'Sea Stallion' gets to sea at last
At last, we’re off! Today brought glorious sunshine and a strong breeze. The winds still aren’t right for heading into the North Sea, but everyone agreed that it was time to start moving so we’re tacking north up the Norwegian coast. 'Everyone is elated' said Erik, 'it’s great to be back out at sea.' The first task was to get south of the Lindesnes peninsula. We had to make it there by noon because after than time the currents would change and be against us. Fortunately we made good progress and passed the lighthouse at the tip of Norway around 11am. Then we turned round and set a course north, zigzagging into the wind.
Sailing like this is quite tough, the ship leans over and quite a lot of water comes in over the side. I also felt the way 'Sea Stallion' moves for the first time. As the ship hits a large wave the whole boat flexes with the stress. It’s designed to do this, it makes the ship stronger and because it’s bending with the waves it reduces the chance of the front of the ship getting forced into a wave. Sitting on the boat when it moves like this is a strange experience – hard to describe and even harder to film. If you’re lying on the deck you feel the timbers shift beneath you. Sometimes it really does feel as if the ship is alive. The Vikings sometimes called their ships serpents and you can really see why. One of the things the Viking ship museum is studying is how the ship bends under these conditions, and what effect the bending has on the wooden structure of the ship.
The crew are relieved to be off
Today I also witnessed a structural failure on board. On each side of the ship there are several ropes which hold the mast firm. These are kept extremely tight using large wooden rods. As I was chatting to Dave, one of these pieces cracked. A 2 foot piece of wood flew off, luckily not hitting anyone. The ship carries plenty of spares and so it wasn’t a problem to replace, though if the ship were to lose several at once it could put great strain on the mast. Dylan thinks this is a sign that the strain on these ropes is too great. 'In my opinion either the boat is too narrow or the mast is too high' he says. There’s not much we can do about that now!
It’s not yet decided whether we’ll make camp tonight or keep sailing – as usual, it all depends on the winds. The important thing is that we’re on the move and getting closer to Orkney. As soon as the wind shifts so as to make a voyage across the North Sea possible, they’ll be off. It won’t be a moment too soon.
Published: 2007-07-13
