Sheffield suffered a deluge, Wimbledon has been in chaos and Glastonbury was a mud-bath. These past few days Sea Stallion has also been a victim of the weather. For most of the past 72 hours the rain has been almost constant. That isn’t pleasant but it’s not the rain that’s preventing progress – it’s the wind. The Viking Ship is at the mercy of the elements and at the moment they’re against us. The wind is blowing strongly from the west and unfortunately, we want to head west. Although it is possible for the ship to sail into the wind by zigzagging (or tacking), this is hard work and makes very slow progress. In optimal conditions the ship might make just over 2 miles an hour in the direction of the wind. However, in strong winds such as we have at the moment, the sail has to be taken in and that reduces the speed forward – and yet the boat is still being blown downwind. As a result, progress into the wind actually becomes slower and you can even end up being blown in the opposite direction to your intended course. This can be extremely dangerous as you can be blown towards land without any way of avoiding it.
A tarpaulin hung over the ship gives a little protection
Using the oars is an option for short distances but getting all the way to Scotland would take hundreds of hours of continuous rowing. So the only option is to wait for the wind to change. This is exactly what the Vikings would have done and this could be part of the explanation for the Viking reputation for rape and pillage. A Viking ship waiting for days on end would soon exhaust its own food supplies and so, naturally, they would turn to the local population to supply them – whether the local population wanted to or not. What’s more, all that sitting around would soon get the warriors restless and a boat load of restless Vikings is bound to get up to trouble.
For our Vikings, pillaging was replaced by a day trip to the nearest town to visit the shops. Restlessness is a problem though – the crew are itching to get back out to sea and the feeling of frustration is mounting.
Let’s hope, if only for the local population’s sake, that an easterly wind arrives soon.
