Schleswig, Germany
+49 (0)151 5054 6144
d.zwick@archaeologia-navalis.org

Limfjordsjægt SCYLD

Scyld was reconstructed in 1975 by the boatbuilder Kaj Drent in Faxe Ladeplads on the basis of the “limfjord-sjægt” design, a historical boat-type that migrated from Norway to Denmark in the early 1800’s (go here to read more about the history of this boat-type). The reconstruction itself underwent an impressive migration due to many ownership changes. In the early years the boat was used in the Faxe Bay and since 1995 by Captain Axel Christensen in Roskilde Fjord; the original name is unknown today. In 2009 the boat was converted according to original plans of limfjord-sjægts. The new owner Søren Mainz replaced several planks, the deck and the mast, and obtained a set of sails of a slightly smaller sjægt. After the conversion, the vessel was launched as LILLY in 2010. However, in the same year, LILLY was sold to Preben Jensen & Morten Larsen who are both members of the Hjarbæk Sjægtelaug, the world-largest guild of sjægt-sailors. It was renamed MAXIPAX and the new owners benefitted from the know-how of the guild to carry out the maintenance works. However, the new owners soon realised that they had not enough time to sail and maintain their vessel, so it was sold in winter 2013 to Bodo von Husen, who renamed the boat to BENTE and moored it in the Museum Wharf of Flensburg. Under his ownership the boat was restored to an admirable state, with numerous improvements and an eye for details. In 2014 Bodo and his BENTE won the Lüttfischer-Regatta, where I first met him and admired his boat. At the Rum-Regatta in the following year, Bodo (who was about to move into the Ruhr area and thus had no need for a boat) made me an unbeatable sale offer. And in September 2015, I sold my fireåring in order to buy Bodo’s BENTE, which I renamed SCYLD after the legendary Danish king, whose ship-burial is mentioned in the first lines of the Beowulf Saga. But SCYLD was soon to return to Flensburg: I sailed my first Rum-Regatta with SCYLD a year later, in 2016 and again in 2017.

Sailing videos

2017 – Farewell Kiel Fjord: Ingo and Leif joined me for the SCYLD’s last trip on Kiel Fjord. We sailed SCYLD to the next available slipway to the Olympia Centre in Schilksee at 4-5 bft. The Schlei Fjord are to become SCYLD’s new home waters.

Light breeze sailing with Klaus and Björn.

2016 – sail away: A perfect day in September 2016: I was expecting two crew members at 3pm. Having arrived an hour too early, I decided to take SCYLD for a spin single-handedly before their arrival. Without the additional weight of a crew and with about 200 litres of rain-water in the bilge (which I was too lazy to bail out), the boat heeled over quite a bit at 3 bft, which changed the angle of the camera (hoisted with the top-sail-halyard) so much, that the horizon was occasionally captured. At 1:25-1:40 in the above video clip you can see the “joys” of a single-handed gybing manoeuvre: the tiller-hook* got caught in the main-sheet-traveller and the starboard fore-sheet ran out of the deadeye** (*impromptu device to fix the tiller temporarily, while I take in the sails or undo a woolding / **fore-sheets regularly get entangled, so I don’t use stopper knots as it’s faster to sort out the sheets rather than the woolding of oars, hook and fender-ropes). Got some ideas to optimise SCYLD for single-handed sailing though…additional fittings are on the way.

Gunwale overhaul: Stripping the entire gunwale, coaming and rubbing strakes of the green and red paint proved to be quite labour-intensive. But it was totally worth the effort. Two layers of new paint have been already applied. Naturally, I reverted to truly authentic substances for a traditional boat: pine tar, linseed oil and turpentine.

Spring breeze

2015 – perfect tranquillity: Sailing alone on a November day in 2015 at 2-3 bft into the sunset.

Sirens of the obsidian sea: No crew was found today, so I ventured out in solitude…allured by sirens from the depths of the obsidian sea. The liminal traveller steers clear of the maelstroms of enchantment and decides to defer his calling.

A fish-sandwich trip to Laboe: On a pleasant Sunday in September we set sail to explore Kiel Fjord’s opposite shore and its culinary specialties: Fish sandwiches! On our home journey we were caught in the “doldrums” and did a bit of rowing exercise.