Viking Ship

My woodworking club, Northwest Corner Woodworkers Association, arranged a visit to the Anacortes boatyard of Jay Smith, renowned builder of Viking boats. Jay spent several years learning the traditional methods in Norway and the Faroe Islands. While he uses power tools for some of the tasks which would be extremely labor-intensive, much of the work is done using hand tools just like those used by the Vikings.

Jay's story of how he became passionately involved in this activity was fascinating -- his knowledge of the history is encyclopedic. This YouTube video interview tells only part of the story, but is worth viewing.

There are three boats currently under construction. The one in the photo is 36ft long. The first extra photo shows a smaller one in his shop -- Jay is on the left. The second extra shows a 56ft boat commissioned by Wild Expeditions, a nonprofit organization.