The lecture last night, I’m happy to report, was excellent. Truly memorable.

The speaker, Roar Moe (ROW-ar MOW-eh), as I remember the story he told, was an ordinary Norwegian guy who worked in an ordinary job. But he was concerned about all the things that were being lost as his country, in the short period since the oil fields were discovered around 1970, has gone from being a poor, largely rural country to a rich, largely urban country. He traveled around the west coast and was horrified by the houses and boathouses left to nature, the boats dragged ashore and left to rot. So he and some friends set about creating a center where the old skills could be preserved and passed on to young people.

The acquired a little farm on a small island and rebuilt the house, the boathouse, and the barn. They first repaired old boats, and then built one of their own (they learned what they could from the old boat builders themselves, but he says it was hard. Those guys don’t like to explain about building boats, they just do it, and expect their helpers to learn by doing. “The eye” is the most important instrument). They run camps for kids, where the kids learn about the old ways and the old skills.

Then they got more ambitious, and built a “jekt,” (yes, the word is related to our English “yacht,” which comes from the Dutch language, I believe) a copy of a small 17th Century cargo vessel. This forced them to learn the art of square sailing, which is tricky.

And that’s what got him involved in the Dragon Harald Fairhair project, which I’ve written about here before. This ship, when completed this summer, will be the largest replica Viking ship ever built, at 140 ft. Roar will be involved in training the crews. Part of the reason he’s here in America is to try to recruit crew members.

Wish I could afford to do that.

In any case, it was one of the most fascinating lectures I’ve ever heard. I got a chance to speak to Mr. Moe a little afterwards, but only a couple words.