Eel Drifters

In the autumn of 2010, the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde launched a newly built eel-drifter (åledrivkvase), a type of fishing boat traditionally used on the waters between Zealand, Lolland and Falster. Inspired by similar North-German fishing boats, the so-called Zeesboote, the eel-drifter was designed by boatbuilders on the island of Fejø, north of Lolland.
Eel-drifters were developed for fishing with eel-seine nets. With a large net played out between booms fore and aft, the boat would drift sideways through the water with all sails set.
Here, in text and pictures, Morten Gøthche provides a short account of the history of the boat type, the boatbuilders behind them and the subsequent construction of the new eel-drifter at the Viking Ship Museum’s boatyard.