Fisherman's Wharf

Made on the windswept coast of Norway, traded the world over, a staple and a feast: The stockfish. This traditional way of conserving fish has it traces in time before history and the export of it can be traced back at least to the ninth century.

This model is of an early modern facility for producing stockfish, complete with a quay, a processing facility, a drying rack (hjell), a beached vessel and a fishing boat delivering fresh caught cod.

The quay, built on large stilts, has sturdy mooring posts, a lighthouse and the local strongman Olaf working up an honest sweat as a stevedore.

The processing facility, with red painted boards, corrugated iron roofing and the rooftop chock full of seagulls: It has a second storey storage area for any odd nautical ends and a filleting and packing facility on the ground floor where Svetlana, the food technician, reigns supreme. Do not cross her, she wields large sharp instruments! As you can see from the pictures the hinged doors, hinged roofing and hinged wall allows easy access for play.

The drying rack, a hjell, is the traditonal way of drying cod and other whitefish. The climate must be right, a slow, cool drying gives the best result but freezing will destroy the fish. Once dried, it'll keep for years. As you can see, Svetlana has started to hang the fish already.

On the beach nearby someone has beached a vessel and is obviously restoring it. They haven't come far though, only the keel and bottom boards are laid. There is something odd about it though, it looks like it could fit right below the waterline of the fishing boat that is unloading at the quay. What a coincidence.

The fishing boat is a skøyte, a sturdy traditional fishing boat in the style of the early modern motorised fishing vessels you still can see all over Norway's coast. A cravelbuilt round stern vessel, piloted by Bjørn; the man who, off work, is the three year running champion of the local beard-a-ton.

This is a rather large build, about 19 bricks tall, 56 X 42 studs in a L shape and 1062 bricks. Modelled in LEGO Digital Designer.