The Sea Stallion departs tomorrow at 16.00 pm.
There willl be plenty to see at the Viking Ship Museum, when the Sea Stallion on Sunday July 1st will set out and then head for Dublin, the capital of Ireland.
Lokes Frimænd (a Viking fighting group) will fight to the last drop of blood, musicians will play a last musical farewell, archers will compete and tell all about the techniques behind the longbow, the market place will set the setting for fine trades, and - most importantly - 65 people and all their equipment will slowly but steadily find a place on the Sea Stallion before the great expedition for Dublin.
For one month and half, the ship will be the crews only home on the 1000 nautical miles long journey across the North Sea, into the Atlantic Ocean and south through the Irish Sea. The crew must fight through the toughest waters of Europe and some of the most challenging waters of the world north and west of Scotland.
The Viking Ship Museum will welcome the public Saturday and Sunday from 10-17. And Sunday afternoon many months and years of hard work will reach their climax; the Sea Stallion from Glendalough embarks on its historic testsail at 16:00 PM.
Gigantic interest
"The interest for the departure of the Sea Stallion is gigantic. Newspapers, radio and television from all over the world will be here. And we know that many private persons will follow the expedition very closely as well. People call and write, asking what route the Sea Stallion will take through the Danish waters. We cannot say of course, how fast we will travel; that's up to the Gods of Wind to decide, because we don't bring an auxiliary motor. Only the wind and tough work at the oars will move us forward. But we can say with nearly a 100 percent certainty, that we WON'T sail through the Limfjorden," Project Leader Preben Rather Sørensen says.
Instead, the Sea Stallion will set course for the Skaw as soon as it's in Kattegat, and on the way towards the North Sea the ship will sail north of the Skaw and not through the Limfjorden.
"That's because the Limfjorden is not deep enough for the danish escort ship, which is escorting the Sea Stallion all the way to the Orkneys," Preben Rather Sørensen explains.
Follow the ship on the Internet.
"Judging from all the questions I get, lots of people will stand by the shores of the Kattegat and hope for a glimpse of the Sea Stallion. And many private sailors will set out to follow us for a little bit. My best advice is to enter the website of the Sea Stallion. There, everyone can se the exact position of the Sea Stallion. The position will be updated regularly, and every day we will tell the readers the last piece of news about our plans. These plans will be adjusted according to weather changes and the weather forecasts for the following days," Preben Rather Sørensen says.
"But you should come to the Viking Ship Museum and sense the very special mood around this project. We hope that thousands of happy people will come to say hello and say farewell. The ship will winter at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, until 2008 where it will sail back to Roskilde. So for a long while this will be the last chance to come real close and enjoy the sight of this encredibly beautiful sailing ship. Please, come and join us and talk to the members of the crew, who are going to endure all the hardships."