The „Thor“ is sailing again!
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Foto: Lung
| | After 17 months of hard honorary work, the 50 meter long three-masted topsail schooner “Thor Heyerdahl” from Kiel is now restored.
The “Thor Heyerdahl” was built in 1930 under the name of “Tinka” in the Smit & Zoon shipyard in Westerbroek (The Netherlands) as a motor vessel with supporting sails. Her first home port was Hamburg.
For more than 50 years, the “Thor” was used with changing names as a cargo ship for trips as far as to South Africa and the Caribbean. Since 1983, the Thor Heyerdahl association, which by now has 1000 members, has been in charge of the ship. During summers, the ship was used both in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, during winters, she sailed in the seas around the Canary Islands and the Caribbean.
In a painstaking effort, 1.6 million Euros of donations and own funds could be raised for the renovation of the ship in the HDW shipyard in Kiel.
The Schletter company from Kirchdorf / Haag in Upper Bavaria supported the fundamental reconstruction of the topsail schooner by producing the steel tube back railing with handrail, trolleys, the brass sheeted nail bench and several parts for the interior fitting of the lower deck. Angle brackets and rails of more than 100 running meters of quality steel were also provided for the interior fitting.
On March 12, 2009, the “Thor Heyerdahl” left the drydock of the HDW shipyard in Kiel after having been thoroughly restored. Starting from October 2009, it is supposed to sail all over the world again within the framework of the new educational project: “classroom under sails”.
| The Schletter company wishes all sailors of the “Thor Heyerdahl” many nice and interesting cruises and always six inches of water under the keel. You will find further information under www.thor-heyerdahl.de
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