The Vasa Project Begins...
This is take two on the first student blog entry. My first entry was deleted because I could not figure out the difference between the Swedish words for ‘post’ and ‘delete’. Luckily this morning Professor Stewart introduced me to the ‘English’ button and now I understand it all.
The first week of the Vasa trip was absolutely amazing as well as one big sensory overload. Lyz, Peter, and I arrived here on Saturday, December 1 while Amy and Eric arrived on Sunday. Sunday was spent getting settled in our respective ships: the icebreaker, Sankt Erik, for the guys, and the minesweeper, M20, for the gals. Monday, however, was the best day. Dr. Fred Hocker met us at the VasaMuseet, and we were introduced to the ship itself. SO COOL! And what an honor. We travelled all the way from the poop deck to the hold, fore and aft all the while being mindful not to put a foot through a plank and be the first to break the Vasa! Our tour of the Vasa did mean one significant shift in our plan; it meant that our recording strategy went flying out the window, but more on that later. After the tour we were introduced to our new favourite past time, fika! Fika means break and it also means getting a cup of really good coffee and hot chocolate from the coolest coffee machine I’ve ever seen. I do enjoy fika. During fika we met with just about every person working for the VasaMuseet. They all are the kindest, most welcoming people I’ve met. That Monday we also presented our recording strategy to Dr. Hocker and Dr. Stewart and all those interested. It went well and soon we were making changes to the plan to better fit our new perspective on the Vasa and helpful suggestions from both Dr. Hocker and Dr. Stewart.
Our recording strategy, though changed, has retained the same goals. First is to provide accurate data in recording the beakhead structure, second is to discover and understand how the beakhead structure is attached to the hull of the ship, and third to discover the location of what we call the ‘spectacle’ or attachment for the fore staysail sheets. To do so we are taking points on the interior and exterior of the beakhead, and where the beakhead connects to the hull on the upper gundeck, lower gundeck, and the orlop. The points are then catalogued (go Lyz and Peter!) and taken using a total station, which we’ve all helped on, and will eventually be downloaded into Rhinoceros to create a 3D image of the beakhead. Currently, the points are being recorded (Lyz and Peter still have one beck to go) and points have not been place on the exterior of the beakhead. Amy and I are currently working in the beakhead itself taking measurements of the grating, the stringers, and how they all fit together. Amy is also working on figuring out how the heads are fastened to the beakhead as well as record the knee and stem. Soon we will be able to put down flooring over the grating and everyone will be able to walk around more easily although Amy and I could probably step on all the safe grating with our eyes closed. All in all, last week and today were great days. We’ve all been working hard and are excited about the work still ahead of us. We know there is a lot left to do and we’ll be pushing hard, so thank goodness for fika!
The first week of the Vasa trip was absolutely amazing as well as one big sensory overload. Lyz, Peter, and I arrived here on Saturday, December 1 while Amy and Eric arrived on Sunday. Sunday was spent getting settled in our respective ships: the icebreaker, Sankt Erik, for the guys, and the minesweeper, M20, for the gals. Monday, however, was the best day. Dr. Fred Hocker met us at the VasaMuseet, and we were introduced to the ship itself. SO COOL! And what an honor. We travelled all the way from the poop deck to the hold, fore and aft all the while being mindful not to put a foot through a plank and be the first to break the Vasa! Our tour of the Vasa did mean one significant shift in our plan; it meant that our recording strategy went flying out the window, but more on that later. After the tour we were introduced to our new favourite past time, fika! Fika means break and it also means getting a cup of really good coffee and hot chocolate from the coolest coffee machine I’ve ever seen. I do enjoy fika. During fika we met with just about every person working for the VasaMuseet. They all are the kindest, most welcoming people I’ve met. That Monday we also presented our recording strategy to Dr. Hocker and Dr. Stewart and all those interested. It went well and soon we were making changes to the plan to better fit our new perspective on the Vasa and helpful suggestions from both Dr. Hocker and Dr. Stewart.
Our recording strategy, though changed, has retained the same goals. First is to provide accurate data in recording the beakhead structure, second is to discover and understand how the beakhead structure is attached to the hull of the ship, and third to discover the location of what we call the ‘spectacle’ or attachment for the fore staysail sheets. To do so we are taking points on the interior and exterior of the beakhead, and where the beakhead connects to the hull on the upper gundeck, lower gundeck, and the orlop. The points are then catalogued (go Lyz and Peter!) and taken using a total station, which we’ve all helped on, and will eventually be downloaded into Rhinoceros to create a 3D image of the beakhead. Currently, the points are being recorded (Lyz and Peter still have one beck to go) and points have not been place on the exterior of the beakhead. Amy and I are currently working in the beakhead itself taking measurements of the grating, the stringers, and how they all fit together. Amy is also working on figuring out how the heads are fastened to the beakhead as well as record the knee and stem. Soon we will be able to put down flooring over the grating and everyone will be able to walk around more easily although Amy and I could probably step on all the safe grating with our eyes closed. All in all, last week and today were great days. We’ve all been working hard and are excited about the work still ahead of us. We know there is a lot left to do and we’ll be pushing hard, so thank goodness for fika!
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