Came across this interesting project. Anyone up for a minimum two months in an open deck viking ship transatlantic crossing?
http://www.drakenexpeditionamerica.com/application-for-volunteers/
Minimum qualifications: must be able to row.
Crazy people.
[QUOTE=seadog6608;175720]Crazy people.[/QUOTE]
Still beats that for-profit “Fairtransport” outfit where you actually have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars per voyage for the privilege of crewing their commercial sailing vessels and carrying cargo on transatlantic and coastwise European routes. The owners talk about how sustainable and forward-looking they are, and how they’re pioneers of the next maritime economy, but they don’t seem to realize that professional mariners actually cost money. They want lots of investment dollars in “the market leader in sustainable cargo shipment,” but relying on amateur adventurers willing to pay through the nose to move revenue freight is not a sustainable plan for growth.
c.captain and I need to get down to those ships and organize 'em.
There’s a sucker born every minute…
S@rew this gig. They told me raping, pillaging, drinking & most other forms of debauchery will not be allowed. What’s the point?
there is indeed
from the FAQ section of their website
Where do you sleep
On board the boat there is a tent that shelter 16 sailors at the time. The crew sleeps in watches, 4 hours work, 4 hours rest. The tent is actually the only shelter there is for the crew besides the two heads, ships toilets, and the small nook for navigation instruments. There is no “under deck”, Draken Harald Hårfagre is so shallow there is only room for ballast and food storage under deck.
Come on you old salts.
What happened to all them posts about Men of steel and ship of wood BS. 
[QUOTE=AB Murph;175784]Come on you old salts.
What happened to all them posts about Men of steel and ship of wood BS. :)[/QUOTE]
They are going to mimic all the hard work & harsh conditions that the Vikings experienced but not do any of the fun stuff. They told me you will be allowed to sing, tie knots, make crafts & pray to Pagan Gods if you wish but no animal or human sacrifices? These people are out of the gourds.
4 and 4? For 2 months? Hahahaha!!!
At any rate, I know a great engineer to send their way.
[QUOTE=KrustySalt;175787]4 and 4? For 2 months? Hahahaha!!!
At any rate, I know a great engineer to send their way.[/QUOTE]
does she come with her own batteries?
Sounds bad ass to me. Bet it’s a fuck fest in port with all those young sailors.
Sounds like only the YOUNG sailors are made of steel.
Never seen so many excuses about why the SEA GODS can’t go or WOULDN’T GO.
Good job you OLD SALTS.
Of course the clique had to throw in the dope thing. CANJA… :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=AB Murph;175814]Sounds like only the YOUNG sailors are made of steel.
Never seen so many excuses about why the SEA GODS can’t go or WOULDN’T GO.
Good job you OLD SALTS.
Of course the clique had to throw in the dope thing. CANJA… :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Young sailors are ignorant by and large which is why they have to work for free or at crap jobs. They may think are made of steel but that steel has not been tempered yet and is therefore weak. Old Salts have had their ass kicked, suffered and learned that the sea is not a playground for idiots. Common sense keeps Old Salts from juvenile games of chance with Mother Nature.
I’ve only been offshore for 12 years, but after my first winter offshore in the GOM I learned the sea is not a place to fuck around in.
Anybody who thinks a two month crossing in a row boat is a good idea deserves what ever happens to them.
2 months of sharing a tent with 16 people not getting sufficient sleep, they will all be insane by the end of it, but you’d have to be insane to sign up for that in the first place.
It’s a 114’ sailing ship. I’ve crossed the Atlantic in a 32’ sloop rigged sailboat. If you know when to cross, where to cross, and can interpret weather charts, it’s by no means a crazy endeavor.
Hopefully they’re paying a few psychiatrists to evaluate all of the candidates
There have been several trans-Atlantic crossings by replica Viking longboats in the past.
Norwegians built one in Norway and sailed it to the Chicago’s World Columbia Exposition (Chicago World Fair) in 1893. The Exposition was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s trans-Atlantic crossing.
http://www.vikingship.us/history.htm
Then in the 1920s another Norwegian, a merchant mariner, had a longboat built, and sailed it from Norway to Boston. That boat has been on display in Duluth, MN, and is presently under restoration.
http://leiferiksonvikingship.com/folgeros_voyage.htm
There was also a replica longboat built in a Minnesota potato shed about 45 years ago, and ultimately sailed eastbound across the Atlantic. That vessel is on display in Minnesota.
http://www.hcscconline.org/current-exhibits/hjemkomst-viking-ship/
This current project must not be getting much press in Norway. My Norwegian relatives, active sailors on the Oslofjord and beyond, had not heard of it over there.
A bit more information (edited for anonymity) from my relative in Norway, which a few of you may find of interest. He has made museum quality viking ship replicas which are displayed in several countries around the world.
The ship in Duluth was sailed over in 1926 by Gerhard Folgerø, who also wrote a book of the building and the voyage. This was not a proper Viking ship as we know, it was a double-ended lapstrake boat with a dragon head and –tail on top of the stems, he sailed all the way to Duluth. Mr Folgerø later built another, more like the normal type, and sailed this one to USA along the tradewind route to Caribia, but this voyage is not so well known. This ship was called “Roald Amundsen”, and sunk by the Germans during WW2.
The one from Minnesota came to Norway in 1982, and participated in a veteran ship meeting, where also the sailing association we belong to was present. I had then the opportunity to see a Viking ship under sail in a fresh breeze, and that was a sight never to be forgotten. Now we have several replicas sailing in Norway, so the sight is not so special any more, but I have not seen any of them under sail. It was taken back to the US on a freighter.
Then we had another Norwegian, Ragnar Thorseth, who sailed around the world in a Viking ship, the “Saga Siglar”, in 1984 – 1987. Including USA. This was a ship from the Viking period, built more for carrying capacity than speed, the type in called a “knarr”, beamier and deeper than the longship type more commonly known.
Then we have the “Gaia”, of the Gokstad type (longship), which sailed to New York and then on to South America some years ago, it is now taken care of by enthusiasts in Sandefjord and is in commission every summer.
There are many replicas presently sailing, a group in Roskilde in Denmark (where they found several wrecks from the Viking period) have tested them extensively and found that they are formidable sailboats indeed. It is interesting to learn that before these copies were sailed, the archaeologists told us that the Vikings could not sail against the wind, they had to row, to the protests of fishermen who sailed with square sails (they had no university degrees, and consequently did not know a thing), but when the replicas beat as well as any boat, they had to give in. When the Minnesota ship “Hjemkomst” (Homecoming) sailed across the Lakes, lots of sailboats came out to sail against her, not one was capable of matching the speed, also to windward. They often pointed higher, but sailed slower. Well, the Hjemkomst is nearly 70’ overall.
I am lucky enough to have built models of both the Gokstad and the Oseberg ship, 1995, that one is in scale 1:6 and 4 meters long, as long as a small canoe, I tested the hull on our pond with myself on board, the displacement was then reasonably correct. It was on a world tour before being permanently placed. The Gokstad ship is in scale 1:12, and presently in a museum. Due to this, I know more about the technical side of Viking ships than most people. They are as advanced for their age as a jet plane is today.