits as there was no wind forecast for the next two days. Børje called in a friend to tow us to a nearby harbour and we took the ferry home to Manger.
TO BE CONTINUED...
It all started when we came to help out on Godjord farm, just north of Bergen in a small town called Manger. The farm is owned and run by Børje Møster, a man of immense energy and passionate about the natural world. Børje has spent half his life on the sea as a skipper and in the navy, and now uses his farm to teach various outdoor activities to schools, and also holds free-diving and boating courses.
It is Børjes dream to build a stone age camp in this area together with a team of archaeologists, and so the boat project was started to raise awareness and get people interested in the stone age.
The boat is an experimental build, designed by Børje with help from archaeologists and from his seafaring experience. It is as true to form as we can hope for, as very little evidence remains of stone age boats like this in Norway.
The boat is designed as a catamaran with a main hull 12 metres long, and a shorter side rigger attached via a central platform. It is made with a pine keel and frame, all steam bent into place and secured with hemp and sealskin ropes, with a body of elkskin that has been sewn together and stretched over the hull and soaked in fish oil. There are two masts in the main hull for the four sails, and interestingly a double steering oar system which is a joy to steer in rough conditions.
When we arrived on the farm, most of the main hull had been completed, but on day one we began building the side rigger and from there continued with the project until it was finished and we were ready to set sail!
Here are some pictures of the building process we were involved with.
1 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrOur first day working with the side rigger
2 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrTying the frame together with Gautier
3 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrOiling the frame
4 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by HamishOdinson, on FlickrStretching and glueing skins together for the hull
8 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrStitching the skins together from the inside to hold them in place
6 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrStitching the skins together
7 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrInside the side rigger
9 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr10 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrWe begin work on the main hull making an elk skin spray deck for the bow
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by HamishOdinson, on Flickr12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr13 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrMaking platform connections which move on a pivot to be flexible
14 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrShe takes shape!
15 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe out rigger finished and sealed
16 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr17 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrMoving them down to the sea
18 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr19 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr20 by HamishOdinson, on Flickrworking on the sails
So we finished the wooden frame, keel, and platform connections on the side rigger. The most important joints were fitted together using oak rods like nails. We then oiled all the wood and fitted elkskins over it all. These were glued together into two pieces (bow and stern) and stitched with a machine as we didn’t have the time.
When they were finished we put them back on and stretched them together using rope so that they overlapped very tightly. We then saddle stitched them together. Another layer of wood was added around the rim of the side rigger to protect it and then after making the platform connections, we stretched the elkskins over the entire side rigger to make her fully water tight.
This involved an entire week saddle stitching on patches and sleeves and adding more fish oil to the whole hull. A four metre section of the upper side rigger can be lifted off so that we can get inside to pump out water and effect repairs. Man was Børje happy to have a leathersmith on board to do all the stitching!
With the side rigger finished we fitted her to the main hull and fixed other jobs here and there like the rope systems, the side platform (not in any pictures here) and a dozen tiny things you can’t even see! The whole process involved a lot of problem solving, being an experimental project there was a new challenge every day we had to discuss endlessly to come up with the solution.
After giving both hulls a coating of tar she was ready to be tested on the sea! So we dismantled the platform connections, loaded both hulls onto trailers and drove them down to the local marina. This took several days in itself as it was such a delicate job. Once on the water we fitted them together again, made some final repairs and got ready to set sail. This involved 3 nights of working on the sails until 2 am.
Before the trip we briefly done some publicity for the local media, getting dressed up in stone age clothing we had been making over the previous weeks and talking to them about the project . The other focus of this project was to protest the mining pollution in the Sognefjord, so we had a banner with us that we hoisted between the sails when we reached port to get people interested. You can read about it in a newspaper article HERE (in norwegian)
Fionn also performed the naming ceremony whereby she named the vessel Havelgen (the sea elk) and poured a horn of wine over the figurehead and wished it many happy journeys
Sailing
Building a leather boat is one thing, but sailing it is quite another! Luckily our fearless leader Børje had enough experience for us all and we followed his every order without question. Besides myself the other crew was Daniel from the Netherlands, a previous wwoofer with sailing experience. Gautier from france, who has been with us on the farm working on the project. And finally Jan from Norway, a freediver for Frivannsliv, who was filming the trip for a documentary. Fionn was happier staying to look after the farm as the goats were ready to give birth and she was needed.
We all had stone-age clothing that I had mostly made for us, and some made by previous woofers, but also modern gear for safety such as floating suits, life jackets, flares, and a two man kayak trailing behind us.
Our plan? Go where the wind takes us and enjoy every minute!
Day 1.
Børje assigned us each a place on the boat, each with its own job. We were new and inexperienced, but learned very fast our roles and how to interact with each other to get the job done.
My place was at the front of the boat just behind the front mast. It was my job to rig the Row sail (the square sail made from reindeer leather), the Stor (big) sail behind the mast, and the triangular folk sail at the front, and to have control of the anchor should we need it in a hurry.
We left a few hours after noon and sailed for around 6 or 7 hours south, our first real taste of Havelgen. It was really exciting for us to finally see how the boat performed, and completely relaxing watching the Norwegian coast pass by. It was a fine first day, everyone learning their place and we were all knackered by the end of it! We found a small harbour for the night and got the lavvuu up. With an open fire inside we had our share of meat and boiled Jerusalem artichoke and settled in.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe chief
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrJan
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr8 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrOur first days route from Manger to just west of Knarvik
Here is a short video of her pouring through the waves https://flic.kr/p/njrchM
Day 2.
Still brimming with enthusiasm we headed out around noon as the wind was perfect. We headed south again, sailing past Bergen, down to Klokkarvik where we moored for the night. This was a relaxing day as we made it to the harbour in good time so had the rest of the day to get the camp set up and work on the boat.
By the second day we were recognizing some practical problems with the boat, the first being that the side platform was too long and kept catching the waves. So we borrowed a chainsaw, cut away half a metre, and used it as firewood to cook up some venison over the fire.
We set up camp near the harbour, next to an abandoned school house. Klokkarvik proved a very friendly place and we had several visitors over the evening. The first was the harbour manager who let us borrow the chainsaw and some other tools for fixing up the boat.
The second was an interesting fellow who brought an old whale fishing crossbow he had made. He was so excited he had an audience to share it with, and we had some laughs sitting in the lavvuu listening to his stories of the whale hunt and his Scottish ancestors. Before he left we all went out and took some pot shots at the old school house for some fun. Luckily this would not be the last time we crossed paths.
The third visitor was an old friend of Børjes, who brought us some extra rope and a few bottles of homemade blueberry wine. That went down a treat with everyone before night fell I can assure you!
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrBørje, Daniel, Gautier, Jan.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr4 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr7 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr8 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr9 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe old school house
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr12 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe route south to Klokkarvik
Day 3
By the third day we were starting to feel tired and passed the morning working on the boat. We improved the central platform a little and carved some simple hooks to help rig the sail ropes better with less friction.
It was then a long day sailing south yet again to Bekkjarvik; A somewhat posh harbour. We rigged the banner up straight away and were met by several people interested in the cause but most just thought us crazy. We were unsure about where to sleep so hit the pub to work out our aches and pains instead. After a few pints it was nightfall and we found a small stand of trees tucked away to rig up the lavvuu and grab a rough night’s sleep.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr3 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDaniel fixing the flag pole
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe coast guard shadowing us for several Kilometres
5 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrHere you can see the improved platform and one of the rigging hooks
6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr7 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe route south to Bekkjarvik
short video https://flic.kr/p/nhJYCL
Day 4
The longest day of all! We set sail early, and the wind was so good we managed to retrace our steps over the last 3 days and sail all the way home in just 9 hours. For the long journey we rotated the roles every few hours to give each other rests, if you weren’t steering or rigging ropes you were sleeping. I was lucky enough to be on the steering oars as we sailed northwards past Bergen, what a feeling!
1 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrBekkjarvik harbour
2 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr6 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrIt was such a long day and we were so shattered already that a rest period was needed. We also had some big problems to fix on the boat, the main one being the hull leakage with the side rigger (named Calf the night before in the pub). So we spent the night at home on the farm. The next day we hauled the Calf out the water and realised why she was leaking so much. There was a 16mm hole through the keel we had forgotten to plug with an oak rod!
After fixing the Calf, me and Daniel built a solid floor in the main hull as before we had draped sealskins over the bottom of the hull, but it was too easy to step between the frame onto the leather hull. Gautier made more rigging hooks, and the chief made some changes to the steering oars as they had been twisting slightly over the previous days. As we were working away we had an unexpected visit from the chap with the crossbow who came to see more of the boat and have a good chat it was great.
7 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrOur new floor!
9 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrWe spent another night on the farm. It was then that Jan announced he could not continue for a recurring back injury. We all knew how tough this was for him, as he was so full of energy and really brought the group together, but he made the right decision for his health. Jan was gutted because he had been filming the trip for the documentary, but he gave us the filming gear and Gautier took over for the rest of the trip hoping to catch some nice shots for Jan. We would also miss Jans never ending supply of chocolate morale!
Day 5
The trip continues here with day 5. This second half of the trip was intended to be a more focussed stone age trip. Funny how things turn out!
We said our sorry goodbyes to Jan and headed back out to sea. We were all clad in our stone-age clothing and enjoyed a few hours sailing west in beautiful sunshine. We found a nice natural harbour bereft of people which suited us just fine. We dropped the anchor and set up camp.
It was very strange just being four people now, but today we would relax and enjoy the day on land. Daniel made a hammock from some netting he found washed up. We also set up some hobo handlines and done some stone age fishing but sadly no bites. We spent a nice evening relaxing in the lavvuu on reindeer skins drinking Børjes holy mushroom tea (chaga).
1 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr6 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr7 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDaniels flotsam hammock
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr12 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr13 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr14 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrMe and the chief fishing
15 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr16 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDay 6
Good wind today meant we were all feeling the windchill, so the chief decided we would switch to modern gear as it was to be a day of hard sailing north. I was lucky enough to be on the steering oars again this day as we sailed past the mouth of Sognefjordan. You get such a kick when the wind slings you forward.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDaniels interesting clothing combination!
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr11 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr12 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrThe route north
Although we were in good spirits, we were also all wet and cold and drained of energy after the sailing. I had only brought my stone age goatskin socks and simple leather shoes so my feet were really feeling it. So when we finally pulled into hardbakke, Børje treated us to a nice meal in a greek restaurant and booked us the night into a hotel. We then met some of the locals who invited us back to their party on a balcony overlooking the harbour. We were really living it up in the stone age!
After a long night it was good to have a nice bed and shower. I fell asleep with my shoes drying on the heater and was woken up at 4am with my room full of smoke. OOPS! The goatskin socks were fine, but the leather outer shoes had burned almost to a crisp. Luckily I woke up just in time to get the windows open and avert any panic!
Day 7
After a good night we were nice and relaxed in the morning to do some odd jobs on the boat tidying up ropes, fixing the flag poles etc. And then the locals came to see us off as we paddled out of the harbour back in our stone-age clothes and to the sound of our skin drums and the horn blowing.
After two hours or so paddling free of the harbour it was evident we were getting nowhere. We dropped the anchor and decided to relax and wait for the wind. We had our fill of smoked mackerel and dried sheep leg we had been living on for the past week, took some pictures, and then put the paddles back in the water to try and catch some wind. We caught enough to stop paddling, but ended up mostly drifting for around 4 hours, relaxing in the sun. We rigged Daniels hammock up between the masts so the chief could have a kip.
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr2 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr3 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr4 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr5 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr6 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDigital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickr8 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrSmoked mackerel
9 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrDried sheeps leg
Digital Camera by HamishOdinson, on Flickrcosy goatskin socks
11 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr12 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrGautier assuming his usual role
14 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr15 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr16 by HamishOdinson, on Flickreating mackerel
17 by HamishOdinson, on Flickr18 by HamishOdinson, on FlickrWe had a deadline to be back for Monday and as we were getting nowhere decided to call it quits as there was no wind forecast for the next two days. Børje called in a friend to tow us to a nearby harbour and we took the ferry home to Manger.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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