High school’s Viking ship charts a discovery course
For the past 18 months, dozens of Marina High School students have been building a Viking ship — and it’s not going to be a trailer queen when they finish it.
While some school officials would like to see the ship paraded around for football and basketball games, woodshop teacher Bob Meade has bigger aspirations for the 30-foot-long knarr, a type of cargo ship used by Vikings.
He eagerly awaits the day when he can set the ship in Huntington Harbour and have about 20 people on the vessel to row it around. However, one of Meade’s bigger goals is to install a sail and make the trek out to the Queen Mary and to Catalina.
“This is a very strong and powerful boat,” he said. “This will be ocean-ready and take on the waves.”
Meade embarked on the project back in September 2014. With some spare marine plywood lying around from a previous build, the six-year Marina teacher discussed the project with administrators and decided to go for it.
Senior Joshua Fernandez was one of a handful of Meade’s students to stick with the build since the beginning. Joshua, 17, said he had built lifeguard chairs, a rocking chair and a footstool, but he wanted something bigger to work on.
“When we first started building [the knarr], I didn’t think it would float at all,” he said. “But the more we work on it, I can believe it. I can see it floating.”
Some of Joshua’s colleagues were skeptical about the project overall. Junior Shane Hagen, for example, said he thought they would quit the project halfway through the 2014-15 school year. However, Shane, 16, saw how committed Meade and his students were, and he wanted in.
“I was in a construction class last year, but I was watching them work on the project,” he said. “I’m committed to this project now…I want to leave something here at Marina and say that I worked on that.”
The ship is being constructed using the clinker method, which is where the edges of the hull overlap. The traditional method of building a knarr would be to use oak wood and tar. However, Marina’s vessel will be using more modern materials, such as marine plywood, polyurethane, epoxy and some fiber glass.
From a distance, the knarr looks ready to be plopped into the water, but there is still plenty to be done. On a Friday morning, Meade’s students were either busy making oars for the ship or screwing down planks in the vessel to finish the deck. Additionally, the steering mechanism still needs to be installed.
Meade is hoping to finish the ship in late April or May so it can be shown off before the end of the school year.
The project has cost about $3,500 so far, with most of the money being spent on the plywood and polyurethane. Meade’s classes built and sold lifeguard chairs to help fund the build, and now there are others looking to pitch in.
The Marina High School Education Foundation donated $1,200, Ganahl Lumber donated $100, and West Marine has given Meade a 60% discount on all purchases.
Recently, the Fridtjof Nansen Lodge in Long Beach, a chapter of the International Sons of Norway, has donated $230 to the project and is hosting other fundraisers to help Meade and his students.
Johan Olsen, president of the Fridtjof Nansen Lodge, said the organization wanted to help because of the heritage of Norwegian shipbuilding.
“It’s smaller than a real Viking ship, but the spirit is there,” he said.
