By Daily Mail Reporter
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A replica Bronze Age boat embarked on its maiden voyage yesterday â€" and immediately began to sink.
Boat 1550BC was based on an original uncovered during the construction of an underpass in Dover 20 years ago.
But when the half-size replica was lowered into the town’s harbour, it immediately began to take on water.
Sinking feeling: This replica of a Bronze Age boat found when building an underpass in Dover started to take on water as soon as it was lowered in the harbour for maiden voyage
A spokesman for the project said: ‘It didn’t go to plan.
‘They had the boat carefully placed in a crane hammock but it filled up straight away. No one was in it. They are going to patch it up and try again.
‘It’s disappointing, but they were so far behind schedule they could not do a test run.’
The construction and launch of the boat was the first stage of a three-year programme of events that make up the project.
History in the making: The construction and launch of the boat in Dover (pictured) was the first stage of a three-year programme of events that make up the project
The vessel will be taken to France, where it will form the centrepiece of a major multilingual, international exhibition Beyond the Horizon: Societies of the Channel and North Sea 3,500 years ago, which opens in Boulogne-sur-Mer on June 30.
It will then move to Belgium in December and returning to Dover in July next year, the spokeswoman said.
Educational activities will also aim to increase awareness of the common cultural heritage in France, the UK and Belgium, she said.
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I note that it is half scale.Perhaps this has alot to do with it.Also it may not have been complete when it was abandoned 3500 years ago.It looks like the top plank is missing.
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Size matters, they should have built it the correct size, did they use the same type of wood? It looks as if the went down to their local BQ and bought sawn planks and a bunch of nails to built it.
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Alright who forgot to caulk it?
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'You Brits do know about caulking the planking? Right?' - Bob Steele, Clearwater, FL, USA, 13/5/2012 06:55 Well, I think that we did have a navy before you had a country... used to sail around the world a bit, too.
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There could be a reason for this - maybe the original boat also sank when it was first launched.
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So, we are now parading historical studies all over the EU to "increase awareness of our common cultural heritage"? How "twee". I think we are all aware of the common part of our cultural heritage.
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Three years to build and still got it wrong. Bet you the original builders would have done this in no time and sunk the boat to allow it to swell. How much did these experts get paid??? My next question is why???
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You Brits do know about caulking the planking? Right?
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Did they forget the bees wax? (No amount of swelling will fill the holes used to sew the planks together.)
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Every few years I have to sink my clinker boat to shore it up.. wood expands and stops the water.. well most of it... from coming in
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