Den seglande hantverkaren : En etnologisk studie av hantverkskunskap ombord skepp i 1600-talets krigsflotta

Sammanfattning: Sailing is an occupation requiring varying skills. Sailors working on sailing ships are dependent on the ship’s sails, they are the engine of these ships and are therefore valuable to the crew. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what craftmanship where required and needed in maintaining the sails aboard. Focus lies on the 17th century Swedish war fleet where the warship Vasa is an important source of information. Descriptions of the sails that were found on her are compared with logbooks from the 17th century English war fleet and sailor dictionaries from various time periods. The analyses includs details on the sails such as seams and splices. Further is discussed the knowledge of materials and the quality as well as the fleet administration’s and the economy’s influence on the work of the craft. The study concludes that knowledge of mending and preventing shaving on sails where important but with all likelihood varied between ship and crew.