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Fram Museum 1888 West Greenland Kayak Plans
When I visited the Fram Museum in Olso, Norway, I fell in love with a West Greenland kayak displayed as part of the Fram collection. The kayak is Fram number 176. Native Greenlanders built the kayak in 1888 for one of arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen’s colleagues after Nansen’s successful crossing of the Greenland icecap (Sea Kayaker article about the Fram kayaks). The kayak has a sweeping sheer, little stern rocker, and an extra partial chine half-way between the chine and sheer near the bow. Leather and bone decklines decorate the kayak’s deck. Plates, pegged to the boat, protect the bow and stern. The lines appear in Harvey Golden’s Kayaks of…
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Fram Museum Kayaks and Kayaking Gear
In 2008, I visited Norway to kayak and be a tourist. The trip started in Oslo with visits to the museums. Then we flew north to kayak in the Lofoten Islands. After the Lofoten Islands, we kayaked in Aurlandsfjorden near FlÃ¥m. The scenery was stunning the entire trip — it’s the type of place that you can drop a camera and get a great picture. Even though the scenery was overwhelming and the kayaking good, I enjoyed the museums the most. Seeing my first “real” traditional Greenland kayak and the accompanying gear was one highlight. The Fram Museum in Oslo houses the polar ship Fram, which still holds the record…