[1][2][3][4] Guðmundur Guðmundsson, a farmer in Eyri in Mjóifjörður, originally had the boat built for himself.
Around 1885 the boat went by the name Skálin and Guðmundur had a cabin in Bolungarvík which was called Skálarbúð.
The naming was said to have come from the fact that Guðmundur treated boat as if it were a glass bowl (Icelandic: Skál) or porcelain.
Þórir tested all the wood that was to be used in the boat by chopping a bit of it and put in water, and only using it if it floated well.
Árni Gíslason bought Skálin in 1890 from Guðmundur's son-in-law, Ebenezer Ebenezarson.