Bumper Boats

When Doug and Dana came to visit us in Bergen, we had some entertainment out our window. First, the background. This old wooden ship called the Stavenes was out in the harbor by our place for a week or two, being restored by volunteers. They painted and polished it wonderfully. Painting the smokestack was done with the help of an antique firetruck! These guys worked like crazy, and got it beautiful in time for the antique boat regatta - sort of. Apparently, it has no engine, steam or diesel. They are retrofitting it back to its former steam engine glory. (That's our apartment building you see behind the smokestack.)

All went well, and all the restored boats took off for their regatta, with our Stavenes being towed by a tugboat. We were all sitting around after dinner a couple of days later when she was tugged back home.

Note the fishing boat and sailboat on the left. The tug, Vulcanus, wanted to bring the Stavenes to dock on the right.

Just swing her around and she'll nestle up to the dock, right?

Riiight. You should have seen the men in those two boats hop out!

Meanwhile, momentum being one of those pesky things that just keeps on going, the Stavenes continues to spin.

Can you believe that bystander? He's pushing the ship away from the dock. And now comes the test of how strong a fishing boat's hull is...

 

They are totally wedged in there. Two guys are pushing the stern of the Stavenes. The rope from the Vulcanus is wrapped around the bow. It won't be long before the sailor drags his ship forward. The fisherman can just watch.

Okay, guys, do-over!

No, no! Don't do-over the fishing boat hull stress test!

At this point, we thought the Vulcanus was fleeing the scene. Bystanders had managed to get a line from the Stavenes' bow to the shore, maybe they could pull it in?

But the Vulcanus turned around and backed up to push the Stavenes to shore. Meanwhile, a little truck has arrived, and the bus that usually parks there overnight pulled up.

I sure hope they didn't scrape that new paint!

NOW the Vulcanus leaves the scene. His work is done. I guess.

Now the shore party takes over. They tie a rope to the little truck, get the bus out of the way, and pull the Stavenes in. Who needs TV when you can just look out the window?