Sea Stallion arrives in Dublin

by Preben Rather Sørensen/Henrik Kastoft on 28 Aug 2007 On the 14th of August at 1.39 pm, the Viking longship reproduction Sea Stallion was moored at River Liffey in Dublin after an almost 1100 hours voyage from Denmark. The weather was for once on the crews side, the sun was momentarily shinning and using a weak easterly breeze the Sea Stallion went for sail all the way from Dublin Bay and up Liffey.

The welcome was overwhelming. From the outer quay's, the longship was saluted by foghorns from the many coasters and cargo vessels in the harbour. And there were waving people everywhere - it is estimated that almost 100,000 had made their way to Liffey to welcome the ship and crew.

Many crew members had teary eyes when the bells on Christ Church Cathedral and other Dublin Churches mixed with the foghorns and the crowd cheering. It was in many ways a magic and euphoric moment. But the celebrations was just beginning.

Before the crew could return to Denmark on Saturday they had to take part in a long list of official events and unofficial celebrations. Tuesday evening the crew and there relatives meet at O'Donoghues - one of Dublin's many historic pubs. With live music and song, the city was conquered in manor.

The next morning, a bit more tired, the crew entered the buses heading for Glendalough in Wicklow. After a guided round trip in the impressive nature, a little grove of oaktrees where made in remembrance of the visit. Afterwards the crew and relatives where invited to dinner at the local restaurant.

Wednesday evening there was a reception in the City Hall of Dublin. The Lord Mayor Paddy Burke was hosting and he and the Mayor of Roskilde held speeches of appreciation for the crew members. Finally Paddy Burke was presenting the crew with a pin in memory of the visit and the voyage.

The crew spent the entire Thursday making the Sea Stallion ready for its jouney through the streets of Dublin. The ship was emptied for equipment, cleaned and late Thursday night a big truck drove through Dublin with a magnificent cargo. Many crew members were in the streets to follow the ship on its last journey through Dublin city.

At Collins Barracks, a few kilometres up river, a major operation by crane began. The Sea Stallion was lifted into the park Croppies Acre, onwards over a electric railway and up to the parking area outside Collins Barracks. Early Friday morning the ship was lifted again, this time over the buildings and into the 700 square metre big square in the middle. One final and smaller lift and the Sea Stallion was at its place in the corner of the big square. During Friday the mast and yard was placed on to the ship as well.

Throughout the entire operation there were crew members surrounding the ship and the twenty-four hours it lasted was magical. For six weeks the ship has been home for the crew and for most of them it was hard to understand that it was over.

Friday evening was a big night for the crew. The Irish National Museum had arranged a welcome with the ship and crew as honnor guests. After a short introduction of the programme, the director of the National Museum of Ireland Pat Wallace, let the famous Irish poet and nobel price winner Seamus Heaney welcome the crew. The music was by another great son of Ireland Shaun Davey og was presented by the An Garda Síochána orchestre.

At the end of the show the crew was invited on to stage and for one last time on the journey the happy and proud crew members gave a proper Sea Stallion roar.

Saturday evening most of the crew members left Dublin heading for Denmark. The next phase of the project will now begin: In less than a year the course is set for Denmark and Roskilde. Many of the experinces learned on this journey will in the time coming be evaluated to make the homecoming just as succesfull.

And the scholars at the museum will look through and analyse all the data which the ship and crew have created during the sail and start working on testing the hypothesis of the project.

Extracts from the last leg of the Sea Stallion's voyage:

On its historic voyage from Roskilde in Denmark to Dublin in Ireland the 'Sea Stallion fom Glendalough’ moored at Peel Harbour at Isle of Man on the morning of the 8th August at five o’clock.

The worlds largest reconstruction of a Viking longship will probably set its course for the coast of Ireland Thursday arriving to Dublin Tuesday 14th of August.

The Sea Stallion and her 65 men crew left the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark June 1st. So far the ship visited Norway, The Orkney Islands, the west coast of Scotland and Islay. The sail from Islay to Isle of Man proved to be one of the most dramatic, however.

Going through The North Channel between Ireland and Scotland winds went up to 23 metres per second – Beaufort 9 that is. In waves up to 5-6 metres in height the crew faced problems as the rope and leather band holding the rudder in place collapsed. Repairs were made and all reefs in the 112 square metre sail were taken to reduce the impact of the harsh weather to the ships steering system.

'We are bringing her to Dublin to test the Sea Stallion in those waters she was originally built to conquer. And I must say that the ship was put to a rough test in The North Channel. So were the crew. I am happy to say that both ship and crew made it brilliantly. We are thrilled and can’t wait to do the final leg in this jorney not done in a thousand years,' says head of project, Preben Rather Soerensen.

The Sea Stallion is a reconstruction of a Viking longship built in Dublin 1042. The original ship ended its days in the sea bed in Roskilde Fjord. Scuttled there as part of the maritime defence of Roskilde.

The Sea Stallion is a 30 metre long reconstruction of the original ship. It was built in 2000-2004 with the same tools and techniques the Vikings once used. The voyage from Denmark to Ireland is part of the scientific work carried out at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

Later this year a book in English will be published about this summers voyage. On its arrival to Dublin the ship will be on display at The National Museum in Dublin until 2008. At that time she will return to Denmark with her international crew of 10 nationalities on board.

August 2nd 2007:

During Sunday's sail from Rahoy to the islands of Jura, Scotland, the Sea Stallion reached a new speed record. 13 knots has been the record so far.

13 knots was the speed reached by the Sea Stallion when sailing from Roskilde to the southern part of Norway just after departure the 1st of July. But on this sundays sail the biggest reconstuction of a Viking longship reached 13,4 knots over ground - which means speed measured above seabed. The high speed was reached in the waters of Corryvreckan just of the Scottish west coast. Waters known for its strong currents and unsteady sea.

With the wind hitting the aft and going downstream the Sea Stallion sailed through the maelstrom with a speed of 13.4 knots. That's 25 kilometres an hour.

The Sea Stallion did well through the rough and unsteady waters. The succesfull sail is proof that when the Vikings build the original ship in Dublin, 1042, they knew how to construct a ship strong and flexible enough for the unsteady waters surrounding Ireland and Scotland.

The crew stayed overnight at Jura and Monday the ship is headed for the Island Islay - which is probably the last stop in Scotland before sailing to the Irish coast.

Less than twenty-four hours after the Sea Stallion arrived at Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye new crew members were there, ready to take over and participate on the second half of the test sail from Roskilde to Dublin.

Twenty crew members are going home half way, twenty-six days after leaving Roskilde and new crew members has come to Scotland to take their place. Forty crew members are saili