Naddoddur (boat)
A Naddoddur is a so-called seksæringur, a Faroese boat (Färöboot) with 12 rowers, which makes spectacular journeys from the Faroe Islands to Norway, the Shetland Islands and Iceland.
The boat is named after the discoverer of Iceland (850), the Norwegian-born Faroese Naddodd, who later perhaps also discovered North America. Its home port is Tvøroyri on Suðuroy, where it was launched on May 31, 1997. It is the largest classic Faroese boat since ca. 1900.
Tvøroyri is home to a club of the same name (Bátafelagið Naddoddur - “Naddoddur Boat Club”), which aims to preserve the old Faroese boatbuilding culture. It was founded on November 19, 1995 and has around 120 members.
Its history goes back to 1992 when two Faroese boats (one with twelve oars and one with 12 oars) and their crews were invited to a wooden boat meeting in Kolbeinshamn by Båtlauget Kysten, the central organisation for boat owners in Norway.
These boats aroused particular interest, especially as they are directly descended from Viking ships - i.e. Norwegian boats - but are no longer built in Norway today. In addition to the classic, elegant design, the seaworthiness of the rowing boats also attracted particular attention.
As a result of this enthusiasm in Norway, Kysten organized a trip to the Faroe Islands the following year in 1993, which was attended by around 100 people. There, in Tvøroyri, they heard about the plans to build the largest Seksæringur in 100 years. A Norwegian association immediately agreed to donate the required wood - a gesture of particular significance, as there is no forest on the Faroe Islands and they have always had to wait for driftwood from Norway and Canada or buy expensive wooden planks.
After the wood had been felled in Norway and stored for a while, it arrived in Tvøroyri in the spring of 1996. In the fall of that year, boat builder Jóhan Olsen and his 82-year-old father, Niclas Olsen, set to work. On May 31, 1997, the time had come: hundreds of observers (i.e. half the town) flocked together when the boat was launched and christened in accordance with old traditions - with the name Naddodd, which every schoolchild on the Faroe Islands knows.
Naddoddur made its maiden voyage with a crew of 14 - 12 rowers, a helmsman and a navigator. The boat hall was donated by a local shipowner.
On a long voyage
In the same year, a crew of 8 set off for Norway with only oars and sails. In view of the historic name, they chose Norway as their first destination, the birthplace of the great navigator and Viking Naddoddur. After three and a half days and 360 nautical miles, they reached Florø on the west coast of Norway by open boat, where they were greeted by a large contingent of boats.
The actual goal, however, was to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the city of Trondheim. A favourable easterly wind then made it possible to sail home to the Faroe Islands with only 3 crew members while the other 5 sailed home on the Norröna.
The second trip in 1998 was to Fjarðabyggð in Iceland, the place where Naddodd first went ashore. This time the four of them sailed under the skipper Ernst Emielsson Petersen. However, there was a lull, and so the four of them decided to row the 12-miler, as an old Faroese proverb says:
- Hann fær byr, ið bíðar, og havn, ið rør.
In English:
- If you wait, you get a tailwind; and if you row, you reach the harbor.
This involuntary rowing trip over the entire distance of 240 nautical miles from the Faroe Islands to Iceland lasted four days. They were greeted by Icelandic helicopters and airplanes far off the coast.
The reception on shore was accordingly marked by great media interest and crowds of people. The team presented the mayor of the town with a commemorative plaque reading “Naddoddur, the Faroese Viking 850-1998”.
The boat and crew were then on board the Norröna for the return journey.
Later, they considered crossing the Atlantic to America, but so far nothing has come of it. Instead, they visited their neighbors on the Shetland Islands.
The Viking voyage & accident
In August 2024, a crew of six adventurers/explorers on board the Naddoddur, a replica Viking ship, embarked on a historic voyage from the Faroe Islands to Norway. The aim of this expedition was to honour the Viking navigator Naddodd, preserve Viking culture and pass on navigation skills to future generations.
Before the start of the expedition to Norway, all the pupils [approx. 550] from Suðuroy, in the south of Faroe island, gathered in the Salt hall in Tvøroyri at the beginning of the school year.[1]
On August 27, 2024, during “The Viking Voyage” expedition, the boat capsized after 4 days at sea in a storm approx. 100 km off the Norwegian island of Vågsøy, when it was on its way from Tvøroyri on the Faroese island of Suduroy to Alesund under the Swiss skipper and expedition leader Andy Fitze. Of the international crew of six, Karla Dana, a 29-year-old Mexican archaeologist living in the USA, lost her life; the other five were rescued. The fatal victim had been trapped in the capsized boat, the other five had managed to save themselves on a life raft. The wrecked boat was towed to Måløy harbor. The boat was then brought back to Tvøroyri. The Naddoddur sustained some damage during the accident and the salvage operation. The boat is repairable. [2]
The Crew
Andy Fitze - Expedition Leader, Skipper - The Explorers Club Member
Livar Nysten - Ocean Rower - World Record Holder
Karla Dana✟ - Viking Archaeologist - The Explorers Club Member[3][4][5]
Martin Fitze - Master Helmsman
Georg Aebi - Outdoor Survivor
Säny [Sandra] Blaser - Photographer[6]
References
- ↑ "Naddoddur liggur norðan fyri Hetland".
- ↑ "Viking Voyage 2024 - Naddoddur: A Modern Expedition Following Ancient Norse Routes".
- ↑ "Statement from the Explorers Club Regarding the Viking Voyage Expedition". 30 August 2024.
- ↑ "Student Spotlight: Karla Dana '19 | Long Island University".
- ↑ "Explorers Club".
- ↑ https://www.saeny.ch/
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