– The Wooden Legacy of Sunnmøre –
The endeavours of three generations to keep a local tradition alive.
The purpose of this web documentary
In this web documentary we would like to put a spotlight on local Sunnmøre culture and history. Wooden boat building is a fading practice. And we want to share this culture and history to the new generation. This web documentary will show this through the boat Skjerven that is being used in the education at Volda University College.
Chapters
The History
Learn about the history of boat building and culture of Bjørkedalen. From the begining to modern times.
The Teacher
Meet a teacher who preserve the knowledge and informes the new generation about it's local history.
The New Generation
Meet the student who is a part of the new generation, learning about the tradition and the culture of boats in the area.
The History
The oldest find of boats in Sunnmøre is The Kvalsund ship that can be traced back from the late 700 hundreds to early 800 hundreds. The boats were the most important tools for the first people in Sunnmøre.
The first written sources about the boat in Sunnmøre is for the 15th hundreds. The boat builders of the area had a great reputation both domestically and across the borders for their boats. In 1549 the King of Denmark order two Sunnmøre boats. Later in 1809 a boat made for six people was order by Icelandic officials. The boat was made by Jakob Bjørkedal.
Bjørkedalen became the biggest manufacturers of boats in Sunnmøre due to the pine forest that disappeared in other places of the district. The people in Bjørkedalen took good care of their pine forest, as well as the soil in the forest was better in Bjørkedalen than elsewhere. They also were able to build the boats themselves without outside resources. They had people with great knowledge about boat building. In addition, they had their own forge to make the metal parts for the boat. In the 16th hundreds they used water powered saw for more efficient wood cutting and in 1918 they built their own powerplant. It is around 8 km from form where the boats were built to the sea, so the boats had to be pulled all the way down roads and hills.
Bjørkedalen became the main supplier of boats for the fishermen in Sunnmøre. The numbers of boats being built varied on how good the fishing season was. A bad season of fishing was a bad result for the boat builders of Bjørkedalen. The 1930s was a bad period due to the great emigration to America. Further into the century the boat building faded more away, first the Second World War came and then in the 60s when plastic boats started to emerge.
Then in 1973 Sigurd Bjørkedal received an order to make a copy of a Viking ship. He built a copy of the oldest ship found on Sunnmøre, the Kvalsund ship. The building of the Kvalsund ship received a lot of publicity. He thought this could become a niche. This was the beginning of the Viking ship era for the boat builder in Bjørkedalen. 10 years later in 1983 Ragnar Thorseth ordered a Viking ship to be made that he would sail around the world in. His voyage garnered a lot of publicity all over the world. This really helped to put Bjørkedalen on the map. He later ordered 5 of the 9 Viking ships made at Bjørkedalen. Without Ragnar Thorseth the boat building in Bjørkedalen would have not survived. This Viking ship era has kept the boat building going to this day.
Scroll down to see a map of the area. Click on the markers to get more info.
Timeline of Boatbuilding Tradition in the Volda Region.
700 – Boats were the most important tool for the first people in Sunnmøre. The oldest find is the Kvalsund ship.
1549 - The King of Denmark orderd two boats form Bjørkedalen, showing the reputation they had for their boats building skills.
1930s - Due to the great emigration to America, the production of boats went down. Further into the 1900s it declined even more due to the Second World War.
1973 - The start of the Vikingskip's era. Strongly linked to Sigurd Bjørkedal, who built a copy of the Kvalsund vikingship. He received the King's Medal of Merit for his work in boat building.
1983 - Ragnar Thorseth ordered the most vikingships from Bjørkedalen. He has ordered 5 of the 9 that have been made. He had a vikingship built to sail around the world an got a lot of publicity for it. It was written about in newspapers all around the world. This put Bjørkedalen on the map. Without Ragnar Thorseth, the tradition of these ships would not have survived.
Today - The friluftsliv or nature guiding students of Volda University College learn to sail and maintain the clincker wooden built boats.
Scroll down to get a closer look at a wooden boat like they make in Bjørkedalen and interact with our Viking Ship 3D model
The Teacher
To keep the tradition alive you are going to need to pass on the knowledge down to the younger generations.
Audun is not from Bjørkedalen. However as a teacher at Volda University Collage he is teaching his students sailing with the use of Skjerven. Through his lessons his students will not only learn how to sail a wooden boat, but also about the culture and tradition of the local boat history in Volda. The first trip he takes with the students is to Bjørkedalen.
Audnun says this on his teaching about the local tradition:
"We are trying to create a connection with the forest"
"What the forest has been used for and still is used for"
"There is a connetion between the area, boat building tradition and the sailing and coastal activities we do"
In the furture he wants to do more:
"I am hoping that we can add more coastal activities, sailing specifically to the study"
"Study programs that focus more on tratitional boats in this area, the craft connected to this and the possibility fo more great experiences in this area"
Scroll down to see the rest of the interview with Audun:
The New Generation
The students of Volda University College's "friluftsliv" and nature guiding studies are learning the local tradition of the wooden boats made in Bjørkedalen. Eivind is one of these students. Sailing Skjerven is a part of his bachelor. Audun is his teacher.
Education is a vital part to keep the tradition and culture from fading away. Without a new generation to pass the knowledge to, the wooden boat building tradition is in danger of disappering for good.
When asked what can be done to keep the tradition alive Eivind had this to say:
"They could improve the offer by to trying out these boats"
"For normal people and schools"
"They could bring kids out to go out on the boats"
Scroll down to see the rest of the interview with Eivind.
The future of wooden boat building is yet to be seen. Will you help to maintain the tradition?
Special thanks to :
Frode Sætre - Audun Røhnebæk Stikbakke - Eivind Kaspersen
Built with Shorthand