Viking ship built in garden shed

9:13am Friday 10th June 2005

A VIKING invasion will take place this weekend as a craftsman prepares to lift his 21ft longboat over the roof of his Isleworth home for the first instalment of the vessel's maiden voyage, writes Sally Henfield.

David Jones, of Avenue Road, has spent the past year building the replica Viking boat using traditional materials such as green oak and sweet chestnut planks of wood, along with tar and linseed oil to seal the exterior.

The boat, called Lille Draken' - or Little Dragon' in Norse - is 21ft long, 5ft wide and only 1ft deep. It features a striking gold-leaf, carved dragon figurehead, wrought iron keel band and a carved tail piece. A large sail with Viking detailing will be unfurled when the boat reaches water.

It is the second boat that David, a bespoke furniture maker, has built from scratch. The motivation behind this particular project came from boyhood memories.

David said: "I saw a Viking boat when I was 12 on a school trip and I was inspired by that then - the imagery stayed with me when I was looking for a new project. I like 3D curved work and I don't get enough of this in the furniture business so this has helped to placate that.

"From my research I had questions about Viking ship building and I hope to be able to answer them with my new toy!"

David has tried to stay as true to the Viking design as possible, although he has reduced it to a quarter scale. He also used Brazilian red cedar wood for parts of the boat as the smaller scale means it will sit closer to the water. The cedar is lighter and will ensure that the boat remains afloat.

While David used many of the traditional methods employed by the Vikings, he did also take advantage of modern technology to speed up the process. A 3D computer programme helped him map out the planks, along with a variety of other tools.

"They didn't have the circular saws and band saws that I have and would have had to cleave through planks by hammering wedges in them," explained David. "It would take around four days to cleave a plank, whereas it took me an hour."

David and a team of strapping Viking volunteers have already used logs to roll the boat from his garden shed, over an ornamental pond and down to his back door to get it into position for Saturday. David said: "This was probably originally used as a scouting vessel for travelling cross country. They would have sailed up a river and then carried the boat across land until they reached the next river. Four of us were able to roll the boat along on logs and then lift and carry it, and the boat seats six so it has been very effective."

The boat will be lifted 100ft over David's Avenue Road house by an 80 ton crane at 11am tomorrow, and on-lookers are more than welcome to attend. It will then navigate the streets of Hounslow on the back of a trailer in readiness for the launch on the river Thames the following week. On Saturday June 18 at noon, at Richmond boat house, Richmond Bridge, film star Sophia Myles from Thunderbirds will officially name the boat. Her father, Rev Peter Myles of St John the Baptist Church, Isleworth, will bless the vessel, in keeping with naval tradition. It will also be blessed by Ulf Greder Jarlen, Earl of Vikings and Basarkers in the UK and a bottle of celebratory ale, named after the Lille Draken boat by the Real Ale Co, will be poured across its timbers before it goes into the river. Children, and adults, are invited to attend in Viking costume.

There will also be another chance to catch a glimpse of the boat at St John the Baptist's summer fair in Isleworth on Saturday June 25 from 12 - 4pm.

Editor's Choice