VAN DAMME Thomas (320652)

1st Year MA in Maritime Archaeology

Academic Year 2012-2013

Innovation in Times of Crisis

----

the Western Limfjord:

Sjægts and Danish Seine

Introduction to Methods in Maritime Archaeology

Course Instructor: Jens Auer

University of Southern Denmark

1

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2

2. Historical and Geographical Background .......................................................................... 3

3. The Sjægt ....................................................................................................................................... 5

3.1. The First Sjægts ........................................................................................................................... 5

3.2. General Characteristics ................................................................................................................ 6

3.3. “Top-End Functional Design” ..................................................................................................... 8

3.3.1. Fishing ................................................................................................................................... 8

3.3.2. Avoiding Fines ...................................................................................................................... 9

3.3.3. Racing ................................................................................................................................... 9

3.4. The Last Sjægts .......................................................................................................................... 10

4. Case Study ................................................................................................................................... 12

4.1. History........................................................................................................................................ 12

4.2. Description ................................................................................................................................. 13

4.2.1. Overall Shape and Dimensions ........................................................................................... 13

4.2.2. Specific Features ................................................................................................................. 13

4.2.3. State of Preservation ........................................................................................................... 20

4.3. Recording Methodology ............................................................................................................ 21

4.3.1. Initial Recording ................................................................................................................. 21

4.3.2. Post-Processing ................................................................................................................... 22

5. Danish Seine ............................................................................................................................... 23

5.1. History........................................................................................................................................ 23

5.2. Technique ................................................................................................................................... 24

6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 26

7. References ................................................................................................................................... 27

8. Annexes ........................................................................................................................................ 29

2

1. Introduction

As students of the Maritime Archaeology Programme at the University of Southern Denmark,

my team and I were asked to record a boat at the local Fisheries and Seafaring Museum in

Esbjerg. This paper, which presents the results of that endeavor, will serve as the final project

for our “Introduction to Methods in Maritime Archaeology” course.

The vessel we were to record was a sjægt, an early 20th century fishing boat from Sillerslev

on the island of Mors, northern Jutland. While researching its historical background, what

grasped my attention most was that this vessel type was introduced very shortly after a crisis

hit our study region, the western Limfjord. It was as if these boats had been introduced as a

‘response’ to difficult circumstances. Within years of the sjægt’s appearance, another

significant innovation – the invention of Danish seine fishing – occurred within that same

area. In this paper the study of our specific sjægt will therefore figure mainly as a case study

within this much larger framework of crisis and innovation at the western Limfjord.

3

2. Historical and Geographical Background

While in Danish the term ‘fjord’ may indicate any long narrow inlet of water, the Limfjord is

not actually a fjord in the strict English sense of the word. Open to the North Sea in the west

and to the Kattegat in the east, the Limfjord separates the island of Vendsyssel-Thy from the

rest of Jutland, and can therefore be more accurately described as a channel. However this

was not always the case; from ca. 1100 to 1825 the connection to the North Sea was closed

off by the Agger Tange, a narrow sand isthmus of shifting proportions. The resulting brackish

water in the western Limfjord created an environment abounding in shallow water vegetation

and hence exceptionally rich in fish. Calm waters and ample fishing grounds close to shore

allowed for easy sustenance with elementary fishing methods requiring only simple boats and

tools (Nielsen, 2008; Pedersen, 1976, pp.5–6).

All this changed in 1825 when a violent storm flood breached the Agger Tange. As

subsequent floods broadened the initial breach, the Agger Channel eventually formed (Image

1). The direct consequences for the local fishing communities were twofold. Firstly the

salinity of the western Limfjord increased drastically, and the rich brackish water fish stocks

were replaced by saltwater species such as codfish, Atlantic herring and European plaice

(Image 2). These fish had to be caught in open waters, further from shore and with heavier

gear. Secondly the previously calm waters of the closed western fjord were now subject to

heavy currents. The water was particularly wild when the tide was going out (westwards) and

the wind was blowing east (as is the prevalent wind direction in Denmark). Boats that were

common in the western Limfjord in that period, such as the flat-bottomed pram, could not

Image 1: A map of the western Limfjord in 1801, compared to a modern satellite image of the same region.

4

cope in such taxing conditions. Times were tough for the local fishermen and widespread

poverty soon ensued (Nielsen, 2008; Pedersen, 1976, pp.6–7).

It is in response to these arduous circumstances that two important innovations are believed

to have taken place in the western Limfjord: the introduction of the first sjægts and the

invention of snurrevoddet fishing, better known as Danish seine (Pedersen, 1976, pp.14–17).

Image 2: Atlantic codfish (top), Atlantic herring (bottom) and European plaice (right) – the new saltwater species of the

western Limfjord. The images are not scaled in correspondence to actual fish size.

5

Image 3: “Lilly”, a sjaegt built in 1902.

It’s arrangement plan can be viewed in

Annex 1 on page 30.

3. The Sjægt

In this chapter I will first attempt to outline two different theories

concerning the sjægt’s origin and the year of its initial

introduction into the western Limfjord. Next I will describe

the sjægt’s general characteristics and discuss how these

enhanced (or obstructed) the vessel’s functionality.

Finally I will shortly portray the circumstances

surrounding the sjægt’s eventual replacement by

larger, mechanized fishing craft.

3.1. The First Sjægts

Although there is no clear documentary evidence from the period itself, later accounts claim

that the first sjægts were introduced in the western Limfjord in the 1840s. The first known

written mention of the term ‘sjægt’ dates to 1859. The vessel’s origin is obscure but the most

prevalent, accepted theory is currently that they were introduced from southern Norway. This

hypothesis is based on etymological and design similarities between sjægts and south

Norwegian boats, and on the fact that trade relations existed between the western Limfjord

and southern Norway (Nielsen, 2008; Pedersen, 1976, pp.14–19).

Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that both the date of the sjægt’s introduction and its

region of origin are still very debatable. Ole Kjærgaard for instance has deservedly remarked

on the strange absence of visual representations of sjægts before ca. 1900. In the latter half of

the 19th century two artists, Hans Smidth and Rasmus Kruse, both made various drawings and

paintings of boats in the Limfjord

(Image 4). However, while sjægts

were supposedly so typical of the

(western) Limfjord and while both

artists were known for their

realistic style, none of their

illustrations represent what we

would today call a sjægt. Likewise,

photographs of sjægts are only Image 4: A 19th

century Limfjord fishing vessel, drawn by Hans Smidth.

The drawing clearly does not represent a sjægt.

6

available from about 1900 onwards. He therefore theorizes that while the term ‘sjægt’ may

etymologically originate from Norway, the word was simply used to designate a type of local

Danish watercraft. Only later, perhaps at the turn of the 20th century, the vessels that we today

call sjægts would then have developed locally from the widely used sprit-sailed double-ended

‘jolle’ (dinghy) (Nielsen, 2008). Two personal observations seem to reinforce Kjærgaard’s

theory: a) Nørgaard Pedersen, in his 100-pages-long book “Limfjordssjægten” (Pedersen,

1976), can only provide names and dates for sjægts of the early 20th century and b) the “sjægt

register” of the Limfjord Museum in Løgstør (Limfjordsmuseet, n.d.) similarly doesn’t

contain any vessels older than 1900.

Whether this seeming absence of proof for 19th century sjægts is also ‘proof of absence’ is a

discussion beyond the scope of this short paper. Therefore, while it is clear that Kjærgaard’s

hypothesis deserves renewed attention, let us for now continue under the assumption that the

mainstream theory is correct, and that sjægts were first introduced in the Limfjord in the

1840’s.

3.2. General Characteristics

In this section I will describe only the main characteristics of sjægts in general – for a more

detailed account of a sjægt’s features, please read the case study in chapter 4. Alternatively,

for a wide range of examples of traditional sjægts, consult the various arrangement plans in

Annex 1, page 30-31.

As a boat type the Limfjordssjægt or simply sjægt1 (sometimes translated to English as

‘skiff’)2 belongs to the family of the Kragejoller, a group of clinker-built, long-keeled,

double-ended vessels constructed mainly out of oak and pine. While various boat builders

added their own recognizable features to their sjægts, the vessels’ general designs show

remarkable uniformity (Pedersen, 1976, pp.9, 36).

Sjægts could vary in overall length from 14 to 22 feet (4.3 to 6.7 meters) but most were either

18 or 21 feet (5.5 or 6.4 meters). Sjægts’ keels, which accounted for ca. 66% of the boat’s

1 Interestingly the term ‘sjægt’ is the only boat-designating-suffix in Denmark that is used exclusively to

describe one boat type. All other boat designators such as -jolle, -både or -smakke must necessarily be preceded

by a place name in order to understand which boat type is implied (Pedersen, 1976, pp.9–10). 2 I have refrained from using the term ‘skiff’ in this paper since it can be used to describe various vessel types.

The term ‘sjægt’ is less ambiguous.

7

length, were straight. Their stems and sterns were curved and relatively low, as a result of

which the vessels appeared to lie low in the water. The strakes were narrow and the hull

consisted of seven or eight of them on each side. The earliest sjægts didn’t have a deck but all

later sjægts had a ‘ring deck’ which covered the fore, aft and sides of the boat, but was open

in a large oval amidships. Sjægts were equipped with thwarts for seating and with a bulkhead

in the head of the vessel for storage. Another typical feature was the livewell, located

amidships in the interior of the boat, which was used to keep fish alive and fresh during

fishing. All sjægts were painted, usually white on the freeboard and with pitch below the

waterline. The colors of the deck planking and the inside of the boats were more variable,

depending mostly on personal preferences (Pedersen, 1976, pp.20–22, 26–27).

As for propulsion, sjægts formed an excellent

compromise between sailing and rowing vessels.

Fully rigged they were equipped with a square

mainsail, a triangular topsail and a wide jib

(Image 5). Together these sails covered about

16.5 m² in an 18-foot boat and 19.5 m² in a 21-

foot boat – a large sail area in comparison to the

ballast these vessels carried. A stern-mounted

rudder was used for steering and this ensemble

was ideal for covering large distances.

Alternatively, when more stability and/or

maneuverability was required, for instance while

fishing, the mast and rudder could be removed

and stowed, and oars were used instead

(Pedersen, 1976, pp.23–25, 31–35).

In the 1890s a fisherman wishing to buy a new 18-foot sjægt would have to pay around 225

kroner. In comparison, he could sell eighty plaice for about 2 kroner. While relatively

expensive, the vessels were a necessary investment in order to face the new, taxing conditions

of the western Limfjord (Nielsen, 2008).

Image 5: The sjægt “Norden”, fully rigged.

8

3.3. “Top-End Functional Design”

Perhaps sjægts’ designs were so uniform across the western Limfjord because boat builders

did not want to risk altering a tried and proven formula. After all, sjægts soon turned out to be

ideal vessels for coping with the new challenges local fishermen had to face. Nørgaard

Pedersen goes so far as to state that the sjægt’s shape was the “perfect form” and that sjægts

represented “top-end functional design” (Pedersen, 1976, pp.11–12, 40). By modern

standards this may, however, be an overstatement, as I will discuss in chapter 3.4.

The activities during which the sjægt’s functionality most stood out were fishing, racing and

the evasion of fishery control fines. For these three purposes the sjægt was most coveted and

respected in the western Limfjord. They will be discussed in more detail below. However,

sjægts were used for a host of other activities as well, including for social visits to friends and

family and for the carrying of cargoes up to 1200 kg (Pedersen, 1976, p.11).

3.3.1. Fishing

The sjægt’s primary function was of course as a fishing vessel. In their heyday one sjægt was

responsible for the livelihoods of two or three families. Their seaworthiness and good sailing

qualities made them ideal for the more turbulent waters in the western Limfjord after the

breach of the Agger Tange. High rigging and big sails combined with little ballast allowed for

great speed. This gave the fishermen easy access to better fishing grounds further from shore,

where the new saltwater species were more plentiful (Pedersen, 1976, pp.10–12). Once the

fishing spot was reached, the sjægt had to function as a working platform. With its removable

mast stowed, this relatively small vessel could provide ample room for the two to three men

manning it. Depending on the fishing technique employed, the mast could be stored

differently: when using Danish seine (see chapter 5) it was stowed protruding beyond the

foredeck to keep the stern clear, when fishing with a longline or net it was stored aft to keep

the bow clear (Pedersen, 1976, pp.25–26). The catch was kept in the livewell, which was

continuously supplied with fresh water through slits in the boat’s hull. When the day’s fishing

was done the boat was rigged once again and sailed back to shore. Finally the boat could be

pulled up on one of the many protected beaches around the fjord for mooring (Pedersen,

1976, p.29).

9

3.3.2. Avoiding Fines

While a sjægt’s speed was great for reaching faraway fishing grounds, what truly made it

popular with the local fishermen was the fact that it allowed them to escape fines from the

fishery control. The Limfjord was one of the first regions in Denmark to receive extensive

regulations regarding fishing practice. Early laws regulated minimum fish size, restricted

certain fishing techniques to particular villages or seasons and prohibited fishing in zones

with breeding grounds. Of course these rules were implemented to protect the general interest

and to avoid the depletion of stocks, but – as the “tragedy of the commons” dictates –

breaking the rules could grant individual fishermen a much-needed advantage. Therefore, in

1857, a policing task force was established to ensure that these fishing laws were being

abided by. Fishermen caught breaking the rules were subjected to fines, confiscation of goods

or even imprisonment (Pedersen, 1976, pp.72, 74).

Control vessels were built specifically to outrun other

boats, but sjægts with a sufficiently large head start had

enough speed and therefore time to get rid of

incriminating evidence. If the fishermen were lucky they

could reach land and hide undersized fish or forbidden

equipment, such as nets with small mesh sizes.

Alternatively, if they could not reach the shore in time,

they could simply throw small fish overboard and then

discretely drop their illegal nets into the water, stretching them out over a long span of

seabed. After being controlled they could attempt to recover the nets by means of hooks

dragging along the fjord floor (Pedersen, 1976, pp.74–75).

A clever warning system was in place to alert fishermen of inspections: flags, sometimes

mounted on windmills, were used to indicate the presence and direction of approaching

control boats. This alert network included not only fishermen but also boat builders, sail

makers, fish merchants and other sympathizers who depended upon the fishermen’s

economic wellbeing for their own livelihoods (Pedersen, 1976, p.73).

3.3.3. Racing

Thanks to the sjægt’s excellent sailing qualities, when two or more fishing crews encountered

each other on their way home a friendly race would often ensue (Pedersen, 1976, p.57).

Image 6: The famous control vessel

“Ægir” operated in the fjord ca. 1883.

10

These tests of personal skill eventually developed into real regattas. The first such arranged

race probably took place in 1895 outside the town of Struer, from where the event’s

popularity quickly spread to other towns. With up to 75 participating vessels and 4000 to

5000 visitors the regattas soon became the largest social gatherings of the year. Races were

divided into various categories depending on boat size and sails used (fully rigged or without

jib). Afterwards winners in each category were awarded prizes by the local merchants. These

awards could consist of money, of honorary mentions in local newspapers, of luxury products

such as silver watches or a box of cigars, or of utilitarian objects such as ropes, oil jackets,

Icelandic sweaters or long boots. While the races themselves were the main attraction, they

were usually accompanied by fairs of merchants and entertainers. The last traditional sjægt

races were held in 1913 (Nielsen, 2008; Pedersen, 1976, pp.61–66).

3.4. The Last Sjægts

While sjægts were a lot more suited to the new conditions in the western Limfjord than their

local predecessors, such as prams, they certainly couldn’t match the seaworthiness of modern

vessels. The sjægt’s weak point was its low freeboard. The boats were good for the relatively

wild, yet sheltered waters of the western Limfjord, but they would soon take on water in the

Image 7: Four sjægts from Sillerslev are anchored at Sallingsund, waiting for their race to start. Picture taken ca. 1905.

11

harsher conditions of the North Sea (Pedersen, 1976, pp.35, 52, 78). Even within the

Limfjord multiple accounts exist of sjægts sinking during rough weather due to this weak

feature (Pedersen, 1976, pp.52–54). Additionally, since the vessel’s stern was already so low,

sjægts did not fare well with a stern-mounted engine (though some experimentation did

occur). As motorboats became more and more popular in the years leading up to World War

I, the sjægt gradually lost its privileged position. The advance of mechanized vessels slowed

temporarily during the War, but carried on vigorously afterwards (Pedersen, 1976, p.9). The

last traditional sjægts were likely built around 1920, and the number of active fishing sjægts

in the western Limfjord dwindled from an estimated 500 or more in 1900 to only several

dozen in 1930. Newly introduced fishing boats broke with all tradition: they were carvel-

built, mechanized and had a cargo capacity of two to three tons. They were also safer and –

with a deck cabin to take shelter from the elements – more comfortable (Pedersen, 1976,

pp.86–88).

In the 1960s, when sjægts had been all but forgotten, some elderly people, perhaps for

reasons of youth sediment, decided to buy old sjægts and repair them for recreational use.

This was the onset of a revival of the boat’s popularity (Pedersen, 1976, pp.89–91). The real

impulse however, came in the 1970s when Danish state television started planning the

production of Hans Kirk’s immensely popular book “the Fishermen”. Set in the western

Limfjord at a time when sjægts were still widely in use, the film crew soon realized that they

could not find a sjægt seaworthy enough for filming. Locals, embarrassed that this important

aspect of their maritime cultural history had been lost, began to actively revive the sjægt

tradition. Particularly the tiny town of Hjarbæk took this task to heart: the ‘sjægt guild’ was

founded and old boats were restored and put under sail. In 1975 the town had one sjægt, in

1976 three and in 1977, by the time filming started, seven. Also in 1977, as a joke, the first

sjægt ‘world cup’ was held in Hjarbæk. While hardly a global phenomenon, the event has

been hosted annually ever since, and with up to 60 participating vessels it serves as a worthy

reminder of the regattas of old (Nielsen, 2008).

12

4. Case Study

As a case study we have examined one sjægt in greater detail. The boat in question is located

at the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum in Esbjerg. Its builder, Niels Dam, is seen by some as

the boat builder who built the most typical sjægts; other boat builders’ designs deviated from

his models (Pedersen, 1976, p.40). Studying this particular vessel will therefore give us a

good idea of what an average sjægt may have looked like.

In this chapter I will discuss the boat’s history, give a detailed description of its features and

elaborate on the recording methodology used to produce its new lines plan, arrangement plan

and sail plan. These plans can be viewed in Annexes 3-5 on pages 33-35 and should be kept

at hand while reading the descriptions. Additionally an older arrangement plan, drawn by

Chr. Nielsen, can be viewed below (Image 8). Finally the old sail plan is attached in Annex 2,

page 32.

4.1. History

The sjægt at the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum in Esbjerg was built in 1909 in Sillerslev,

on the island of Mors. Its builder, Niels Dam, was originally a mill builder who started

repairing boats, then went on to constructing simple boats and eventually became one of the

Image 8: Arrangement plan of the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum’s Sjægt as drawn by conservator Chr. Nielsen.

13

most reputed sjægt builders. He designed his boats using scaled half-models as templates.

Since boat dimensions could easily be taken from finished sjægts, the shape of his half-

models was no secret and the models may even have circulated to other boat builders in the

region. The boat building craft was handed down through the generations from Niels Dam to

his son Niels Dam jr. and finally to his grandson Magnus Dam (Byskov, n.d., p.1; Pedersen,

1976, pp.36, 40–42).

The vessel’s original owner isn’t known but, like most sjægts, it was probably used for

fishing with nets, Danish seine, eel hooks or longline. In 1925 it was bought by Anders Hald

from Nykøbing and finally ca. 1970 the boat was acquired by the museum (Byskov, n.d.,

p.1).

4.2. Description

4.2.1. Overall Shape and Dimensions

The sjægt has a length overall of 5.45 m (almost 18 feet), with a maximum beam of 1.78 m.

The length at the waterline is 4.81 m. The boats’s depth is 0.73 m (amidships), with a draft of

0.50 m. The vessel has an ample hull, with a round turn of the bilge and a sharp bow and

stern.

4.2.2. Specific Features

The features below are discussed in their likely order of construction, as suggested in Steffy’s

“Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks” (Steffy, 1994, p.236).

Likewise, the specific boat terminology used is largely derived from this book’s glossary

(Steffy, 1994, pp.266–298).

Keel and Posts (Byskov, n.d., p.1): The keel, sternpost and stem are made of oak. They have

an almost rectangular cross section, though they widen slightly towards the hull: at their outer

edge they have a sided dimension of 6 cm, at the hull a sided dimension of 8 cm. The keel is

3.60 m long and straight, while the sternpost and stem are curved and relatively short. The

sternpost consists of just one piece of wood, diagonally scarfed to a hook timber which

connects it, again with a diagonal scarf, to the keel. The keel is in turn butt-jointed to the stem

which itself consists of two large diagonally scarfed pieces. The vessel is equipped with a

14

sternson and stemson but doesn’t have a keelson. The various timbers of the keel and posts

are fastened to each other by treenails.

A metal sheet (likely iron; Image 17) covers the entire bottom of the bow and keel. It is

attached to the wood by small nails and serves to protect it from damage when the boat it is

being beached.

Planking (Byskov, n.d., p.1): The hull planks

are made of larch, a type of pinewood. The hull

consists of eight strakes on each side (Image 9).

The top two (starboard) and three (port) strakes

are made up of one plank while the remaining

strakes are made up of two to four planks. Scarfs

between planks are reinforced on the inside of

the hull by wooden patches, fastened to the

strakes by six to eight rivets. Shorter planks are generally used towards the stern and longer

planks towards the bow. The hull’s shortest plank is 0.80 m long while the longest continuous

plank is 5 m long (curved). The strakes are about 1.5 cm thick and their widths (including

land) range from 20 cm amidships to just 6 cm for certain strakes at the stern and bow.

The vessel is clinker-built and strakes are fastened to each other by iron rivets, hammered in

from the outside. All strakes’ hooding ends are fastened to the stem or sternpost rabbets with

nails, and the lower edges of the garboard strakes are connected to the keel rabbets in the

same fashion.

Frames (Byskov, n.d., p.1): The boat has only seven frame posts: five amidships, one at the

head and one at the stern. The frame timbers are made of oak, they are all installed

perpendicular to the keel and they have a molded and sided dimension of about 5 cm each.

The frames are attached to the hull planking by rivets driven from the outside.

The five frames amidships have an average frame spacing of 45 cm. Two of these central

frames consist only of two futtocks each (one on each side of the hull). They are alternated by

three frames consisting of a floor timber plus two futtocks each. Although the floor timbers

and futtocks lie next to each other and partly overlap, they are not fastened to each other, nor

are the floor timbers fastened to the keel. The frame at the head and the one at the stern of the

vessel are spaced about 90 cm from their closest midship frame. These two frame posts again

consist of only futtocks.

Image 9: The boat’s planking arrangement,

drawn by Chr. Nielsen.

15

Considering the frames’ wide spacing, their meager dimensions and the fact that they’re not

fastened to one another, we can conclude that these are not active frames. The boat’s

structural integrity is provided by its keel, posts and hull planking.

Livewell (Byskov, n.d., p.1): As we have seen, the livewell (Image 10), located amidships,

was used as a fish tank to keep the catch alive during fishing. This boat’s livewell is made of

pine, except for its two atwhartships bulkheads which are made of oak. The various

components are connected with nails. On top, two large wooden lids can be removed to

provide access to the well’s interior. With a length of 1.40 m, a breadth of 0.40 m and a

maximum depth (from the lid to the keel) of 0.55 m the fishwell is quite spacious. Thirty

narrow slits in the boat’s hull, each about 7 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, ‘cut’ the water as the

vessel is moving, thus replenishing the fresh water in the fish tank. The fishwell is

waterproofed from the rest of the boat and, besides keeping the fish alive, the water inside

also serves as a form of ballast.

Thwarts (Byskov, n.d., p.1): The boat has two thwarts (Image 10), both made of oak. They

are positioned at the fore and aft of the livewell. The forward thwart consists of two planks

and is 30 cm wide, the aft thwart consists of just one plank and is 20 cm wide. Both are 3 cm

thick. The thwarts rest on the livewell and on stringers nailed to the midship futtocks.

Additionally, standing knees nailed to the thwarts and to the hull fix the thwarts in place.

Image 10: Picture of the hull’s interior taken from the aft forwards. It shows the livewell, the thwarts and some of the

frames. Also notice the coaming surrounding the ring deck’s interior edge.

16

Image 12: The sjægt’s forward storage compartment.

These six standing knees (one pair to each thwart plank) also serve as supports for the side

decks (see below).

Deck (Byskov, n.d., p.2): Like almost all later sjægts, the boat is equipped with a ring deck,

consisting of a foredeck, after deck and narrow side decks. The deck planks run

longitudinally and are made of pine. They are 1.5 cm thick and 13 cm wide. Their edges

interlock as seen in Image 11, thus forming a watertight deck surface. The entire outer edge

of the ring deck is carried by the top strakes, but also by a thick square-sectioned stringer

which rests on top of the futtocks. The ring deck’s

inner edge is supported by various different

structures: the aft- and foredeck are carried by

beams resting on the aft and fore futtocks, while the

side decks are supported by the three pairs of

standing knees and four pairs of hanging knees

attached to the hull by nails.

On the outside the seam between the deck planks and the top strake is hidden by a long,

curved and rounded wooden fender (Image 17). The inner edge of the ring deck is topped by

a rounded wooden coaming (Image 10) to prevent deck water from entering the vessel.

The area underneath the foredeck is separated from the rest of the ship by a bulkhead with a

removable panel (Image 12). Thanks to the boat’s only ceiling planking (installed

transversely), this compartment stays dry and

could be used to store food, special tools or spare

parts. The aft deck is penetrated by a square

pump well (Image 13). Since the boat’s stern is

its lowest part when afloat, water would amass

there and could then be evacuated through this

pump well. The pump itself consisted of a long

shaft topped by a wooden cross and covered with

two patches of leather to create suction when

pulled upwards.

Rigging (Byskov, n.d., pp.2–3): The boat is rigged with a square mainsail, a jib and a

triangular topsail. The total sail area is estimated at 16.5 m². The sails are made of cotton, all

spars are made of pine and the cordage is made of hemp.

Image 11: The deck planks’ edges interlock.

17

The mast step is located just abaft the forward thwart, within the livewell, on top of the keel.

It is open as a result of which the mast can easily be removed. Protruding through the

livewell, the mast is supported by the thwart and the livewell lid. However, the mast’s main

support is granted by two sturdy ropes stretching from the top of the mast to metal rings on

the boat’s side (Image 16). The mast is 4.75 m long and has a square cross section up to the

height of the thwart, above which it has a round cross section. The topsail yard is a lot thinner

than the mast, but with a length of 4.67 m, it is nearly as long. Its middle is fastened to the top

of the mast, while its bottom end is fastened to a cleat at the base of the mast by a long rope.

The boat’s final spar is the 4.12 m long sprit extending from the base of the protruding mast

diagonally up and aftwards. While booms are more commonly used than sprits, in this case

the use of a sprit is advantageous since it allows for the head of the mainsail and the clew of

the topsail to be attached to one and the same spar.

The mainsail’s luff is fastened to the mast along its entire length and the sail is stretched out

by the sprit. The mainsail’s clew is fastened with a rope to the ‘horse’, a metal bar stretching

athwartships across the aft deck above the tiller (Image 13). The entire mainsail’s position

can be changed just by moving the clew’s fastening along this horse (Knight, 1923, p.109).

Image 13: Picture of the aft deck showing the pump well, the tiller and the mainsail’s clew, attached to the horse.

18

The jib’s head is fastened to the top of the mast and its tack is fastened to a metal ring on the

peak of the bow. A forestay runs from the top of the mast, through a loop on the bow and is

fastened to a cleat above the entrance to the compartment in the bow. This forestay insures

that the jib’s luff is properly stretched while sailing. Finally the jib’s clew can be attached

with a rope to a hole in either the port or starboard side deck (Image 16).

The triangular topsail, technically known as a jib-headed topsail (Softissimo, 2008), is

fastened to its yard all along the sail’s luff. The topsail’s clew is fastened to the top of the

sprit.

Steering (Byskov, n.d., p.2): Like all sjægts the museum boat could either

be sailed or rowed; it could either be steered by a rudder or steered by

oars. On our boat the tiller and the blade of the rudder are made of

pine, while the rudder head is made of oak. The two pieces of

the rudder head are fastened to each other by rivets; three

driven in from the starboard side and three driven in from

the port side. The long removable tiller can be fitted into

the gap left between the two pieces of the rudder head. A

long curved metal bar, fastened to the sternpost by bolts,

serves as the rudder’s mounting. On the rudder two gudgeons, open towards their forward

end, could be slipped onto the narrow upper end of this metal bar (Image 14). However, once

the rudder, and therefore the gudgeons, were lowered to the thicker bottom part of the metal

bar, they could not come off without being purposefully moved up the metal bar again. This

clever system allowed the rudder to be removed or attached at will without the risk of it

coming loose unexpectedly. The rudder would have been removed when the rigging was

down, so as not to interfere with the steering of the oars. In our case the rudder would also

have been removed when the vessel was being beached since, unlike most sjægts, our boat’s

rudder projects below the bottom of the keel.

While the vessel’s oars don’t survive, the tholepins (Image 16) on the deck on either side of

the forward thwart are a testimony to their original presence. The oars would have had a

metal eye on their side so that they could glide into position over the tholepins (Image 15).

Image 14: Detail of the rudder’s mounting.

mounting.

Image 15: Oars with a metal eyelet which can be mounted on the boat’s tholepins.

19

Paintjob (Byskov, n.d., p.3): On the outside the sjægt is coated with red anti-fouling paint

below the waterline, and with white paint above the waterline. Above the waterline the hull

interior is likewise painted white, while below the waterline it is coated in coal tar. The

fishwell’s sides are painted black, its lids white. The deck is painted green and its coaming is

grey. Finally the spars, rigging cleats,

rudder head, tiller and middle of the thwarts

have been left unpainted (Image 18).

Other Details (Byskov, n.d., pp.1–3): At

the bow, about 15 cm above the waterline, a

large iron loop is fastened to the stem post

by a big bolt (Image 17). Considering the

sturdiness of this feature, it was in all

likelihood used to moor the vessel to a pole

or quay frontally. Similarly, a metal hook

situated on the port deck just forward of the

tholepin (Image 16), was probably used to

moor the boat from the side. Finally it is

important to mention that, though the sjægt

is currently exhibited without any anchor, it

would originally probably have carried a

heavy anchor with large flukes to use during

Danish seine fishing.

Image 16: Picture of the port side deck, showing (from left to right) a hook for mooring, a metal ring fastened to the top

of the mast to stabilize it, a tholepin and, to the right behind the tholepin block, a hole used to fasten the jib’s clew.

Image 17: Picture of the stem, showing the mooring loop

and the connections of the jib tack and forestay. Also notice

the rounded fender and the metal sheeting on the cutwater.

20

4.2.3. State of Preservation

The sjægt had already undergone some extensive repairs prior to its acquisition by the

museum: the bottom and top of the stem had been fixed, patches covered weak spots on the

port side of the hull and several planks, floor timbers and futtocks had been replaced.

Still, it was in terrible condition when Carl Nielsen began its restoration for the museum in

1970. Many structural elements had to be replaced; the original stern post, the aft part of the

keel, the sixth and seventh port strakes and the floor timbers – all were removed and

substituted by modern replicas. The wooden fender, bulkhead, forward thwart, pump well and

most of the livewell were likewise entirely rebuilt. The rudder was fitted with a new gudgeon,

the rudder head was restored and a new tiller was made. The original mast, yards, rigging and

sails were missing so these were all reconstructed. Finally the entire boat was repainted

(Byskov, n.d., p.3).

Original elements from 1909 are now in a relatively bad state of preservation. Some of the

hull planks, particularly at the bow, are cracked or partly disintegrated. Several of the original

frames are likewise fragmented. Many of the rivet heads on the hull’s exterior have corroded

away, and are only identifiable as rivets by locating their buck-tails on the hull’s interior.

Even the sails, made in 1970, already show several tears.

Image 18: Niels Dam’s Sillerslev Sjægt as it is currently exhibited at the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum in Esbjerg.

21

However, thanks to the controlled museum environment, the sjægt is now in a stable

condition and is unlikely to deteriorate much further in the near future.

4.3. Recording Methodology

4.3.1. Initial Recording

As the vessel is located with its starboard side to the wall, we decided only to record the

boat’s more accessible port side and then to mirror this during post-processing in order to

create the complete hull. In an initial phase we merely examined the vessel and attached

small strips of masking tape to places where we wanted to record a point. Dots on the tape

marked the exact position of the points we wanted to shoot. This first step allowed us to

speed up the later recording process significantly, since we could then simply fall into the

cadence of the work without having to think too much about what we were doing.

The sjægt’s outside features were recorded using a Leica TCR 305 Total Station. The total

station was attached to a laptop equipped with Rhinoceros 4.0 running the Termite 1.1 plug-

in. This setup allowed us to follow the recording process in real-time on the computer screen,

and gave us the possibility to do some initial post-processing on location. Always using three

out of seven predefined fixed datum points, we moved the total station to various positions

around the boat in order to record the vessel’s entire port half and its rigging. Since the sjægt

is mounted in a cradle we could even place the total station on the ground and record the

vessel’s floor.

With four groups sharing one total station, we decided that there wouldn’t be enough time to

record the sjægt’s complex inside with the Leica and we therefore fell back on the more

traditional off-set drawing method. Since we only wanted a two dimensional top-view of the

vessel’s inside, off-set drawing proved to be a time-efficient technique with good results.

The entire recording phase took significantly more time than we had anticipated, and

eventually five trips to the museum were needed. Our first day was littered with problems and

didn’t contribute any points to the final drawings. However, dealing with these issues

prepared us for the remaining days of recording. On day two we managed to record the entire

deck, rudder and most of the hull. On day three we finished the hull, did the rigging, moved

on to the larger metal features and even started the recording of nails and rivets. Day four of

recording was over quickly as the last rivets and nails were positioned. Finally another

morning was needed to record the sjægt’s inside with off-set drawing. Throughout the

22

recording process our proficiency with the total station improved significantly and, if we

were to record the same boat again, I believe three days would now suffice.

4.3.2. Post-Processing

Initial post-processing, such as fairing of lines, was done in Rhinoceros. This original ‘basic’

three dimensional Rhino model was the basis for all other drawings.

The lines plan was generated through the Rhino plug-in “Orca3D”. The arrangement plan

side-view was modeled in Rhino and its top-view was drawn in Inkscape from the original

pencil off-set drawing. The sails plan was modeled in Rhino and then retouched in Inkscape.

Lastly all final touches such as text and scale bars were added in Illustrator.

Since we were quite new to these programs, post-processing again required significant time

investment, perhaps even surpassing that of the initial recording. Unfortunately this

unexpectedly large workload was not distributed equally among participants so if we could

handle anything differently in the future, it would probably be the post-processing phase.

23

5. Danish Seine

As we have seen, the breaching of the Agger Tange caused widespread environmental change

and economic hardship to the western Limfjord. One response to this crisis was the

introduction of a new boat type which could better cope with the new conditions; the sjægt.

In parallel to and probably under mutual influence of this development another innovation

took place: the invention of ‘snurrevoddet’ fishing, now commonly known as Danish seine.

In this chapter I will outline the history of its invention and discuss the technique itself.

5.1. History

Unlike the rather obscure origins of the sjægt, the history of Danish seine fishing is very well

documented. It was invented locally in 1848 by Jens Væver, a fisherman, farmer and cattle

herder from the town of Krejbjerg. The then 26-year-old man figured out a way to adapt and

perfect two older seine fishing techniques so that they could be used in the deeper open

waters of the fjord, where the largest, most prized saltwater fish could be caught (Mosegaard,

2012; Pedersen, 1976, p.14).

Image 19: Jens Væver at old age, pictured with the various distinctions he received for his invention of Danish seine.

24

Snurrevoddet fishing was so efficient that within a couple of years it became the most used

fishing technique of the western Limfjord. By the end of Jens Væver’s lifetime it had spread

from there to the rest of Denmark and even to Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. It also formed

the basis for new fishing techniques developed in England, Germany, Sweden and Norway.

Today it is still used all over the world by small scale or semi-industrial fisheries (FAO,

2003; Sævaldsson & Valtýsson, 2012).

While the invention never made him rich, in his old age Jens Væver received a lot of

recognition for his important contribution to Danish fishing (Image 19). In 1912, aged 90, he

was appointed honorary member of the Danish Fishermen Association and in 1913 he had an

audience with the king and was appointed Knight of the prestigious Order of the Dannebrog

(Mosegaard, 2012).

5.2. Technique

As mentioned, Danish seine is derived from other net fishing techniques, in particular from

beach seine and ‘pulsvod’. With the beach seine technique a vessel goes out from the shore,

places the seine – consisting of a conical central net or ‘bag’, two side nets or ‘wings’ and

towing ropes or ‘warps’ (Image 20) – in a semicircle in the water and returns to the shore.

Fishermen on the beach then tow the seine back to land and any fish in the way of the net are

caught. While this method is still widely used in third world countries today it has some

obvious disadvantages; its use is

restricted to shallow waters closer

to shore and it requires a lot of

manpower. In Skagen, in

Northern Jutland, beach seines of

up to 2 km were used, requiring

twelve men just to haul in the

lines (Mosegaard, 2012).

Pulsvod which can be translated as ‘stirring seine’ takes place in open water and requires two

boats. One boat stays in place and holds one end of the warp while the other goes out in a

circle and puts out the seine. When the second boat has returned to the initial position, both

groups haul in the towing ropes. By beating the water (hence stirring seine) the fish are

scared away from the boats and into the net. While this method allows for fishing in open

Image 20: Illustration of the beach seine technique.

25

waters, it still requires a lot of manpower to beat the water and to man two boat crews.

Furthermore, in deeper waters bottom-dwelling fish are not particularly disturbed by noise at

the surface, so the ‘stirring’ of water will have little effect (Mosegaard, 2012).

Danish seine evolved from these commonly used seine techniques. It can be performed in

open water and only requires one boat crew. The entire process is displayed in Image 21.

Upon arriving at the fishing ground the crew first puts down an anchor (another name for this

method is ‘anchor seine’) with a marking buoy. One end of the towing rope is fastened to the

buoy, after which the vessel rows in a wide circle and puts out the seine. Once the boat is

back at the buoy and the towing ropes have had some time to settle to the ground, the seine is

pulled in. Since the seine has been put out in a circle, in an initial phase of towing the warp

lines will simply pull closed, while the central fishing unit remains immobile. As the lines are

closing in on each other over the seabed they stir up sediment and scare the fish into the

motionless central net. Finally the net and its catch are hauled in. The process can

subsequently be repeated various times in different directions from the same buoy, hence its

Danish name snurrevoddet, literally meaning ‘rotating seine’.

The method proved especially effective for catching bottom-dwelling flatfish – in the case of

the Limfjord the large stocks of European plaice – in areas with rough, flat seabed. It opened

up new deep-water fishing grounds across Denmark and the rest of Northern Europe (FAO,

2003; Sævaldsson & Valtýsson, 2012; Mosegaard, 2012).

A. B. C.

Image 21: A simplified visual representation of the various steps involved in Danish seine fishing.

26

6. Conclusion

It is said that in 1849, less than a year after inventing Danish seine fishing, Jens Væver

bought his first sjægt (Mosegaard, 2012). This exemplifies the mutually beneficial

relationship the two inventions had: sjægts were the best available vessels for fishermen

wishing to brave the open waters of the western Limfjord, while Danish seine was the best

available fishing technique to access the rich saltwater fish stocks at the bottom of those

waters. Where Danish seine was introduced, the sjægt’s popularity soon grew as well – and

vice versa. Together, they offered a solution to the environmental challenges and to the

poverty which the region was faced with after the breaching of the Agger Tange. Within a

few years of their introduction, sjægts became the most typical boats of the western Limfjord,

and Danish seine became the dominant fishing method.

In its own small way, the sjægt and Danish seine exhibition at the Fisheries and Seafaring

Museum in Esbjerg is an important testimony to this fascinating story of human ingenuity

and adaptability in times of crisis.

27

7. References

Byskov, S. Sjægt fra Sillerslev 1981-43.

FAO (2003) Fishing Techniques. Danish seining. Technology Fact Sheets [Internet].

Available from: <www.fao.org/fishery/fishtech/1003/en> [Accessed 7 January 2013].

Knight, E.F. (1923) Small-Boat Sailing. New York, E.P. Dutton & Company.

Limfjordsmuseet Sjægteregister [Internet]. Available from:

<http://www.limfjordsmuseet.dk/Sjaegteregister/index.htm> [Accessed 7 January

2013].

Mosegaard, F.W. (2012) Jens Væver [Internet]. Available from: <http://jensvaever.skive.dk/>

[Accessed 7 January 2013].

Nielsen, L. (2008) Hjarbæk Sjægtelaug [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.sjaegt.dk/>

[Accessed 7 January 2013].

Pedersen, H.N. (1976) Limfjordssjægten. Esbjerg, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseets.

Sævaldsson, H. & Valtýsson, H.Þ. (2012) Danish Seine [Internet]. Available from:

<http://www.fisheries.is/fisheries/fishing-gear/danish-seine/> [Accessed 7 January

2013].

Softissimo (2008) Collins English Dictionary [Internet]. Available from:

<http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/jib-headed> [Accessed 9 January

2013].

Steffy, J.R. (1994) Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks. College

Station, Texas A&M University Press.

28

Image Sources

Image 1: left – “1801 Cary Map of Denmark” from WikimediaCommons:

<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1801_Cary_Map_of_Denmark_-

_Geographicus_-_Denmark-cary-1801.jpg>

right – “Map of Denmark” from MapQuest:

<http://www.mapquest.com/maps?country=DK>

Image 2: top – “Atlantic Cod” from WikimediaCommons:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_cod.jpg>

bottom – “Clupea Harengus” from WikimediaCommons:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clupea_harengus.png>

right – “Pleuronectes Platessa” from WikimediaCommons:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pleuronectes_platessa.gif>

Image 3: “Lilly” from Sjægteregister:

<http://www.limfjordsmuseet.dk/Arkiv/sj%C3%A6gt.htm>

Image 4: “Kåg fra Sallingsund” from Nielsen 2008:

<http://www.sjaegt.mono.net/11179/F%C3%98R%20SJ%C3%86GTEN>

Image 5: (Pedersen, 1976, p.8)

Image 6: (Pedersen, 1976, p.72)

Image 7: (Pedersen, 1976, p.67)

Image 8: (Pedersen, 1976, p.41)

Image 9: (Pedersen, 1976, p.94)

Images 10: Picture by Joop Werson

Images 11-13: Pictures made by myself.

Image 14: (Pedersen, 1976, p.25)

Image 15: (Pedersen, 1976, p.93)

Image 16-17: Pictures made by myself.

Image 18: Picture made by Joop Werson

Image 19: “Jens Laursen Væver” from Mosegaard 2012:

<http://jensvaever.skive.dk/files/Institutioner2/JENSVAEVER/Billeder/Store%20Jens

%20V%C3%A6ver%20pers/Jens%20V%C3%A6ver%20med%20pokal.jpg>

Image 20: “Beach Seine” from Amita: <http://www.amita.co.jp/museum/docs/beach.htm>

Image 21: “Anchor Seining” from FAO:

<http://www.fao.org/figis/common/format/popUpImage.jsp?xp_imageid=8370>

29

8. Annexes

Annex 1, page 30-31: Arrangement plans of four different sjægts (Pedersen, 1976, pp.45–47,

93)

Annex 2, page 32: Sail plan of the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum sjægt, drawn by Chr.

Nielsen (Pedersen, 1976, p.37)

Annex 3, page 33: Lines plan of the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum sjægt, drawn by T. Van

Damme, A. Köhler, S. Madden and J. Werson.

Annex 4, page 34: Arrangement plan of the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum sjægt, drawn by

T. Van Damme, A. Köhler, S. Madden and J. Werson.

Annex 5, page 35: Sail plan of the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum sjægt, drawn by S.

Madden, T. Van Damme, A. Köhler and J. Werson.

30

31

32

Sillerslev Sjægt

builder: Niels Dam year: 1909 place of origin: Sillerslev, western Lim�ord, Denmark

drawn: T. Van Damme, A. Köhler, S. Madden, J. Werson

date: 23-12-2012 sheet: 1 of 3 (A3)

PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS

Length Overall: .................... 5.45 m

Length at Waterline: .......... 4.81 m

Beam: ...................................... 1.78 m

Depth: ..................................... 0.73 m

Draught: ................................. 0.50 m

notes: Recorded in the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum (Esbjerg) using total station.

Lines drawn to outside of planking. Post-processing done in Rhinoceros 4.0.

Lines generated using Orca3D plug-in.

0 10.5 2 3 4

Scale of Meters

Sillerslev Sjægt LINES PLAN

scale: 1:20

0 10.5 2 3

Scale of Meters

Sillerslev Sjægt ARRANGEMENT PLAN

WL

Sillerslev Sjægt

builder: Niels Dam year: 1909 place of origin: Sillerslev, western Lim!ord, Denmark

drawn: T. Van Damme, A. Köhler, S. Madden, J. Werson

date: 08-01-2013 sheet: 2 of 3 (A3)

PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS

Length Overall: .................... 5.45 m

Length at Waterline: .......... 4.81 m

Beam: ...................................... 1.78 m

Depth: ..................................... 0.73 m

Draught: ................................. 0.50 m

notes: Recorded in the Fisheries and Seafaring Museum (Esbjerg) using total station

and o#set drawing. Post-processing done in Rhinoceros 4.0 and Inkscape.

scale: 1:16

SAIL PLAN

LIMFJORDSSJÆGTPRINCIPAL PARTICULARS

Length Overall..............5.48m

Beam............................1.75m

Depth............................0.70m

Draught.........................0.40m

Total Sail Area..............16.5m2

Main Sail Area.................8 m2

Top Sail Area...................4.25m2

Head Sail Area................4.25m2

Model Units: MetersScale: 1:35 Sheet 3 of 3

0 1 2

Scale in Meters

Drawn: SMDate: 03.01.13