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dougturner
30th October 2014, 11:53 PM
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Woodturning on Water.
How would you like to have to spend 12 days with Richard Raffan, Theo Haralampou, Terry Martin (Aust), Nick Agar, Stuart Mortimer, Margaret Attard, Mark Baker (UK), Asmund Vignes, Knut Lien, Jim Sterling, Jan Tore Solberg, Magna Grude (Norway), Roly Munro, Peter Hewitt (NZ), Michael Gibson (USA), Michael Hosaluk (Canada)? And these were just the woodturners!!!
There were also other experts in their fields of woodcarving, pyrography, knife making, scrollsawing, router work, tool suppliers from Robert Sorby, Trend Routing Technology (UK), Woodcut Tools (NZ), and King Arthurs Tools (USA) on board.
There were even people on board from a Norwegian company that specialises in “felting” for the lady passengers who were not woodturners to try their hand at. By the end of the cruise there were felt hats, stoles, and scarves to be seen on many shore excursions.
Yes, it was like all of a woodturner’s dreams come true! It was just like a Working with Wood Show on Water!
My wife Robyn and I have recently returned from the Norwegian Woodturning Cruise which takes place every three years up the coast of Norway. A fantastic experience both for a woodturner and for a tourist!
We sailed out of Stavanger, calling in at 6 different places going north, turning south at Honningsvag (North Cape). Crossing the Arctic Circle at Bodo on my 70th birthday made it a day not to be forgotten! North Cape is the northernmost point in Europe, and we were told by an Alaskan on the cruise that it is even further north than anywhere in Alaska.
The leg south was just as interesting as we called 6 different places and finished back at Stavanger. At each place we stopped, after the ship berthed, the side of the ship was opened up, the gangway lowered, and people from the local area came aboard to their “working with wood show”, while the passengers who had booked for the optional shore excursions went off in a local coach to wherever that day’s excursion took them. Jim Sterling is an Australian living in Norway, and he was our Pied Piper, as at every place we stopped, Jim was first ashore with his bagpipes drumming up business from the locals. In every port, locals turned up on foot, on bicycles, in their cars, and some even had trailers to take home their new toys.
At one port we stopped there was even an impromptu jam session held in the workshop area, where Jim with a guitar, Theo with improvised drums, he is a drummer in a band in real life, a local on guitar, and several others entertained us for quite a while.
Suffice to say, we saw many parts of Norway that are off the beaten track, and a lot that were regular tourist haunts. Norway is a beautiful country, where EVERYTHING is on a large scale.
Those passengers who did not go on every excursion spent the time on board reading, watching the demonstrators, mixing with the locals both on board and on local walks into the city, town, or village where we were.
The turners were available to the passengers at almost any mutually agreeable time, and it was just a matter of approaching them personally and arranging to meet them in the workshops for some personal tuition. I was lucky enough to spend one on one time with Michael Hosaluk, Richard Raffan, Asmund Vignes, Jan Tore Solberg, and Nick Agar. Much time was spent trying out tools with the tool suppliers on board or just watching anyone you wished, demonstrate. There were more turning accessories for sale than you could shake a stick at, and some I had not seen before. Due to our itinerary when we left the cruise, I bought very few bits and pieces back with me. The other reason for that, is that tools and accessories are much more expensive in Norway that they are here.
I even met one of the Norwegian passengers who buys his pen kits from Timberbits in Yennora.
During the cruise, there was a gallery on board and passengers were invited to bring along up to three pieces for display, and also invited to donate them towards an auction held on the last night at sea, with the proceeds going to a children’s cancer fund in Norway. I don’t know how many pieces were donated, but at the end of the auction, conducted by Nick Agar, the money raised was 90465 Norwegian Kroner, or US$14655. The best result from any cruise so far.
I hope the photos with this article give you some idea of the woodturning part of our holiday. I have tried to make the captions short but informative, and for those with access to the internet, the photos will be in colour in this issue of By Hand & Eye on our Guild web site.
After the cruise, we spent time in Munich, Stavanger, Copenhagen, Trelleborg, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallin, and Geneva before returning home.
It was a truly marvellous experience!

Pat
31st October 2014, 05:42 AM
Doug, you lucky barsteward! Thanks for taking the time to post the thread and pics. Pic 25 was the winner for me (Carved village scene).:2tsup:

TTIT
1st November 2014, 12:17 AM
Loving that piece in pic 21 - have been thinking about doing something like this for a long time and that has inspired me to sketch up some ideas :2tsup:

dougturner
1st November 2014, 09:34 PM
Pat, that carved village scene is actually amazing scrollsaw work by Jim Sterling, who is an Aussie married to a Norwegian lady and living in Norway. I only know what Jim told me about it, but the scrollsaw is set at a slight angle, and the piece cut freehand (I watched him do one), and due to the slight angle of the blade, when the separated pieces are push upwards, they bind in the cut. They are truly remarkable, and I would have loved to bring one home, but weight restrictions stopped that, as I would have had to lug it about for the rest of our trip. I'm glad you enjoyed the article and pics. Doug :U

dougturner
1st November 2014, 09:43 PM
TTIT, I watched Nick Agar from UK make this from start to finish, and I think it was turned on about eight different centres, textured, and airbrushed, then sanded on the flat area when dry. It was a great experience to watch these blokes, whose imagination seems to know no bounds as far as woodturning goes. Not just Nick, but every one of them! I guess that is why we have to pay our fare, and they get invited to come along! I have no complaints about that arrangement, as it was my trip of a lifetime. In fact one night after dinner, my wife and I spent about an hour in one of the lounges talking to Richard Raffan, and one of his statements that night was that " on board this ship would be one of the most talented group of woodturners he has ever been associated with, anywhere in the world". Doug. :U

hughie
4th November 2014, 10:36 PM
Doug,
I see theres an open spiral vessel by Kare Tangen, dont suppose you know who Kare Tangen is.

dougturner
5th November 2014, 09:49 PM
Hughie, I was just lucky to be in the gallery at the time that piece was brought in, but all I know about the fellow who placed the piece is that he had an accent, was maybe mid fifties, and had blonde hair. (as do another few million people in that part of the world). Sorry. I looked at Facebook for him, but nothing conclusive. The cards with his piece show that he is from Norway, and my passenger list from the cruise confirms he was on the cruise, but that probably doesn't really give you a satisfactory answer. Sorry. Doug :U

Lyle
6th November 2014, 07:31 AM
G'day Doug. Welcome back. Sounds like you had a great trip after the cruise as well.
It is hard to pick a particular highlight isn't it when the cruise was so good.
Lyle.

dougturner
6th November 2014, 08:50 PM
G'day Doug. Welcome back. Sounds like you had a great trip after the cruise as well.
It is hard to pick a particular highlight isn't it when the cruise was so good.
Lyle.

G'day Lyle. Good to hear from you. I think my head is still spinning from all we saw and did on the cruise. I have spent a few dollars since coming home, as if nothing else, those blokes really widened my horizons! It was a great time on the cruise, and for me, the highlight of our 6 weeks away. Problem is that we have the travel bug (not Delhi belly) now, and have already booked for our next trip in July next year, to attend two of the Ashes Tests, one at Cardiff, and one at Edgebaston in Birmingham, along with a side trip or two between tests to Paris and Brussels. :U

dougturner
6th November 2014, 08:57 PM
Hugh, I posted this last night as an edit, but don't know what happened to it. I went back to my original photo from the cruise and zoomed in on Kare's card. He lives in Kopervik, Norway.

I hope that helps a bit. I have his email, address and mobile if you want it. Doug :U

Mod Edit - personal email removed as it makes them vulnerable to spam. Please provide details via PM

hughie
7th November 2014, 07:20 PM
Hughie, I was just lucky to be in the gallery at the time that piece was brought in, but all I know about the fellow who placed the piece is that he had an accent, was maybe mid fifties, and had blonde hair. (as do another few million people in that part of the world). Sorry. I looked at Facebook for him, but nothing conclusive. The cards with his piece show that he is from Norway, and my passenger list from the cruise confirms he was on the cruise, but that probably doesn't really give you a satisfactory answer. Sorry. Doug :U
No worries it was just a thought I also looked on FB etc :U

Wood Nut
10th November 2014, 08:00 AM
Hi Doug,
Thanks for the post and great photos. Now there are two people I'm jealous of - you and Lyle! I know Lyle had a great time but haven't had a chance to catch up since the cruise. What a fantastic group of professional turners.
I can see why Hughie was so interested in the work of Kare Tangen. I spent some time with Hughie on Saturday and he does similar work - much is posted on this forum - that looks even better "in the flesh".
Cheers,
Paul