I am just like Bill Gates me, I too have categorically not commissioned a...
- Thread starter PhilofCas
- Start date
You could call me Billy Gates, got a crib in every state,
Man on the moon, got a condo out in space.
(A$AP
From the annotations for the above on genius.com: ‘It is estimated that if Mr. Gates dropped a hundred dollar bill on the ground, that it literally would not be worth his time to pick it up.’
George J
Herefordshire member
I would love to have one of these!
You may note that this is a direct descendant of the Viking ships of a thousand years ago. In reality the Vikings had these small [two man rowing] boats with them on the big ships, often turned upside-down as a form of shelter on ocean voyages, and then to act as scouting vessels for which they are well suited having such a shallow draft.
They have tremendous stability and seaworthiness. Right into the late twentieth century they were used for coastal fishing. They can be rigged for sail and as such they are raced in Norway today.
I am guessing this might be a little bit more environmentally sustainable, even than hydrogen powered Gin-palace!
The first boat I ever rowed as a very young child was one of these on a lake in the Norwegian mountains near Geilo. Even though as a rule they are seventeen feet long they are easily managed by one rower. It is just about possible to lift one with two people, though four is easier ...
They are fast, having a concave lowest strake that allows them the slide through the water without creating a bow wave. Equally they leave next to no wake ... And because they have an oak keel that extends a few centimetres below the lowest strake they keep their line well in the wind.
Best wishes from George
PS: Called a Faering, there are slight regional variations in construction, though they are all clinker built and the strakes are built on so far before the ribs are fitted. The hull planks are made concave on the lowest strake with an ax and the higher ones left flat, while the ribs [and keel ends] are made from wood that has a suitable natural bend in it so the the grain of the wood runs end to end giving tremendous strength with the lightest weight of construction. There may be three strakes only made of very broad planks, or four or five depending on how strong the boat needs to be in different situations.
PPS: Making a fearing:
You may note that this is a direct descendant of the Viking ships of a thousand years ago. In reality the Vikings had these small [two man rowing] boats with them on the big ships, often turned upside-down as a form of shelter on ocean voyages, and then to act as scouting vessels for which they are well suited having such a shallow draft.
They have tremendous stability and seaworthiness. Right into the late twentieth century they were used for coastal fishing. They can be rigged for sail and as such they are raced in Norway today.
I am guessing this might be a little bit more environmentally sustainable, even than hydrogen powered Gin-palace!
The first boat I ever rowed as a very young child was one of these on a lake in the Norwegian mountains near Geilo. Even though as a rule they are seventeen feet long they are easily managed by one rower. It is just about possible to lift one with two people, though four is easier ...
They are fast, having a concave lowest strake that allows them the slide through the water without creating a bow wave. Equally they leave next to no wake ... And because they have an oak keel that extends a few centimetres below the lowest strake they keep their line well in the wind.
Best wishes from George
PS: Called a Faering, there are slight regional variations in construction, though they are all clinker built and the strakes are built on so far before the ribs are fitted. The hull planks are made concave on the lowest strake with an ax and the higher ones left flat, while the ribs [and keel ends] are made from wood that has a suitable natural bend in it so the the grain of the wood runs end to end giving tremendous strength with the lightest weight of construction. There may be three strakes only made of very broad planks, or four or five depending on how strong the boat needs to be in different situations.
PPS: Making a fearing:
Last edited:
George J
Herefordshire member
Dear Bart,
The Faering is light enough that one person can get it out of the water into a shed or onto a trailer with a small winch. One person can turn it over easily enough for maintenance. Also rigging a sail lends itself to solo use. It is amazing is that for sailing all you need to add is a few half hundred-weight stones in the middle! Though when sailing the water may only be a few inches from the top of the top strake they don't easily capsize or get swamped. They ride waves like one of those airbeds!
The only trouble is that being totally hand made - right from selecting the trees in the forest to hand riveting the planks and ribs - the cost is not small. You could buy a new small electric care for less these days. And I cannot afford one of those either!
The maintenance of a full sized Viking ship is monumental nowadays. There are a few such as the Harald Fairhair. This one sailed across the Atlantic and I believe into New York to demonstrate in modern times the amazing seaworthiness of such a small ocean going ship.
What did for the big Viking warships was the high sided ships with canons. No longer was the ship's speed and seaworthiness enough to guarantee success. This also saw the decline of the entire Viking culture of the day. The Faerings and even larger small craft designed for rowing and sailing continued as coastal transport - there were next to no large roads between towns in Norway until the twentieth century so it was sailing or stay put - and also for fishing.
Interestingly the boats were exported from Norway to the Shetland Isles, and Faroes for centuries in more or less kit form, built up and then dismantled for ease of transportation and then reassembled.
If you ever visit the Vikingship Museum in Bygdoy by Oslo you will see that the Faering was so highly regarded that they were buried along with a warship for the transport of the King being buried as he entered the afterlife!
Harald Fairhair, the Viking King, is my 31st great grandfather! Hence my fascination with the building in modern times of the new Harald Fairhair Viking warship copy! I believe that for safety reason on the Atlantic crossing they had fitted a small diesel engine and propellor in case of emergency. That the Vikings did that sort of thing a good eleven hundred years ago without any safety as such is amazing. They even had a sort of regular ferry service between Norway, Iceland and Greenland running. It was not that unusual for seafarers to make the passage several times before retiring back to farming in middle age!
Best wishes from George
PS: Sailing a Faering:
PPS: Sailing the Harald Fairhair Vikingship:
The Faering is light enough that one person can get it out of the water into a shed or onto a trailer with a small winch. One person can turn it over easily enough for maintenance. Also rigging a sail lends itself to solo use. It is amazing is that for sailing all you need to add is a few half hundred-weight stones in the middle! Though when sailing the water may only be a few inches from the top of the top strake they don't easily capsize or get swamped. They ride waves like one of those airbeds!
The only trouble is that being totally hand made - right from selecting the trees in the forest to hand riveting the planks and ribs - the cost is not small. You could buy a new small electric care for less these days. And I cannot afford one of those either!
The maintenance of a full sized Viking ship is monumental nowadays. There are a few such as the Harald Fairhair. This one sailed across the Atlantic and I believe into New York to demonstrate in modern times the amazing seaworthiness of such a small ocean going ship.
What did for the big Viking warships was the high sided ships with canons. No longer was the ship's speed and seaworthiness enough to guarantee success. This also saw the decline of the entire Viking culture of the day. The Faerings and even larger small craft designed for rowing and sailing continued as coastal transport - there were next to no large roads between towns in Norway until the twentieth century so it was sailing or stay put - and also for fishing.
Interestingly the boats were exported from Norway to the Shetland Isles, and Faroes for centuries in more or less kit form, built up and then dismantled for ease of transportation and then reassembled.
If you ever visit the Vikingship Museum in Bygdoy by Oslo you will see that the Faering was so highly regarded that they were buried along with a warship for the transport of the King being buried as he entered the afterlife!
Harald Fairhair, the Viking King, is my 31st great grandfather! Hence my fascination with the building in modern times of the new Harald Fairhair Viking warship copy! I believe that for safety reason on the Atlantic crossing they had fitted a small diesel engine and propellor in case of emergency. That the Vikings did that sort of thing a good eleven hundred years ago without any safety as such is amazing. They even had a sort of regular ferry service between Norway, Iceland and Greenland running. It was not that unusual for seafarers to make the passage several times before retiring back to farming in middle age!
Best wishes from George
PS: Sailing a Faering:
PPS: Sailing the Harald Fairhair Vikingship: