The Fyrdraca sails her maiden voyage (in Missouri)

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:24 am

Well hell, what can I say but Ã¢â‚¬Â¦.."Damn that was fun!"

Just a short report.

Most of the owners meet this weekend to celebrate the Fyrdraca arriving.
We had intended on just taking her out to the nearby lake (150 acre lake) and just "dipping her' (i.e. backing her into the lake and seeing how bad he leaked.)

First of all since she is a wooden ship and hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t been in the water in a while we expected her to leak some as the wood fibers wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be swollen.

So we expected some moderate leaking.

As expected she leaked a little but it wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t anything we didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t expect and to be honest she didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t leak near as much as some of us feared:)

Had we thought to bring a marine battery to run the submersible pump we would have been in great shape, as it was we just spent a little time bailing between voyages (we did two)

Anyway, one we got her in the lake and decided that the ramp was sufficient enough for us to get her off and back on safely, so we did;)

The first voyage was all oar power.

There were 6 of us crewing her: 4 rowers, one steersman and one bailer;)
We took her for a spin and even though we weren't even near 100% synchronized in rowing we had a blast.

The second voyage we got adventurous, we decided to try the sail.
It was then that we realized no one had brought Atli's handy dandy 'how to" manual;(

So the folks that had been studying up on it (and who had previous sailing experience) tried to pull from memory Atli's wisdom.

We cant say whether of not it was exactly how Atli would have done it, but it worked for testing purposes;)

We rigged the sail at the dock and then rested it upon the oar racks, we then rowed out to the corner of the lake and hoisted the sail

Though the wind wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t very active that day we were able to get short burst of "sail power" and it was exhilarating to be sailing in a Viking ship!

At the end of the day we were able to get her out successfully and everyone went home a little sorer but a little happier too!

We all agreed that if we never put her to water again (just try and keep us from trying;) we each got our moneys worth out of her on that day!
We got to see where she really needs work and hope to start some of the repairs soon.

With any luck she will be ship shape by September!

Pics of her 'maiden' voyage can be seen at http://www.vikingsna.org/gallery/album11

Halv

Mord · Post by **Mord** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:20 am

Neat!

Congratulations, Halvgrimr!

btw, I wonder waht the Old Norse word for "bailer" is? Bail, according to my pb dictionary is a Middle English word.

Mord.

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:48 am

Sir Mord wrote:Neat! Congratulations, Halvgrimr!

btw, I wonder waht the Old Norse word for "bailer" is? Bail, according to my pb dictionary is a Middle English word.

Mord.

--hehe
Bailer was my word, never intended to be 'authentic'

I have a Swedish to English dictionary around here somewhere, perhaps I will look up bucket boy;)

Halv

Dave Womble · Post by **Dave Womble** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:13 pm

How close is the Fyrdraca to a historical vessel, and what type is she based on?

Damn cool though regardless....A boat like that would look great in the lakes around here...it aint called the Lakes Region for nothing...Newfound Lake, Winnepasauke, Squam, Winnisquam....we also have a lot of sheltered bays and coves that would make a sweet sight with a boatload of vikings jumping out.

What ever happened to the replica (I believe it was the Oseberg, but not sure) ship they built in the late 1800's and sucessfully crossed the Atlantic...is it in the Norwegian Ship Museum, or was it destroyed?

Do we know how many shipwrights in Scandinavia still know how to construct a longship the old way?

Dave

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:35 pm

Dave Womble wrote:How close is the Fyrdraca to a historical vessel, and what type is she based on?

From the Longships pages:

Our old large ship, the Fyrdraca, is based on the Ralsweig/Rugen II Viking longship wreck found off the island of Rugen, Germany in the Baltic Sea. She is 32 feet long and can run with 12 oars. With her black lapÃ‚Âstraked sides, her dragon head (Ivan) and large square sail (which qualifies her as a Class A tallship) she is an impressive sight.

and

The Fyrdraca ( Fire Drake), a lap-strake, 32' (10m) class A tall ship based on a 9th century warship excavated in Germany,

What ever happened to the replica (I believe it was the Oseberg, but not sure) ship they built in the late 1800's and sucessfully crossed the Atlantic...is it in the Norwegian Ship Museum, or was it destroyed?

You got me there, I know several replicas have made the journey but dont know specific instance or where the ended up. Atli might know, he is a long time veterans of 'shipstuff", I am relatively new to it (other than burial ships;)

Do we know how many shipwrights in Scandinavia still know how to construct a longship the old way?

Dave

--I donno about in Sweden but I know that the city of Waco recently commissioned a new longship from a Polish source.

Halfdan · Post by **Halfdan** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:51 pm

So, any chance of seeing her on the lake at Lillies?

Halvgrimr · Post by **Halvgrimr** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:59 pm

Halfdan wrote:So, any chance of seeing her on the lake at Lillies?

--thats the plan!

Halv

T. Finkas · Post by **T. Finkas** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:22 pm

I have been there.

There is nothing quite like taking your boat out on her maiden voyage, rowing till your hands are bloody---and not caring a whit. The stress just rolls off!

By Gots, am I envious! Cheers to you!!!

Tim

ULTRAGOTHA · Post by **ULTRAGOTHA** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:36 pm

Er, you do know that the modified house trailer she came on is not a submersable trailer? You might want to check the wires and such before hauling her any distance.

Unless, of course, I'm completely out of the loop and you ended up with the submersable trailer??

To prep the sail, you lay it out, all rolled up and tied, on the ground next to the yard.

You then untie each robin (the bit of leather attached to the grommets that is tied around the sail) from the sail and tie it around the yard. Start in the middle and work your way to each end of the yard.

The outermost grommet of each end of the sail should have two robins. One that ties around the yard and one that ties into a hole at the end of the yard.

Once the sail is bended onto the yard, you then take the sheets (the lines tied to each bottom corner of the sail) and 'crochet' them from each end of the yard to the center. Make sure the crochet goes around both the sail and the yard. This will hold the sail rolled up onto the yard until you want to use it.

The idea of the crochet is that when you hold onto the end of the sheet and pull as the sail is being raised, you will unravel the sheet line and free the sail to deploy. Just like unravelling crochet work.

After you crochet the sail, find the balance center of the yard. Run the hallyard lines through the pullies at the top of the mast (best done before you set the mast). Tie one end of the halyard lines on each side of the center balance point. Hoist the yard a bit to make sure the yard is balanced.

Store the yard on the oar racks. Tie the other end of the hallyard lines to the cleats near the base of the mast.

When the time comes to raise the sail, it helps to have six people. but it can be done with three or four.

One person on each halyard.

One person on each sheet.

ONE person holding both the braces.

One person to shoot the yard.

The people on the sheets untie the end of the sheet lines and hold on to them without pulling yet.

The people on the Halyards get ready to haul.

Haul the yard up until it's a few feet above the oar racks.

One person pushes the end of the yard until it's at right angles to the keel. This means it has to be worked around the port shroud (shooting the yard). Each brace is passed around the outside of the shrouds and held by ONE person in the stern.

Once the yard is perpendicular to the keel, and in front of the mast, haul yard to the top of the mast, while the two people with the sheets pull on them. This will uncrochet the sail, and deploy it.

It's then up to the captain to direct the braces and sheets when they need to go, depending on the wind.

I'm glad you had fun with her out on the lake. But that one strake is really, really ready to go. IIRC, it's near the bow on the starboard side two or three strakes up from the keel. There are some other places that need to be looked at carefully. But that's the worst one, or was the last time I saw her.

Have fun!!!

ULTRAGOTHA · Post by **ULTRAGOTHA** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:40 pm

Also, I cannot recommend this seminar highly enough. It's FANTASTIC! Tons of fun. You will learn a lot.

http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/default.asp

Cap'n Atli · Post by **Cap'n Atli** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:55 pm

A lowly, yet vital, position appointed for the voyage, is the Bilgemaster; in charge of supervising the bilges and the removal of water therein. No small task in an open vessel in heavy weather. Also vital at night with the crew racked out on the deck. A scared crew with a bucket or two can move a lot more water than most commercial bilge pumps!

cblackthorne · Post by **cblackthorne** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:11 pm

Calontir now has a navy.....hehehehehe :lol:

Let the arms race begin.....