The Faroese boat

The traditional Faroese rowing boat is a clinker-built boat. Clinker building is the old Nordic method of building boats with overlapping wooden planks. Using this construction, Norsemen built their boats over one thousand years ago, and with them the Vikings sailed and left their mark on settled as well as yet unexplored lands in the North Atlantic.

The Faroese rowing boat has its origins in the smaller boats of the Vikings. The Faroese boat has the characteristic features of the Nordic clinker-built boat; it is pointed at both ends and of a light construction. The shape of the boat’s hull is similar to that on a Viking longship. The boat is regarded by many as the best example of Faroese craftsmanship there is, and the boat is considered one of the most attractive and flawless boats in the world. Natural conditions in the turbulent North Atlantic Ocean, where the Faroe Islands are situated, place great demands on the boat’s sea worthiness, and the Faroese boat builders have for centuries and with great ingenuity and expertise been able to develop a boat suitable for Faroese waters. The boat is extremely sea-worthy, easy to row and sails well using a sail. Although the boats are made from thin boards, the construction as a whole is very strong and well-suited to the fjords and sea around the Faroe Islands. It’s relatively light in weight, and in difficult conditions, with high waves, can be lifted up onto the beach by just a few men. The boat handles easily in the water and is easy to row in stormy waters. What makes it best suited to the sea surrounding the Faroe Islands, however, is the technology involved in rowing the boat; the long, narrow oars, the rowlock and the collar, which stops the oar from slipping; these items work together to hold the oar in place, and make them ideal for use in rough seas.

The Faroese boat can be found in a number of sizes. The Seksæringur, or tolvmannafar, can be rowed by 12 people, and is about 28 foot long; Tíggjumannafar, rowed by 10 people, is about 26 foot long; Áttamannafar, rowed by 8 people, is 24 foot; Seksmannafar, rowed by 6 people, is 22 foot; Fýramannafar, rowed by 4 people, is 20 foot; Tristur, rowed by 3 people, 18 foot; Tríbekkur, rowed by 2 people, but with 3 seats, 17 foot.

The boat, including the oars, rowlocks, floorboards and bailer, would take the boat builder between a week and 14 days to build, depending on the size of the boat. The finished boat would be treated with tar everywhere except on the thwarts, or crosswise struts. The bailer, a container used to bail water out of the boat, is carved from a piece of wood, usually driftwood. The bailer is the most important item of the boat’s equipment. Faroese oars are different from oars used on other boats.  Characteristic are the long, slender blade and the oar loom’s rectangular cross-section, which prevents the oar from slicing the water during rowing. There is a slight incline in the blade from the loom, so the oar catches well in the water to drive it forward.  It was at one time common for the collar that holds the oar fast in the rowlock to be cut from the fins of a pilot whale. These days, however, it is made from a piece of rope.The Faroese rowlock is made from oak, and its special appearance has compelled folk to name it after a human head; the ‘nose’ sticks forwards, the hole is for the eyes, and the top piece is the neck.

Key to a working boat is the bung, the drain plug. There is an old Faroese expression that says you shouldn’t make the bung before the boat is finished. The bunghole is drilled into the stern on the port side and the bung is put into the boat from inside.

In the old days, a loose oar was used to steer the boat, but this was switched to a fixed rudder hooked onto the stern, which functioned better.

In earlier times, the Faroese boat had a sail; this was a square sail set in the shape of a diamond, narrow at the top and broad at the bottom, as the mast was placed in the middle of the boat, but from about 1850 boats changed to two sails, a lugsail at the front thwart, and a smaller mizzen sail across the stern.

The Faroese boat is first and foremost a light rowing boat that can be propelled across the water with light, slender oars under the worst conditions imaginable.  The oars have always been the primary means of propulsion, in all kinds of weather. The sail was secondary, and was only used when the wind was favourable.

There are not many communities in the world that have their history, their fate and their entire existence so closely connected to the sea as the Faroese people, and the boat has been fundamental to life on the Faroe Islands, whether used for fishing or as a mode of transport between the islands.

Andras Sólstein

Technical Details

Issue Date: 25.02.2013

Designer: Edward Fuglø

Printer: Beijing Stamp Printing House, China

Process: Offset

Colours: 4 Colours

Size: 25,50 x 22,72 or 65,88 x 22,72 mm

Size of the sheetlet: 125 x 90 mm

Values: 12.50 kr

Postal use: small letters, inland, 0 - 50 gr

Sepac 2013 - baby animals

Here in the North Atlantic, spring, of obvious reasons, arrives a little later than on the European continent. So no wonder that we look forward to springtime and are quite aware of its arrival. Even though February 22nd, from days of old has been considered as the first day of spring, we have to go further ahead on the calendar, before the signs start to show. By St. Gregor's Day on March 12th the Oyster Catcher, the Faroese national bird, return to the islands, and at Spring Equinox, on March 21st, we really feel that spring has arrived.

It is about one month later that the greatest and most valued signs of spring appears. Everybody, grown ups and children, are looking forward to the event. We observe the meadows wistfully, especially where we know that the first tends to show up. There is a certain impatience about this waiting, and if it occurs sooner than expected, it may even be mentioned on the radio.

And then suddenly it is there - the first lamb. A tiny little lump of wool with large eyes and ears – and like most baby animals, the cutest little thing you'll ever see.

Seeing the first lamb has a strange effect on people. We tell others about it, what color it is and where we saw it. People passing, stop to see the little creature and the sight can bring a smile to even the most weather-beaten face.

Later, more lambs will appear, and it is a real pleasure to see them play and romp in the meadow. They jump around, gore and climb on the boulders which are everywhere in the Faroe Islands. The Faroese do not breed sheep for their wool, and therefore the little lambs come in all colours. White, black, gray and brown are the most common - and often multicoloured, depending on origin.

It happens that the mother sheep, for some reason, does not want to stay with her lamb, and leaves it. These lambs are taken to the owner's house and fed up with milk. You often see these so-called "heimalomb" (lambs that are raised at home) outside the houses in the early summer months. Some of them become so domesticated that they most of all resemble a puppy. They are obviously the children's favourites, and it is not always without certain amount of battle and crying, if such a lamb is chosen to slaughter in the autumn.

The lambs stay with their mother over the summer. They suckle for some months and otherwise follow the mother to summer grazing in the mountains. Sheep are territorial animals and stay mostly within certain preferred areas. This property is inherited from the mother to the lambs, which since will to prefer the same grazing areas.

The Faroese sheep is categorized as "primitive" race, since they are not bred as the so-called race-sheep. They are more robust and agile and are doing quite well on their own, even in inaccessible mountain areas where cultivated sheep breeds would quickly succumb. The wool is thick and not so curly and has a layer of rough, water repellent outer hair, which makes it suitable for knitting of the so-called Faroese sweaters, designed for outdoor use in all weather. The fine inner wool is used for finer processes, and in recent decades a very refined design culture has emerged for clothing knitted by Faroese wool.

The lambs grow large during the summer, and go in the outback until slaughter time in October. The fact that the sheep are driven directly from the outback to slaughter, makes the meat of a very special quality, which is not found in sheep on cultivated pastures. The wild herbs, which are a part of the diet, give the meat a very fine taste, and the fact that the lambs move around in the mountains gives a very solid and lean meat.

But all the talk about wool and meat are not the first thing in our mind, when we are all longing for spring, small lively hairballs and bleating of baby lambs.

The most powerful sign of springtime.

Anker Eli Petersen

Technical Details

Issue Date: 25.02.2013

Designer: Marita Gullklett

Printer: Cartor Security Printing, France

Process: Offset

Colours: 4 Colours

Size: 63 x 23,52 mm

Values: 12.50 kr

Postal use: small letters and medium letters 0-50 gr to Europe

Seafood

The cold North Atlantic with its strong currents, cold temperatures and a benign maritime flora and fauna are providing excellent breeding grounds for the abundance of fish and shell fish prevailing in these waters, yielding a truly tasty and healthy gastronomical experiences for both the locals as well as the growing numbers of gastronomical travellers.

In Scandinavia the strong movement of returning to the original dishes and ingredients contained in the so called New Nordic Food Manifesto has also Faroe Islands amongst its signatories. The famous Danish restaurant NOMA, working according to the Manifesto, has been chosen as the best in the world. In Faroes the same movement of returning to the original faroese cuisine has become very popular and is led by the restaurant KOKS. Both NOMA and KOKS are co-operating and no doubt the first Faroese Michelin Star is imminent.

In Faroes, the Norwegian Lobster with its elegant and succulent meat is very much sought after by the restaurants, but also new comers like the Brown Crab and the Deep Sea Red Crab are gaining more and more popularity.

The faroese local stock of Shrimps are too small to be commercialised, but the considerable faroese involvement in the Greenland shrimp fishery has for many years provided a steady supply of Greenland shrimps to Faroes where these small, tasty crustaceans are very popular domestically as well as in the restaurants.

Jóhan Mortensen

Brown Crab - Cancer pagurus

The shield on the Brown Crab also known as the Edible Crab is reddish brown. The claws have a purple tinge with black tips. You can tell the difference between male and female crabs by the tail below the belly side, which is wider on females. The meat in the claws is white and firm, while the flesh of the body is looser and has a light brownish color.

The shield can be 30 cm wide, rarely more than 20 cm, and the crab's total weight can reach up to 5 kg.

In summer, the Brown Crab lives on 1 to 30 m depth, and in winter between 30 to 50 meters depth. It is most often found on hard seabed, that is, rock. The crab's diet consists mostly of benthic invertebrates such as mussels and horse mussels.

When the Brown Crab is 5 - 6 years old, it becomes sexually mature. It changes shield in the summer, and when it has thrown the old shield and got a new one, it will mate.

The female can store the male's sperm for many years. After having mated once, she can spawn up to three times. The female spawns up to 3 million eggs in autumn and store them during the winter.

In the Faroe Islands there is no commercial fishery for Brown Crab - but in Iceland, Norway, Denmark and the UK, approx. 25,000 tonnes of Brown Crab are caught per year.

Deep sea red crab - Chaceon affinis

We know very little about this crab, since it does not appear close to shore - and because we have not fished for it before the turn of the century.

In English the crab is called "Deep sea red crab".

In a reciprocal fisheries agreement between the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities, a Greenlandic trawler was allowed to conduct experimental fishing for crab in the outer Faroese sea territories. The first attempt took place in February 2000. The red crab - which was the subject of the experimental fishing - appeared frequently as bycatch in gillnet fishery for anglerfish. There had been sporadic attempts to fish crab with traps before year 2000 - and to sell it abroad, but not until the year 2006 crab fishing really took off with Faroese vessels.

Crab is caught with traps in areas southwest of the Faroe Islands and at 500 meters depth. The traps are fastened to a rope with approx. 50 meter distance in between, and set out in much the same way as when fishing with gillnets. The catch so far has been about 280 tons per year.

Crab legs are thin, so there's not much meat in them. But the claws are large and filled with tasty crab meat. There is also some meat on the body.

Shrimp - Pandalus borealis

Shrimp are red and have a long horn on their head, filled with sharp thorns. It can be up to 16 - 17 cm long.

Shrimps feed on worms, organic waste and various small animals - and even serves as food for larger fish such as cod, halibut and salmon.

The shrimp is a hermaphrodite. The first years it is male - in southern waters where the water is warm, it is male for the first two years of its life, while, in the colder northern waters, it is male for 4 - 7 years. Then the shrimp switches sex and spends the rest of its life as female.

The shrimps start their life as eggs under the mother's skull, which later are moved down between the front swim-legs on the underside. A shrimp usually carries between 100 - 1500 eggs.

The prevalence of Pandalus borealis shrimp goes from the southern regions of the North Sea continental shelf and Skagerrak over to the east side of America's so-called "Gulf of Maine".

In the northern areas the shrimp occurs in the Barents Sea in Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland - Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland and the Davis Strait between Greenland and Canada. The shrimp also occurs in the North Pacific around Alaska and the northern parts of Japan.

Shrimps live on soft seabed from 50 to 600 meters depth, where the temperature is between 0 to 8 degrees Celsius. They have, however, been caught below 1000 meters.

For the Faroe Islands, shrimping has had great economic importance since the late sixties. The largest catches occurred in the seventies and eighties.

Shrimp is in fact the most widely used marine delicacy in the world.

Lobster - Nephrops norvegicus

The Norway lobster is reddish. On the upper body and the head it carries a hard shell, which is attached to the back and hangs down along the sides. Its gills are located beneath the shell on both sides.

There are 7 joints on the rear end of the body and the last one is shaped like the tail fin of a fish. When the lobster need to move, it turns the tail fin up under itself and swims backwards.

The lobster reaches sexual maturity at 3 to 5 years of age. The female carries the approx. 4000 eggs between the hind legs for 8 - 9 months before they are hatched. Lobster spawn every two years, from March to September.

The young lobster casts of the slough several times a year, while as an adult only changes slough every two years. First the shell on the back cracks and the animal crawls out of the old shell. During the first time after the cast of the slough, the lobster is extremely vulnerable and can't even manage to stand on its own feet.

The female lobster can grow up to 20 cm, while males can grow up to 25 cm.

The lobster in Faroese waters is a special Faroese variant and is most often found in the fjords. It happens, however, that lobsters are found out in the Faroese sea shelf. It feeds on soft ground where it digs burrows with multiple entrances and exits. Lobsters live on 15 to 500 meters depth. It hunts at night and feeds mainly on small benthic animals like starfish, worms and crabs.

Lobster fishing is approx. 55 to 60 tons per year. The minimum length for lobster fishing is 13 cm - if the animal is below this limit, it must be put out again.

The lobster is considered a seafood delicacy - the meat is light and has a fine texture.

Mourits Mohr Joensen

Technical Details

Issue Date: 25.02.2013

Designer: Astrid Andreasen

Printer: LM Group, Canada

Process: Offset

Colours: 4 Colours

Size: 40 x 29 mm

Values: 7.00, 9.00, 23.00 and 34.00 kr

Postal use: small letters and medium letters inland 0-50 gr, large letters to other countries 0-50 gr and 51-100 gr

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Here are the best Philatelic greetings to visitors from all over the world who daily visit my blog.