Small boat workshop
Clinkerbuilt wooden boats
Passing on the local boatbuilding tradition
Do you know how small boats from Hardanger were built? Visit our small boat workshop! There, you will meet boat builder Peter Helland-Hansen and his apprentice at work building new traditional boats typical of the region.
You can observe the techniques craftsmen have used through the ages at close range – from the laying of the keel until its completion – tacit knowledge that just a few decades ago was at risk of being lost.
From the forest to the fjord
The Maritime Centre in Norheimsund saved Hardanger’s boat building traditions in the nick of time. We aim to pass on the tacit knowledge of materials, work methods and tools. The best way of preserving this knowledge is to build new boats that will be rowed and sailed.
Lightweight and loaded with history
The workshop produces lightweight, open, clinkerbuilt boats of different sizes, with oars and sails. We always have a few newly built four-oared boats ready for sale, while we produce custom orders on demand.
- Strandebarmarar (rowing boats from Strandebarm)
- Hardanger faering (traditional 1800s four-oared boats)
- Church boats (larger rowing boats for transporting people to church etc.)
>>> Here you’ll find info on our products for sale (norwegian)
Learning opportunities
The workshop has an annual 4 day oar making workshop as well as other smaller workshops.
During a typical year, Peter will also accept a few interns, to come for shorter stays in the workshop. Use the form below if you are interested in doing an internship in the small boat workshop.