Dragon Harald Fairhair. The construction of a Viking Dragon Ship

old nor sagas tell of Great Dragon ships used by Chieftain and kings in the leang the Norwegian attack and defense Fleet such a dragon ship is now being recreated on this tiny Island outside husand in Western Norway the Vikings built ships using their practical experience modern authorities require working drawings but these drawings are constantly being changed during the construction process C the KE is stretched and we have put templates for the stern and the dragon head Ola uses an angle board to control the angle of the garboard strike gunar is working with the lot a lot is the curved transition between the straight Keel and the stem and the stern Ola PLS the upper section of the stern ARA works with one of the curved Hood end boards that will start off the fourth stke by the stern Gunner is marking off for the support blocks of the bottom bands in a clinker built ship the frames are not begun until after the first few strikes are in place each board is adjusted to provide the desired tough and flexible shape of the hull the frames are added at critical points in order to balance all aspects of the ship note the curved Hood end boards closest to the stem and the stern the shape of these Hood ends is important for the ship seagoing qualities Ola has lubricated The Joint between the two sections of the stern with tar he places hemp as a sealant in the joint this is done in all joints as well as between the overlapping boards in the stres time for the two sections of the stern to meet I'll tell carefully guides the huge Oak Stern section to the KE while Ola controls the overhead lift the two sections are forced together with large clamps they are attached with large iron rivets gunar is working with the planking he cuts the nail by the Rove to make it ready for clinking the clinking can start approximately 100 Hammer Strokes are needed on each nail it is this process that has created the name clinker built ships irin places a new board in the eighth strike many wood clamps are used to force the overlapping boards together before clinking earthin drills holes for the iron Nails the iron nails are put in place from outside the hull and Roes are put on the nails from the inside the iron nails are hammered through the boards urain pushes from the inside with the dolly to force the Rove down the nail the eighth strike is almost finished when the ninth strike is in place the ship's bottom is also finished these first nine strikes will Arch out over the Keel the next 13 strikes and the gunnel will make the ship grow more in height working with the lower ribs the ribs are attached with wooden Nails as they are placed in the ship one must be be very accurate when the ribs are fitted if the shape of the hull is to be retained the ribs must be customized to the strakes not the other way round to ensure the forces acting on the hull are evenly distributed it is also important that the contact surfaces between the ribs and the support blocks and the strakes are smooth lar and Stefan are working with one of the bottom bands there are many individual surfaces to adjust the 17th strike is mounted underneath this strke you can see the Stringer this is the reinforcing board on the inside of the ship wood clamps are used to hold the boards together this prevents them from backing away from each other while we drill the pilot holes for their iron nails Ina adjusts the first of the special Hood end boards that are going to join several strikes in the bow fitting them inails massive amounts of measuring and tweaking AA calls for a practical seminar to discuss details the shape and strength of the special Hood end boards are crucial for the ship's seaworthiness Ola uses an axe to prepare the stern post for the next special Hood end that is going to join the upper Stakes then he uses a chisel here the boat Builders are working with the 18th stke Ana does the initial testing of one of the standing knees for one of the five Great room braces the standing knee knes must be shaped and fitted to the hull the Stringer and the cross braces the upper Stringer is mounted this Stringer is made in two pieces and will be scarfed together in the middle the Stringer highlights a smooth line in the ship but its real function is to spread the forces working along the length of the hull and to distribute the pressure from the cross bracers we use wood clamps and slowly press it into place the Stringer is attached to the planking with wooden Nails the nails are then cut wedges are driven into the wooden Nails the wood Carvers have arrived they are picking out wood suitable for the Dragon 's tail and head a root of Oak is chosen for being the main block of the dragon's head the head will be composed of several parts woodcarver bonic uses a projector to explain the template of the dragon's head one of the midship stringers is hoisted on board the midship stringers are counters sunk over the cross bracers they give the boat longitudinal strength the dragon is trapped inside large scaffolding no danger that it will escape from the top of the scaffolding it is possible to get an overview the old hboard is almost finished peda has lubricated a new board with tar on top of the tar he puts a string of hemp this will act as a sealant between the strakes the boards are brought together so that they overlap working with the midship stringers they are fitted with rabbits over the cross bracers to lock everything together in a strong stable unit a flexible ship is advantageous but the amount of flex must be kept within reasonable limits too much movement puts powerful strains on the longitudinal bracing we counteract this by spreading the load over a number of braces the standing knee is mounted here the toe is clenched to the Cross bracers with iron Nails wooden nails are used to fasten the knee to the planking yon is working with one of the standing knees in the bow in the for ship six of these will reach up over the gunnel and become ballards for moing 10 boat Builders have been working on the Dragon for over 20 months to get to this stage they are using the old Norwegian clinker building technique that can be traced back to the Viking Age Dragon Harold Fair hair has reached full freeboard the dragon is 35 M long and about 7 and 1/2 M wide we will need a crew of 100 men to row the ship it will be launched in June 2012

Channel: DragonFairhair

Views: 375,268

Keywords: Dragon, Viking, Ocean, Boat, Sailing, Adventure, Ships

Id: eQ3u0jjWCkc

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 18 2012