Solvej enjoying the rain
Today the adventure started! After days of rain (not quite as bad as the floods in Britain but still pretty grim) the morning was glorious. The whole dockside had been taken over by a Viking festival. Viking re-enactors are camping on the lawn in front of the museum, Viking food and crafts are on sale, and you can even try your hand at Viking archery. But the real focus was the Viking ship itself.
For the crew, the day was a busy one. Some of them had been here for a few days, helping gather the supplies and making last minute repairs to the ship. Others arrived today, just in time for the big weigh-in session. Every crew member has to be weighed with and without their kit. Partly this is to make sure the boat is properly balanced, but it's also to monitor the effect of the voyage on the bodies of the crew.
Loading food onto the ship
Then it was loading time. Even with each crew member limited to 80 litres of kit (not as much as it sounds for six weeks) it's a real squeeze. Somehow they managed to get all the equipment, food, water and people on board. Then to cheering crowds and a huge flotilla of boats, the Viking ship set off for Ireland. Not only was today sunny and warm, it also blessed the ship with the perfect following wind. The ship is now making good progress, so good in fact that Carsten [the captain] decided the ship should sail through the night, to make the most of the good wind. That's going to mean a tough first night for the crew, and with rain forecast to arrive overnight it could be a wet one too. At least they still have plenty of energy and high spirits.
Published: 2007-07-01
