Vikings to stir up Benoni, not sack it
● Benoni is better known for wors rolls than Norsemen. Not for long.
A local businessperson stunned residents of the East Rand town by launching a scaleddown Viking ship on the Benoni Dam and filling it with Viking warriors.
Daniel Bungay drew almost 1,000 people last weekend to witness the culmination of his three-month building project, which began outside his kitchen window with some planks and rough sketches.
Sporting traditional Viking face paint and a fearsome hairdo, Bungay even received the first inland water safety certificate for a Viking vessel from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa).
But fear not, Bungay does not intend to ransack SA; his 6.7m boat will be used to breathe new life into a business consultancy he runs with his wife that helps people get in touch with their “inner Viking”.
“I can’t really tell you where the idea came from — I know nothing about boats,” Bungay said. “I went to visit my dad in Nelspruit, and when I came back I told my wife I’m going to build a Viking ship. She was like, ‘What?’”
However, wife Ashleigh was soon convinced and the couple set to work with eucalyptus and meranti planks. “His brother has a boathouse near Bronkhorstspruit,” Ashleigh said of her husband’s possible inspiration. “And we started watching this Viking series recently and really enjoyed it.”
To their surprise they did such a good job that the vessel passed its safety inspection and ended up making history as the first wooden boat of its kind in South African waters.
In an interview on the Samsa website, safety inspector Imraan Davis said: “It is a unique vessel, something that was handbuilt. He [Bungay] asked us to provide him with the necessary regulations, which we did, and he fully complied. It’s the first time we’ve seen something like this being built.”
Bungay’s Viking ambitions will be limited to inland waters, as the vessel is not certified for the high seas.
The couple believe they are now better prepared to spread some Viking spirit across Benoni by appealing to clients’ “warrior” energy. “It’s about saying: ‘Don’t give up, we all have some warrior energy inside us,’” said Ashleigh.
Clients are invited to “be a Viking for a day” to learn the benefits of teamwork.
Bungay now has plans for a fleet. “The next one would be longer and bigger, maybe a Chinese junk or Roman trireme. But I don’t have any interest in the sea or sailing.”