Submersible boats-A description of the boat

About the Nersetter Boats In the Eikerbygdene area, the Nersetter Boats play a central role among the residents. Many have grown up with these boats, either because their grandfather or father used them in their rafting profession, or because they had one on one of the lakes in Mjøndalskogen, Finnemarka or Krøderen. Here they are still used for outdoor activities and relaxation.

The last Nersetter boats were professionally built over 40 years ago. Although there are still people who build them in recent times, this is only done on a hobby basis and for personal use. There are still some who have learned to build such boats, and I have been fortunate enough to talk to the boat builders. Through them I have gained insight into the knowledge and traditions associated with the construction of Nersetter boats.

For me it has been important to get an overview of who built the boats, the traditions, the culture and the methods used. This is what I want to convey in this booklet.

The Nersetter boats in the old days

The Nersetter boats have been associated with rafting, transport and fishing in the Drammen waterways throughout history. Today the boats are used for outdoor activities and as museum pieces. The word "Nersetter" is a professional term for a person who sets or transports goods and timber down the river, i.e. a Nersetter. Excellent examples of Nersetter boats can be found at Gulskogen farm, in the Nøstetangen Museum in Hokksund, and among fishermen at Hellefossen. In recent times, there have been reports of the construction of the traditional boats in both Fredrikstad and Flå.

The oldest Nersetter boat builders we know of date back to the 18th century. In the 19th century, there were three families in Hokksund who were still building the boats, all with the surname Borgersen. One family lived at Loesmoen, and the boats they built were named "Bentebåt". The second family lived at Risøra, on the right side of the river above the bridge in Hokksund. The third family lived at Sundbakken, on the other side of the river. The last of these boat builders was Johan Borgersen, born in 1892. He and his brother Borger represented the fourth generation in this profession.

The Nersetter boats are closely linked to the Drammen waterways. Their design and characteristics make them particularly well suited for inland fishing, transport and rafting. The low draft and flat bottom made it easy to row across the stream and over the timber hinges. The boats, which measured 6 meters in length and 1.45 meters in width, had a large cargo capacity. They were equipped with only one pair of oars, as extra oarlocks and oars would have been in the way of handling ropes and fishing nets.

At Hellefoss in the Drammenselva River, the boat was essential for all forms of fishing, except for fixed fishing devices in the waterfall. The special shape of the bottom made the boat easy to row in the current, as the cooling water was neutralized.

The boats initially had only one stern and a loading area in the middle of the boat. After outboard motors became common, people began to make Nersetter boats with a cut-off stern to make room for the engine.

Nersetter boats are found to a greater or lesser extent in all four major lakes and tributaries connected to the Drammensvåg system. They are also found in the lower part of the Glomma, at Fetsund Lenser. These boats are similar to the Nersetter boats, but have a higher draft and are reinforced with iron frames for extra strength. The Nersetter boats usually have twelve frames, which makes them robust enough for rough use.

The boats are clinker-built, meaning that the boards overlap each other and are fastened with rivets that are riveted. The frames are made after the boards are assembled. This construction kit requires the use of templates, around which the boat is built. The Nersetter boats stand out with their flat, wide bottom, which makes it safe to stand in the boat.

Traditionally, boats had four boards in height. In some cases, boat builders could use extra wide boards, so that the boat was built with only three boards. In the past, the first board along the keel, the sandboard, was not counted in the count. Therefore, boats of the same length and shape could be referred to as either "two-boarded" or "three-boarded".

Until the early 1900s, the frames and sterns were made of twisted spruce and pine, while the boat's planks were cut with a gang saw. The twisted planks that formed the transition between the bottom plank, the sand plank, and the sterns were cut with an axe. The boat consisted of four planks: the "underboard", the "midboard", the "transition", and the first plank along the keel, the sand plank.

To reinforce the edge of the top board, the "transition", both an inner and an outer slat were inserted. In the rear part of the boat, a "spare slat" was also used to protect the other two. This was necessary because ropes and nets were often pulled over the rake, especially when floating and fishing. Without the spare slats, the underlying boards would have easily been worn loose. The rudder was attached to the slats with the "tøllapinnen".

At the bottom of the boat, at the back, was a large limb called a "boat bønn". From this, a 20 cm wide board extended forward towards the bow. At each end of the boat was a small seat called a "sessekrulde".

The traditional length of the Nersetter boats is just under 6 meters.

I have compared the different Nersetter boats that were built at the three locations: Loesmoen, Risøra and Sundebakken. The comparison is based on drawings of Nersetter boats that I have received from the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo. The boats from the three locations turn out to be almost identical.

There are some minor differences, for example in the scratch on the boats built at Loesmoen, and in the shape of the front part of the oar fork holder on the boats from Risøra and Loesmoen. The boats from Loesmoen had a somewhat finer finish, and the oar blades were slightly wider. For the boats built at Sundebakken I have compared templates from there. It seems that the keel on these boats has a somewhat more curved bow compared to the drawings from the Norwegian Maritime Museum. If there is a difference, it is a maximum of 3 to 4 cm. This is enough to notice a more curved bow when two boats are side by side.

My conclusion is that the boats built at the three different locations are astonishingly similar. When I say "similar", I mean that they are very similar to the drawing from the Norwegian Maritime Museum, specifically the Nersetterbåten from the Drammenselva (Dr. Mus. D11569), measured in 1971 by Arne Emil Christensen jr. and Åsmund Eknæs. See pictures of different templates on the last page.

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Conversation with boat builder Johan Borgersen

This conversation was recorded by Åsmund Eknæs and Arne Emil Christensen Jr. on November 11, 1972, when Johan Borgersen was 81 years old. He was born in 1892 and started boat building at the age of seven. It was his father and grandfather who built Nersetter boats, and the boat building was located on the west side of the river, at Sundebakken. When Johan was 13–14 years old, he stopped boat building to go to school. Later he worked as a carpenter and builder until he retired. He also spent a few years in America. As a pensioner, he took up boat building again.

In his childhood, between 60 and 65 boats were built a year. Johan believed that there had been two boat builders in his family before him, but he did not know their names. Boat building was hard work, and everything was done by hand. In the autumn, they went to the forest to find crooked pieces for conventions and bands. The materials were cut down to the ground, as the forest owners wanted to get rid of trees that were not suitable for anything else. The pieces were collected in piles in the forest and brought home with a "sled" when there was snow. They were then roughly hewn on the sides and dried indoors.

For the keel they used a log about 3.5 meters long with a top diameter of 7 inches (17.78 cm). The keel was hewn with an axe to give it a T-shape, and polished with a chisel and planes. It was attached to jacks that stood on the floor, and supported by pistons from floor to ceiling. The height of the boat varied according to its size.

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Building tradition and materials

The grandfather was very meticulous with his work, especially with the carving of "wind-hauling" timbers, which were cut from 175 cm long mallards. These were split and hewn with an axe. Between the timbers was the "sand table", and all the joints in the gangway were secured with a blaskurter. Johan later developed a method for cutting ties and spars from planks, which met with resistance from older boatbuilders. After a test, the boats proved to be as strong as those with hooked blanks.

The front and back of the boat were "sess krøkle", made of spruce roots. The boards were riveted with nails, and dope (a mixture of zinc white, chalk, tar and oil) was used to seal the joints.

Large boats and modern adaptations The large boats had the same shape as the smaller Nersetter boats, but were almost twice as long and could carry up to 6 tons. They were used to transport bricks and materials from the wood mills. These boats were rowed or sailed up the river with a topsail. Over time, Johan adapted the construction to modern needs. The gangways were fine-tuned with slats, and slatted slats were added for extra strength. He built mostly in pine, but also adapted to the customers' wishes, such as country boats for Oslo people.

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Trial and tradition

During a period in Larvik, Johan built boats as a replacement for the heavy barges that were common there. The skepticism of the Nersetter boats was replaced with enthusiasm after a test ride.

Johan placed great importance on craftsmanship. Although he stopped using paints many years ago, he still had a strong feeling for the shape of the boats. The work was, as he himself said, "in his hands."

Measuring equipment for the Nersetter boats

Johan Borgersen says that they used wooden sticks with different measurement markings. They were flat sticks, about a meter long, where each notch represented a specific measurement. There were three different sticks hanging on the wall. The measurements were for the rise, for vertical measurements from the keel, widths across, and widths of the boards, which were measured diagonally from the edge of the sand table. Johan showed how the measurement diagonally went from the edge of the sand table along the boards.

When Johan saw a Nersetter boat in Drammen's museum, he first thought it must be one of his own boats. After studying the boat more closely and aiming along the keel line, however, he was sure that it must be a Bente boat. The Bente boats of the Nersetter type were built at Loesmoen.

Johan also commented on the hook that came with the boat. He pointed out that the shaft should not be straight, like in the boat he saw. The small iron hooks that hung on the inside of the boat with small ropes were called "hentehaker". These were used to attach the boat to logs or booms instead of mooring. The hook hooks were struck with one blow with a club, and were fixed. To loosen them, one struck the ring where the rope was attached, and then they jumped free.

The secret behind Johan's boats having such good draft and not making a hissing sound in the water when rowing is in the shape of the bottom. His grandfather had promised Johan that he would not reveal this, but Johan thought that there were no competitive reasons to keep it a secret anymore. He could tell that the sandboard should have a small bend in the middle, a "finger" from his grandfather, which was the original measurement for the size of the buoy. The theory behind this is that the buoy provides a small "dead water" under the boat, which makes it glide better on the water. The keel should be approximately straight, and the buoy lies in the groove on the board, which was previously removed just below the T. Johan emphasizes, however, that this is not necessarily the whole secret.

When asked about a boat spirit level, Johan could remember a tool used to measure the keel, with some oblique measurements from the plumb line, but he did not remember the details.

At their boatyard they built wooden boats, motor boats and barges, but the Nersetter boats were the type of boat they built most. A Nersetter boat is slightly larger than a fighter, but otherwise similar in shape. When talking about the boats, the sandboard is not counted in the number of gangways. That is why the boats are referred to as "three-boarded boats", and previously as "two-boarded boats". Previously, the boats were tarred, but now boiled linseed oil is used. Johan believes that the oil from Vera factories is the best.

A common mistake people make is to paint or oil a boat as if it were a house, with long drying times between coats. A boat should be oiled 3-4 times at short intervals, about half an hour, so the oil soaks in. The oars should be about 2.5 meters long.

Johan has some shorter supports with marks on them, which were used from the floor up to the sand table to get the boards to bend properly. Now he uses fixed supports. When they built the boats with T-keels, the sand table was narrower, but the two “boards” were 10 cm wider at the bottom than the three “boards”. His brother, who was also a boat builder, built over 3000 boats during his career.

Blacksmithing on the boats

Float hooks and mooring hooks were made by local blacksmiths in Mjøndalen or Hokksund. These were used to handle timber in water or on the river. Templates were made to ensure that the handicraft products had a standardized design. There were several variations of these, as each waterway had its own version of the timber hooks. Many of these forged works were produced in Krogsmia in the center of Mjøndalen. When Krogsmia was closed down, Oddbjørn Knudsen took over the operation and moved the production of the timber hooks to Knudsensmia.