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 Flåm. 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 as the ship that sailed furthest north and furtherest south, and the museum documents a number of expeditions. The Fram Museum kayaks vary from bamboo kayaks used in Nansen’s expedition to Greenland kayaks. The kayaks include Fram Museum no. 176, which is a beautiful kayak with a sweeping sheer. It was built in 1888. The lines appear in Harvey Golden’s Kayaks of Greenland.

Taking pictures in the museum was complicated by the crowds, reflections of glass and my point-and-shoots limited wide angle end, so I spent more time reading and learning about the artifacts housed there than photographing them. Here are a few pictures of the Fram Museum kayaks and kayaking gear. I love the norsaq.

A kayak next to Fram.

The kayak from Kayaks of Greenland.

1888 Greenland kayak.

Tip of a Greenland paddle in the Fram Museum.

Greenland paddle in the Fram Museum.

Looking down on a kayak.

Harpons and spears.

Harpons and spears.

Decorative norsaq throwing stick at the Fram Museum.

A modern Greenland-style kayak design.