Who do a sail the size of house get washed? When there is no washing machine big enough the solution simple – it’s washed and rinsed in the museum harbour at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.
Two weeks ago the sail was coloured in red and yellow vertical stripes. The colours were a mix of ochre and salted water. The salt is the binding materiale which secures the colours on the flags fabric.
On Sunday, after the Sea Stallion was launched, it was time to rinse off the extra colour. Ochre is an earthly colour and is not damaging to the water. Boat builder Vibeke Bischoff had therefore decided to rinse the sail in the museum harbour – a technique she learned from colleagues in Venice, Italy.
The Blue elephant and manual power
By rigging the sail on to the yard and then lifting it by using the crane on the museum tractor – an old Ford called 'The Blue Elephant' the rinse was possible.
The sail was then lowered into the water and two teams of crew members pulled the sail back and forth in the middle of the harbour.
Even after a lot of to-ing the colours still coming off the sopping wet sail. But the crew members – especially the ones placed in the mid ship just under the sail – hopes that it’s a question of time before the sail will be able to hold the colours.
Earthly colours tend to be dusty and hopefully some off the extra colour will therefore blow off when the sail is lifted raised and lowered again.
