Timber acquisition 2007-11-17 to 2007-11-18 at Tolsjöhult

Day 6

It was late in the afternoon when Karin and I had left our daughter Yrsa at her paternal grandmother in Nyköping and set course on Mariestad in Westrogothia. Lina and Markus had set off earlier and called a little later from Tolsjöhult, the manor house of Vittfarne member Erik Junzell, where we were to stay and search the woodlands for boards to the Knarr. Some hours later, Karin and I arrived and were installed in the northern wing together with Lina and Markus. The morning after, I went out to pick firewood and my gaze fell upon a gigantic pine of 90 centimeters circumference. I inspected it closely and, to my surprise, found it to be almost free from faults. It seemed straight enough, "frod" or swiftly grown and free from any visible ingrown branches. When we all went forth after breakfast and searched through the coppice where the 90 centimeter pine stood, we found another suitable pine for board timbers.

After this success, we went back to the manor to wait for Håkan Bältsjö, coming up from Gothenburg in order to help out with the search. When everyone at last had assembled, we set forth again. We first concentrated on an area that surrounded a small woodland lake where beavers had built their dens.

The lake lay surrounded by marchlands and the chances of finding curve timber were immediate. It was shown to be present in less quantity than imagined, but a stately beaver den could be seen, after all.

After lunch, we set out on the great lake, to the border of the manor lands. Erik had a rowing boat on shore, which we could use. The object was the two islands that are a part of Erik's estate. We had a nice rowing trip to the islands, where we spotted several trees suitable for the shipbuilding enterprise. On the way back, we followed the shore and found a great number of pines of considerable dimension. They were all noted on the GPS, photographed and marked with a small Viking vessel in blue paint. The darkness falls early this time of year, and it was time to return to the manor for supper and warming beer and wine.

After a splendid dinner and quite a lot of drink in agreeable company, we at long last fell asleep.

Day 7

The Sunday offered yet another six trees and the sum of suitable trees this time over came to 19 trees, most of them for board planks. These trees have been documented, and should they become necessary in the construction, they will easily be relocated again by the GPS. The idea, of course, is to use trees as close to the construction site as possible, i.e. around Trosa and its environments, but Tolsjöhult is a mighty reserve where we surely can use a number of trees during the construction phase.

Håkan Altrock