October 9th is Leif Erikson Day, a day Scandinavians mark as Leif’s historic landing as the first recorded European to set foot on North American shores.

The Swedish Cultural Center is celebrating a few days early to match up a several events.

On Friday, Oct. 7, two Viking boat building artisans will be sharing the lectern to describe their respective Viking boat projects, which are taking place 9,000 miles apart.

Geoff Briggs is building a ship in Anacortes with W.I.L.D. (Wilderness Intensive Leadership Development), the organization he founded with Dave Knudsen.

Their 56-foot vessel is modeled after the Skuldelev 6, believed to have been a fishing boat. It’s being assembled in the traditional way, just as the Vikings did 1,000 years ago, with klinker-style planking on oak frames, held together with hand-fastened rivets and lots of pine tar.

They are using oak logs gathered from Oregon and cedar planking from Canada, which they have milled and prepared for use.

When finished, their ship will be used in youth programs, and they hope we’ll see it in the waters of Puget Sound starting next summer.

The other project is taking place in Tønsberg, Norway, but the local artisan is Jay Haavik from West Seattle, hired to oversee the carving on the ship. Jay’s grandparents came from Norway, so it’s not such a stretch for him to be overseeing local Norwegian carvers.

They are building a replica of the elegant 1,200-year-old Oseberg ship, the burial ship for two Viking women, which was unearthed about 100 years ago.

Jay and Geoff will give a joint presentation on Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, 7 p.m. at the Swedish Cultural Center. They’ll combine comments and photos to enchant us with descriptions of contemporary projects using thousand-year-old plans and methods.

Admission is $10 and the proceeds will go toward the ship projects.

After the presentation, people are invited to the club’s annual Viking Night Happy Hour. This is one Friday evening when horns, swords, shields and furs are expected. Whether you come for the presentation, the Happy Hour or both, it will be a Viking night to remember.

Visit wildexpeditions.org and www.osebergvikingskip.no/eng for more information on the boat projects and www.swedishculturalcenter.org for information on the events.