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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 6, 2012 - 01:35am PT
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There is a half-size replica of the famous Gokstad ship here in Vancouver. Her name is Munin, and she was built in 2000, to commemorate the millennium of Leif Eiriksson's voyage to Vinland. Munin is one of the two ravens who sits on the shoulders of the chief god Odin, the other being Hugin. (Memory & Thought.) They learn things on their flights through the world (middle earth), and tell Odin.
http://scandinaviancentre.org/munin/
The Gokstad ship was built in about 800 CE, was buried in a mound, and excavated about a century ago. She is now in the Viking Ship museum in Oslo, and it was recently decided not to move her and similar artefacts to a new museum.
http://www.khm.uio.no/vikingskipshuset/gokstad/index_eng.html
http://www.newsinenglish.no/2012/05/03/viking-ships-to-stay-berthed-at-bygdoy/
(There are a group of excellent museums on a peninsula in Oslo harbour, including the Fram Museum, the Viking Ship House, Kon Tiki, the National Maritime Museum, and a new building to house Gjøa, the first vessel to sail through the Northwest Passage. Well worth a visit.)
Anyway, Munin is a wooden vessel that takes a fair bit of maintenance. Every spring she has to be beached for a day on a high tide, usually with a full moon, and completely scraped and painted. Plus the mast, ballast, and other things are done. Last night we stripped Munin, and today the crew (not me) was there at 4:30 AM, to float her from the wharf by the Maritime Museum (where the St. Roch is - another famous vessel) to a nearby beach. They worked all day, and by 6 Munin was floating again, back in her berth. Tomorrow we put up her mast and rigging, and take her for a sail.
Here she is on Friday, before being stripped. Note the styrbord aka steerboard, to starboard.
The vessel to the right is the Northern Spray, a replica of Slocum's Spray. (Joshua Slocum, a Canadian-American, was first to circumnavigate the world solo, in 1893-96. He wrote a most entertaining book about it.) Northern Spray has an engine, and somewhat different rigging and deck house, but is otherwise a close copy.
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Stephanie Bergner
Trad climber
Planet Send
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I love the clink of the lines hitting against the masts, the whipping flags, and the sloshing of the water against the boats in the harbor. Put me on a sailboat and I can sleep like a baby.
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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I love the clink of the lines hitting against the masts, the whipping flags, and the sloshing of the water against the boats in the harbor. Put me on a sailboat and I can sleep like a baby.
Ahh...we've got to dial it up a few knots for yer. Get the wind awhistlin at least. Move you into the fun zone from sleeping like a baby to crying like a baby! Get you outta the harbor, getcha at an anchorage, matty.
Love the boat. MH. I look at boats from just 30 or 40 years ago and wonder WTF were they thinking. Tough people, no high tech foulies.
Susan
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2012 - 12:02pm PT
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Removing the ballast - there are fifteen lead pigs, each weighing 50 kg.
Cleaning out the inside, before she was beached.
Cleaning the hull.
More photos later - today we'll restep the mast, replace the rigging, and take her for a short sail. Good day for it - traffic in the city is snarled up due to the marathon, so it'd be harder to get to Squamish.
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Stephanie Bergner
Trad climber
Planet Send
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Arrrgh, Matey. Mine eyes see a squall ahead.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Have a nice nap Steph! 4 on and 4 off for 12 days.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I was hoping Guido would tell us how he so enjoyed rowing to L'Anse aux Meadows BITD when he immigrated.
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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MH. love the pics. Beautiful craftsmenship.
Susan
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Would really like to see Gjoa.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Beautiful Thread and comments....I'm a total water, boat wannabee. When I finish taking care of the current s@#$% in my life I will make a stab at spending time on some type of vessel working or whatever. Love to yo all, lynnie
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Don't worry Lynnie....you're in my sights! We're finishing up some huge boat projects for lots of cruising. Good crew always welcome!
Susan
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2012 - 10:39pm PT
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Here's Munin, beached yesterday afternoon. Empty, floated in on high tide, with a large tarp fotheringed under her, to prevent linseed oil and anti-fouling paint from dripping on the beach.
Some of the team, hard at work.
Arty shot, showing the figurehead.
One of the helpers was a fellow named John Ireton, now from Bellingham but originally from Alaska. He climbed Denali via a north side route in 1967.
Somewhere around I have a slide of Gjøa, which if I can find, I'll scan and post.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Hi Lynnie
Some fun quotes for you from the late and great Bill Tilman who did it all in his 80 years. When you get close to the boat 'move" let me know, perhaps I can help steer you along the way.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2012 - 11:38pm PT
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Here's Munin this morning, back in her berth, with ballast replaced. Note how much lower the tide is - almost 4.5 m from low to high right now.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Sailing is fun. All I get to do is lake racing, but we have some huge lakes here. It is windy, too. Unless you host nationals. Then the wind dies. One good thing about lakes is that you jibe and tack and toss up the kite and take it back down constantly. A few hours of that can get pretty intense.
Two years ago, a monster tornado took out the entire marina and dry pen. All of the racers keep their boats up in the pen, even the bigger keelboats.
I sold that one. I am looking for something a little smaller. 18 feet with a spinnaker is just too much for one person unless you get a boat that is rigger for it.
Dinghy racing is actually a pretty refined art. It is full blown cutthroat action.
Had a Hobie before that, but I am over the whole cat thing now.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.
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Currently racing on a Santa Cruz 37. I prefer carbon fiber to fibrous carbon. It just goes one hell of a lot faster!
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2012 - 12:11am PT
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You can't beat the romance, and scent, of a wooden boat!
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Yeah, wooden boats are cool, especially that one. You planning on sailing around the world? That is an adventure that I have always yearned for. Alas, I am stuck sailing lakes on fast little boats.
Go for it! Don't take the Panama Canal, either.
I wish I had hit some of the south pacific islands with the beautiful topless girls back when I was 20.
Come on, Guido. Post up some pics of hot south pacific women....
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2012 - 12:42am PT
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The Gokstad ship. Twice the length of Munin.
Viking Ship House, in Oslo. There are three ancient Viking ships displayed there, including the Gokstad and Oseberg ships.
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Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
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Great thread! (From land-locked Tetons)
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