Fram 176
In 2001 Josh Bertwistle and I had the pleasure of surveying two of the kayaks in the collection of the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway.
Fram 176 is probably Otto Sverdrup’s kayak, one of the kayaks built in the winter of 1888 in Nuuk, Greenland for members of Fridjof Nansen’s expedition to cross the Greenland ice cap from east to west by sledge and ski. After the successful crossing, Nansen and his expedition mates waited out the winter for the spring ship to arrive from Denmark. During this time, they took up kayaking and learned the ways of the Greenlanders, which later came in handy during their later polar expeditions.
Plans
Publications
- 1888: The Early Allure of the Greenland Kayak
A survey of one of the kayaks (at the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway) from Fridjof Nansen's 1888 Greenland expedition.
Sea Kayaker
August, 2004.
Josh Bertwistle, Flemming Sorvin
Links
- Samuel Balto's Kayak
Anders Thygesen has surveyed and built a replica of a sister kayak from the same expedition.
Nansen's Kayak
One of the kayaks I didn’t have time to survey turned out to be Nansen’s. It was hanging from the railings on the upper story of the museum.
The deck lines from the illustration in Nansen’s book look to be the same.
