Supporting frame

Once again onboard the ferry bound for Tallinn for another business trip to our Cog conservation project, eagerly waiting for the spectacle we’re about to witness.

Last time we were there, which was last week, she was truly an amazing sight, this wreck. Standing proudly in upright position after the straightening process described earlier, stripped of iron rust stains by the mechanical and innovative means also described in this blog, and without distorting external wooden supports, she was truly a sight. She will be even more spectacular this time around, for the whole thing will actually be on a lorry, outside Tallinn’s Old Town walls, about to be hoisted to the final location, where she will be exhibited in a special hall from late this year on. That’s the spectacle referred to at the start. For this time we’re in Tallinn for witnessing the transporting process.

Recent developments in this shipwreck conservation project, straightening the whole wreck, cleaning the surfaces first manually and then with dry-ice blasting and now installation of internal supporting frames, have really worked wonders. I mean, she’s always been something spectacular, but now it just blows our minds. The side, which used to tilt downwards, is now majestically high showing the beautifully - I mean truly beautifully – curving outer planking exposing the skills of 14th century shipbuilders, how they were able to bend the some 8-meter long very thick oak-planks like propellers.

The very experience of standing on board the wreck, something we never get tired of, is different now because of altered position caused by good work of the SRC-company, but more than that because of the slight movement easily recognisable whenever somebody moves on the wreck or works on the outside. After removal of all those wooden supports, she's not that sturdy anymore but moving slightly. It’s like being onboard a ship – which is of course just the right feeling, a tantalizing one at that!

Steel frame being installed inside the cog. Photo: Eero Ehanti

But sturdy she still is, no worries about that, she moves and bends - and holds together. Planks have not cracked, nor have surfaces crumbled. New wooden pegs we have installed and new bolts SRC is placing give extra support where needed. The new pegs and bolts do not even disturb one’s eye, they’re visible if one pay attention but do not scream for attention. The internal steel supports, made of acid proof steel of quality 316L, find their places beautifully, hiding nicely in between the frames. A harmonious whole!

Can you spot new new bolts? Photo: Eero Ehanti, FOG

Yes, she’s holding together, that's the main thing. Not that we were worried… After having lived with the wreck for a few years now, we think we know her well and are confident that no unwanted surprises await us at this late stage, when the move to the final exhibition location is just about to happen.

Today she has been lifted on a lorry, during the wee hours of the morning she will be transported outside the Old town city walls and then lifted to the hall built for her in the Fat Margaretha premises of the Maritime Museum of Estonia. It is there that the story of this early 14th century wreck of a cog-ship, the carrier of legendary Hanseatic league merchants, leaders of trade of medieval Baltic Sea, will be presented to audiences, which will definitely come from far away, because this wreck truly is something very special, the shipwreck find of the decade, we would say.

Heikki and Priit observing the steel frame being installed in its place. Photo: Eero Ehanti, FOG

Eero & Heikki