Hei! fra Norge

This morning we went to a shipyard, apparently one of the finest in Norway. We were told that among the top ten boats in Norway, 9 of them come from this builder. And in 2003 their G. E. Sars won “Boat of the Year” in Norway.

The owner took us on a tour of the ship they are finishing, the John Cook, a research vessel for the British Natural Environment Research Center. There were literally miles of cable (the G.E. Sars had about 180 km), hanging about freely since the boat’s not done yet. After going through the labyrinth of the interior, we went up to the bridge, which is ultimately controlled by a single joystick.

The scale of the project is staggering, but is even more impressive when one realizes that much of it is designed as it is built, by the seat of the engineers’ pants, so to speak.

After lunch, we took a guided tour of downtown Flekkefjord, led by the curator of the local museum, a young sailor-looking fellow. Flekkefjord is tiny, but has a rich architectural history. Everything is centered around a single church that was built in the 17th century, when Flekkefjord was a timber station.

Most of the buildings are white wooden structures, but the original colors were earth-tones. Only the facades of buildings were white, because it was such an expensive paint. Johann (the grandfatherly bus driver) owns a large building in town that he’s been restoring. Now it is a mustard-yellow with ochre trim.

After tour of the museum, we headed for the shop of the goldsmith who crafted our cheese slicers. He had an interesting studio, with both modern and old-looking items. I became even more appreciative of the talent and thoughtfulness that’s represented in my gift.

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