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Retired Hjørdis sails to gain new life through repurposing project by Minnesota-based artist Maeve Gathje

Feb 03, 2025 06:09PM ● By Content Editor

Photo: Laura Durenberger-Grunow


By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - February 3, 2025


The North House Folk School Hjørdis is a well-known summer sight in Grand Marais. The now-42’ steel gaff-rigged schooner was originally built in the 1970s by Ken Woodward of Detroit, Michigan. A machinist for General Motors, Woodward spent 6,000 hours over seven years building the boat in his backyard before launching it in 1979, according to a May 2022 Northern Wilds article. 

In 1990, Randy Ellestad of Knife River, Minnesota, purchased the boat and hauled it to Lake Superior. Ellestad "rerigged the boat to a gaff schooner, and it eventually ended up on the docks at the fledgling North House Folk School" before North House purchased it in 1997. 

Since then, the Hjørdis (named after Woodward's mother) has taken passengers on daily trips throughout the summer months, with previous Captain Matthew Brown and current Captain Bill Hansen at the helm. 

The retired Hjørdis sails. Photo courtesy of Maeve Gathje


Over the 25 years that North House has owned the schooner, the school has conducted necessary maintenance, repairs, and replacements to keep the Hjørdis in the best condition possible. One of those necessary tasks is replacing the sails. Captain Bill Hansen told Boreal Community Media that the sails, which are made out of a "heavy-duty Dacron material called "sailcloth," typically need to be replaced every seven to eight years. As a precaution, North House keeps the "retired" sails as a backup in case of an emergency. But what happens to the sails when they're not needed at all? In general, they might end up in a landfill, or, thanks to some skill, creativity, and handy work, can be repurposed. 

In this situation, that's where Maeve Gathje comes in. 

Gathje directed the exact placement of one of her large stones during the installation at JHP. Photo by Laura Durenberger-Grunow


Cook County art lovers may recognize Gathje's name from a recently unveiled public art project she created and installed in front of the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery last fall. Titled Biota Borealis, the permanent project consists of three large granite rocks (weighing between 2,000 - 6,000 pounds each), with natural, intentional designs sandblasted around the pieces. Gathje is no stranger to large stone artwork, but it turns out that she also has a background in many other types of creative activities as well. "I have been making all sorts of things for my whole life, leatherwork, woodwork,  stonework, drawing… you name it, and I bet I have dabbled in it," she told Boreal Community Media. Additionally, her mother and sister did a lot of sewing in the family craft room, so it was something she was around often. 

Gathje also happens to be a former North House Folk School intern and a current instructor in a variety of crafts. During her internship in 2016, a portage bag class took place, leaving leftover waxed canvas that she and another intern were able to use. Maeve ended up creating a tool roll for her carving tools and would end up gaining access to an industrial sewing machine two years later in grad school, where she made them regularly to sell at North House. "The sales for the tool roles have been so successful that I was able to purchase my own industrial sewing machine [a Sailrite Ultrafeed LS, a portable machine with a walking foot] last year. Nowadays, sewing is a cornerstone of my studio practice."

A corner of Gathje's studio, with her sewing machine, Ditty Bags, and Hjørdis sails. Photo courtesy of Maeve Gathje


When Gathje was in Grand Marais last fall, she learned that the Hjørdis sails had recently been replaced, which meant that North House now had two spare sets. Instead of trashing the older ones, it was proposed that something could be done with them. "I have always had a little side hobby of learning hand crafts that are associated with sailing. Sewing, knot work, and woodcraft all have special purposes and techniques on a boat, which is really interesting to study." She proposed the idea of creating Ditty Bags, which are "a traditional sailors stuff sack for toiletries (but its also perfectly sized for a growler from your local brewery)." The idea was a hit, and the sails were given to Gathje to repurpose. 

Examples of some of the bags Gathje has created. Photo courtesy of Maeve Gathje


In addition to Ditty Bags, she also plans to make anything else that she can (tote bags, satchels, over-the-shoulder, or toiletry bags are all possibilities), with the goal of not wasting a single piece of the sails. Gathje also plans to incorporate "fancy work," which is "a tradition of functional and decorative rope work done primarily by sailors on whaling vessels." She added, "The rope work on a ditty bag is no joke...[it] is time-consuming, but very rewarding to create and beautiful to see and touch." 

Gathje plans to start on the project this month, adding that there is a lot of prep work, including pattern-making and cutting to do first. The items will be available for purchase at North House Folk School sometime this spring, but once they're gone, only time will tell if any will be available in the future. Captain Hansen said that because the sails were just replaced, more spares won't be available until at least 2032. 

 Maeve Gathje. Photo provided


Anyone interested can follow along with Gathje while she documents the process of creating the bags on Instagram (@maeve_gathje) or see some of her previous projects on her website here