The Boat Shop

So a few days ago Ed said that the name of the boat will not be Icarus.

If you are familiar with Greek mythology then you know all about Icarus.  However, if you are not familiar with the story here is a much shorter, less involved version.  Icarus’ father, Daedalus had been banished to the island of Crete because he really screwed up (re: Minotaur) but he had a plan to escape.  Fashioning two pairs of wings out of feathers and wax, the pair were to soar away across the sea.  Daedalus told Icarus not to fly too close to the sun because that was really foolish, but since it was such a blast flying, Icarus kept going higher and higher.  Wouldn’t you know it?  Daedalus was right, talk about a bad idea!  The wax melted away and Icarus fell to the water far, far below.  So as you can see, Icarus and water don’t mix.

Therefore the name was changed.  Valkyrie – taken from Norse mythology of shield maidens who choose which warriors will fall in battle and then bring those warriors to Valhalla.  They also serve mead.

So as you can see, deep stuff.  But what boat is complete without a fitting name for its character and personality?

Today we withdrew the machine screws holding the stem laminations in place.  The heads of which, when combined with the fender washers looked very much like the metal adornments for bucklers or the shields seen in high budget Viking films.  We had joked that on the finished product, if we put in silicone bronze carriage bolts, the bow would look just like the outer edge of a shield.  After removing the machine screws we then bored out the threaded channels to the proper diameter and drove in wooden dowels coated with glue to fill the holes, cutting them off flush.  Well, all except one…

With enough pegs you can do anything

We just had to give Valkyrie her own burgee.

Valkyrie's Burgee

We had an idea for adding some strength and style to the sheer and took the opportunity to try things out.

Reinforced Sheer

We liked what we saw but Ed had the final say in the matter so we left it mocked up for his viewing the next day.

Reading: Wooden Nails