The wodden cutter S/S "Brandal" was a real beauty - 83 feet long and equipped with a 50 HP steam engine. She was built by The Skaaluren Shipyard in Rosendal and delivered to Sigvald S. Brandal in 1910. This hand-colored photo of the original cutter is from the WW1 period.
Notice the crow´s-nest in her foremast - an open and unsheltered wooden barrel. Crow´s-nests of this type were commonly used by sealers until late 1950s. There is a story told about a sealer equipped with a crow´s-nest like this one. The skipper was up there shouting orders down to the helmsman. That was the usual inter-com at that time. The skipper lost his temper about something and jumped up and down in the barrel so vigorously that the bottom fell out. The sudden lack of orders aroused the helmsman´s curiosity. He looked up and caught sight of skipper´s legs hanging down in open air.
During WW2 "Brandal", by then modernized and equipped with a semi-diesel engine of 90 HP, was confiscated by the German Navy and used as a patrol vessel. She was left by the invaders as a wreck in northern Norway.
The owner of the sealer at that time - the company A/S POLARBJORN in Brandal - decided however to rebuild the ship. The new-built M/S "Brandal" was used as a sealer until her final condemnation in 1979.
