RAFT

How do we build the Raft?

The Leeway-25 expedition strives for historical plausability. Essentially, we're constructing and navigating a pre-Columbian raft based on our understanding of its construction. We're familiar with the raft's individual components and the methods used for steering. Our steering techniques, sailing approach, and rigging design stem from numerous written accounts, model tests, extensive hours sailing a 1:3 scale model, and a trial voyage between Sweden and Finland using a smaller life-sizes version.

Our manual raft construction begins in early March 2025. Our aim is to set sail around the beginning of May 2025. The wood required for the raft will have been on-site, drying for a year by then.

It's essential to note this isn't an exact historical replica as we build it the way it is most reasonable after all our tests and trials. For safety and financial reasons, the protective shelter, sail, and ropes incorporate modern materials. However, these modern elements don't compromise the integrity of our research inquiry.

Week 1

10.03.25 - 16.03.25

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We arrived near Bergen, Norway, where we’ll be building the raft.
This week was all about getting to know each other and setting up our accommodation for the upcoming construction phase.
We’re living in a large, unused conference room, which we’ve tried to make feel more like home.
We needed to cut 2 more trees for the yard and the mast. We asked friends there to cut them for us.
We barked the two freshly cut trees (we took the bark of the tree).

We removed the roof under which the logs were drying since fall 2024 and displayed them so that we could work on them.

The logs on the right side have diameters up to 1.3m and will be the base of the raft. The smaller logs on the left are the crossbeams. They are used to bind the big logs together.

We were fortunate with the weather. You can see the new mast on the ground and the yard on the tripods.

We continued barking the mast and the yard. Here you can see Noe and Martin working.

We already started cutting the notches. Here you see Leon working.
The notches are used to prevent the rope from sliding.

Week 0

01.03.25 - 09.03.25

We arrived near Bergen, Norway, where we’ll be building the raft.
This week was all about getting to know each other and setting up our accommodation for the upcoming construction phase.
We’re living in a large, unused conference room, which we’ve tried to make feel more like home.
We needed to cut 2 more trees for the yard and the mast. We asked friends there to cut them for us.
We barked the two freshly cut trees (we took the bark of the tree).

The place we live in is only one big room. This is how it looked, when we first arrived in Norway.

Before we could make some order, we had to lay out everything we have (left to right): Personal belongings, camera equipment, electrical equipment, safety equipment, construction tools