Sea Stallion arrives in Inverie, Scotland

by Viking Museum on 29 Jul 2007 A Viking ship, a dream – and an enormous challenge. The Sea Stallion from Glendalough will cross the North Sea to Dublin in 2007, returning to Roskilde in 2008. The voyage will mark the climax of the project known as Thoroughbred of the Sea, the most ambitious ship archaeology research project ever undertaken.

The Sea Stallion from Glendalough is a reconstruction of the 30-meter-long warship exhibited in the Viking Ship Museum. Representing the pinnacle of Viking technology, she is one of the ocean-going longships whose praise is sung in sagas and skaldic verse. The original vessel was built by Vikings in Dublin and ended her days in the late 11th century when she was scuttled to block Roskilde Fjord. Tinna Damgård-Sørensen, director of the Viking Ship Museum.

Extracts from the latest diaries and news appear below:

Arrival in Inverie - 27th July

The Sea Stallion arrived in Inverie, Loch Nevis c. 02.30 (British time) the 27st of July. The crew will rest before they continue the journey. The ship will most likely depart from Inverie the 28th of July.

Sea Stallion is slowly sailing down the Scottish west coast - 26th July 2007

The weather is still unsettled, but the sun is a more frequent guest.

Since the arrival to Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands the night before Wednesday the 18th of July, there has been good sailing in fascinating nature along the Scottich west coast. Right now the ship and crew is in Inverie after a hard rowing in six hours, followed by night sailing in heavily rain.

Among whales and sea birds, there has been lots of entertainment for the crew. Cape Wrath was passed as close as possible and all the way along the coast line, the Scottich mountains have rised in the distance and welcomed us. Vigorousity is massive! On the Orknies the trees was absence, but now we'll meet huge areas with enormous Rhododendron's, blooming Iris and big swelling forests.

The rain is still a big strain on the crew. There is limited time and possibility to dry clothes in the harbours and as time passes, the moisture is sneaking in. Compared to the first 14 days of the voyage, there has after all been more sun to all of us.

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The Vikings – and the waters around Orkney Islands - 17th July

The Sea Stallion is now approaching Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands. This means that the ship will soon be entering waters notorious for dangerous currents and tidal races.

The plan is to sail through the Orkney Islands in order, among other things, to avoid the Pentland Firth. That this is not a sailing strategy of recent date is evident from the old Nordic texts. They also describe the dangers of Péttlandsfirdi and speak of the shipwrecks in Svelgr 'the most gigantic of all whirlpools'.

By: Preben Rather Sørensen

The cook's diary, Friday, July 27th, 2007
Solvej Lyng Jørgensen 27/07 - 2007 17:12

The expedition is now halfways. We have said goodbye to the crewmembers who 'only' signed up for 3½ week and greeted the new crewmembers. We now have on the ship all the supplies we had stored on the escort ship Cable One, as well as the supplies the Museum's car had brought us here in Scotland. The supplies are canned food, rye bread, dried/smoked meat, porridge oats ect. - all in all dry- and canned supplies that were easier and better to buy in Denmark and that we could have transported to us during the expedition.

On the way we've bought fresh meat and vegetables and restocked our supplies. Compared to last year's expedition, which saw more sun and warmth, we've noted that this year we use more coffee, cocoa and other hot drinks + butter, mayonnaise and nutella.

Last year we ate very few dairy products, this year we make sure we buy them when possible. Also, the dairy products can last longer this year due to the cold weather (the butter is 'fridge-cold' most of the time).

Breakfast on board is still primarily oat/müsli porridge with butter, sugar, raisins and peanuts, but when ashore this meal have almost developed into a high-cuisine meal with cornflakes, yoghurt, fresh bread, juice, cheese and milk. 7 weeks with oatmeal only is too monotonous, and as we have had the opportunity to both shop and borrow a kitchen, we've made more varied breakfasts.

When sailing, supper have been casseroles - easy to make AND eat at sea. We made a hot meal on board every day. With a few exceptions - of these 9 times when sailing, and only once have we used the precooked, freeze-dried survival food, who only needs hot water. We have been able to cut vegetables, stir the pots and work, pretty much undisturbed by the sea. 3 times we've had a good soup with rice or potatoes, but our experience is that we need as much rice, potatoes, meat and vegetables, as when we cook a casserole: 150-200 grams of each of the groups of food: Meat, vegetables and rice/potatoes/bread. Besides we don´t need much of a swell before the soup slops over. It is sad when food is wasted, but more importantly security is at stake when greasy soup makes the deck slippery.

We are often asked, when put in in a harbor, how much we eat - and it is quite much. Some of the numbers: Breakfast: Porridge from 8 litres of oat flakes, 8-10 breads, 3 packages of butter, 1.5 kilo cheese, 1.5 kilo jam, 10 litres of juice, 6 litres of milk, 3 glasses of nutella, 2 kilos of müsli, 2 kilos of corn flakes.

Supper: 13 kilos of meat/fish/beans. 13-16 kilos of vegetables. 6 kilos of rice/10 kilos of pasta/ 16 kilos of potatoes.

Evening/night: In one shift most consumes a minimum of 2-3 cups of hot drink, a gold bar (chocolate), half a package of crackers, some raisins, peanuts, loganbread, perhaps candy. That is especially on the shifts from 20 pm to 8 am - that is 4 shifts of 3 people each. So if you multiply the quantities with 120, the result is what is consumed in just 24 hours on board the Sea Stallion.

Every time we are to sail, we make sure the boxes of supples are full - both the lunch boxes and the 'night boxes,' as well as the barrels for fruits and vegetables. Carrots and apples are still popular: after 2-3 days the 44 kilos of carrots and 36 kilos of apples that we bought are gone.

We still provision for 5-7 days without shopping possibilites, so that we can sail a lot when the weather is up for it and put in at natural harbors where there are no shops.

Sea Stallion takes a tow - 16th July.

The Sea Stallion has taken a tow from Eigersund in Norway, and is now heading for Kirkwall on the Orkney Island. Expected arrival in Kirkwall in the afternoon Tuesday the 17th of July.

The Sea Stallion left the harbour in Eigersund, Norway, on the 16th July at 00:10. The weather was calm, and the plan was to cross the North Sea on an easterly wind, predicted by the meteorologists.

The crew rowed the ship out on the North Sea and waited for the wind to come. But it never came. After eight hours of waiting in vain the weather forecast changed dramatically. There were no indications of easterly winds; on the contrary the meteorologist now predicted a moderate gale along the Norwegian west coast and the Scottish east coast.

The new forecast left the project with two alternatives: The crew could take the ship back to the Norwegian coast and keep waiting for favourable winds, or the ship could take a tow across the North Sea.

'During the last week we have resisted the possibility of taking a tow. But the latest weather forecast suggests that we are facing the risk of staying in Norway for weeks to come. We are thereby faced with the dilemma of carrying out a trial voyage on authentic premises – within a modern timeframe of seven weeks. This dilemma was foreseen in the research plan, which also gives us the answer to it: If necessary the ship must take a tow to carry out the voyage' says Carsten Hvid, skipper on the Sea Stallion.

Out of consideration for the overall aims o