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Halvan ("the Half") is a "blekingeeka", a rowing-boat about 4 metres long and 1,5 metres wide. She is probably about fifty years old and something of an heirloom, originally owned by my grandfather (at first together with one of our neighbours - hence her name)
and then passed down to me. She has a distinct personality, like all wooden boats,
and a sturdy lady, as steady in hard seas as in calm. She is also her
skipper's pride; you might even call her the love of my life... |
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Halvan at the Granholmen wharf, newly painted, newly varnished and
ready to be launched. |
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The water is supposed to be outside the boat and not inside it,
I know that, but being waterlogged and/or caulked is what makes a
wooden boat watertight - and as you can see, this is one very
waterlogged boat... |
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Here she is, afloat in all her glory, the Pride of the Archipelago,
Halvan! |
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...and this is said Halvan with her faithful outboard. |
I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song
and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face
and a grey dawn breaking.
("Sea Fever", John Masefield)
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