The Rainbow Light School

The Skidbladnir is a replica Viking ship built in Sweden and now high and dry on Unst as part of the Viking Unst Project. The director of the project, Robina Barton, www.shetland-heritage.org.uk, took us along to see the boat. For the winter, a wooden cover has been built over the boat so that volunteers could lift the decking and clean the mud and gunk out of her bilges. All clean when we arrived! What a brilliant space inside with roof supports above and the boat’s timbers beneath! It was like an indoor climbing frame. 

So many parts of the boat are the same as traditional Shetland boats, knee heeds, haddi-baands, baands, laandings, waerings, mast step, (made from a special piece of oak from Canada) to name but a few.  Great visit and we are looking forward to seeing what happens next.  Sadly, she will not be on the water again.