Tom Kottmeier plans to ship his 33-foot wooden boat, built over the past two years, to Sweden in 2024 for a sail to Stockholm harbor.
Some carpentry buffs spend their retirement years building birdhouses, furniture or jewelry boxes. Tom Kottmeier had bigger plans.
Kottmeier is a Swede with a lifelong passion for boating and a deep fascination with Viking culture. His dream is to sail his ship — named Sleipnir, after the Norse god Odin’s magical eight-legged horse — up Sweden’s Göta Canal to Stockholm harbor in 2024.When asked what he loves most about sailing, Kottmeier answers: “Everything.”
Kottmeier said the Vikings started exploring in dugout canoes around 400 A.D., and over the next 500 years they perfected their nautical technology, using boat-building skills and vocabulary that are still in use today. Kottmeier said Vikings were the first seafarers to create a gull-wing-shaped hull that stabilized the boat from tipping over and the first to create distinctive trapezoid-shaped sails that allowed boats to better sail into the wind.
Kottmeier drew up his own design for the boat, which included reducing its size so it could fit inside a 40-foot container for shipment to Sweden. “It’s been a learning experience, but it’s very creative work,” said Schoenmeyr, a semi-retired engineer. “We work from a plan but we make mistakes. It can be a bit frustrating, but it’s enjoyable to see the fruits of one’s labor.”
Every weekday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kottmeier works on the ship. The boat, which is 7 feet, 4 inches wide, has a white oak keel, overlapping Port Orford cedar planking held together with 1,500 copper rivets and a 27-foot fir mast that is reclaimed wood from a former church building.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
All San Diego County law enforcement now able to refer to Mobile Crisis Response TeamsAll 11 law enforcement agencies in the San Diego County region will now be able to refer mental health crisis calls that come into 911 to a county-sponsored Mobile Crisis Response Team, it was announced Thursday.
Baca lebih lajut »
SDSO Searching for Pair of Suspects in April Stabbing of Teen in San MarcosThe San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is looking for two men wanted in connection to the stabbing of a 15-year-old last month in San Marcos.
Baca lebih lajut »
County's Weekly COVID-19 Cases Increase By More Than 800 Over Previous WeekThe number of positive COVID-19 tests reported in San Diego County in the past week increased by 800, authorities reported.
Baca lebih lajut »
Zero-bail policy instituted during pandemic to end at San Diego County jailsThe emergency bail modification enacted in early 2020 allowed people arrested for certain minor crimes such as drug possession or petty theft to avoid custody, while those already in jail for those offenses and with no other pending cases were released on their own recognizance.
Baca lebih lajut »
Endorsement: Hazan, Higman, Willams for San Diego Unified school boardEndorsement: Hazan, Higman, Willams for San Diego Unified school board [Opinion]
Baca lebih lajut »