Saturday turned out to be a complete contrast to Friday. On the 13th we were sailing in beautiful sunshine but making very slow progress – the next day we were making fast progress in driving rain. The wind had shifted south and so we were now sailing north up the coast with the wind behind us. We were making such good speed that Carsten decided to pull into harbour when we reached the fjord at Egersund about lunchtime.
The broken leather rudder strap
Just a few miles before we got there a sudden commotion erupted from the back of the ship. The thick leather strap that holds the rudder in place had snapped, leaving the ship potentially out of control. Carsten now faced a dilemma: to keep moving without proper control of the rudder could be dangerous, particularly with the wind behind you. If the wind catches the ship it can try to turn it side on to the wind which can lead to it capsizing. However, if you stop the boat by lowering the sail, the ship actually becomes less stable. Like a bicycle, a Viking longship uses its forward movement to gain stability. So stopping the boat in large waves could also lead to the ship being overturned. In this case the waves weren’t too large so Carsten ordered the sail to be lowered. This allowed them to fix the rudder with the spare strap they carry. However, unknown to them this was only the start of their troubles.
With the new strap in place the sail was raised to start them moving again, but it was soon obvious something was wrong. One of the reefing ropes had got caught up and was pulling the sail out of shape. If they let this continue, the tension on one side could have ripped the sail. There was no option but to lower the sail quickly. Unfortunately the problem rope was at the end of the yard (the large wooden pole at the top of the sail) which was now sticking out over the water.
Edgar dangling out on the yard
Edgar, a Dutch crew member, volunteered to climb out along the yard to fix the problem. 'I don’t feel like a big hero, it’s just the job that you do on board', says Edgar. 'It’s a team effort. You can’t do something like that alone.' Even so, Edgar’s efforts certainly looked heroic as he clung on to the sail which was swinging wildly by this point. Once at the end he attempted to loosen the tangled rope but couldn’t manage it and in the end he had to cut the rope. Meanwhile, part of the sail was dangling in the water and acting like a huge water scoop. As the ship rocked from side to side this scoop filled with water and that caused the yard to repeatedly crash down onto the side of the ship. At one point there was a loud splintering sound as if the yard itself had cracked. This would have been a disaster, making the ship quite incapable of sailing. In fact, it was just the top plank on the side of the boat – easy enough to repair.
With Edgar back on board, the sail was raised successfully and 'Sea Stallion' was back in action. With hindsight, this accident was actually a stroke of great fortune. The leather strap had probably been weakened by the days of wet weather they’ve had. If it hadn’t broken that day, it almost certainly would have broken out in the North Sea. That would have been much more serious. Carsten says 'It was dramatic yes, the waves were quite big, but not as big as they will be in the North Sea. Actually it was very good that it happened right now.'
For the rest of Saturday and Sunday we’ve been waiting in Egersund, getting ready for the North Sea crossing. There are repairs and modifications to be made and it’s a last chance to get everything dry for the start of the crossing. The weekend’s incident has energised the crew, given them a taste of what can go wrong and the confidence that they can deal with it – but they’re also aware that a situation like that in the open sea would be a different matter.
The current plan is to set off in the early hours of Monday morning. The forecast is for a wet and windy crossing, but everyone is keen to get out there and face the North Sea.
