The Sea Stallion has left Ireland on course for Lands End

Packing for the big trip

Skipper Carsten Hvid (left) and helmsman Tom Nicolaisen plan the voyage before departure to England.

2008-07-06

It looks like the Sea Stallion will be off tomorrow. The goal is Portsmouth – 400 nautical miles non-stop.

The level of activity on the quay and on the Sea Stallion rose significantly today despite the rain. The weather forecast promised a northerly wind offering a chance to set off for the English Channel and Portsmouth tomorrow, Sunday.

The Sea Stallion is a week into its return journey from Dublin to Roskilde, but has only sailed about 50 of the total 1400 nautical miles. The ship has now spent two days in the small Irish coastal town of Wicklow south of Dublin just waiting for a favourable wind to go on with the voyage. Now there is at least a reasonable chance that the Sea Stallion can sail non-stop for 400 nautical miles and be in Portsmouth within 3 to 5 days.

The local sailing club, a local school, the town council and harbour have all done everything to make the 60-strong crew’s stay as pleasant as possible, including indoor accommodation. This evening there is a farewell reception in the sailing club.

“Tonight the wind should to turn north-easterly and stay that way all tomorrow”, says skipper Carsten Hvid. “So now we’ve got to get busy. These long waiting periods are frustrating, but we have a certain amount of experience. Last year we waited for the right wind for ten and seven days in two different harbours.”

But we had no choice but to wait. We must never push our luck and compromise safety. The weather forecast is the decisive factor”, says Carsten Hvid.

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The Sea Stallion is at sea again – at last

After four days in harbour due to wind conditions on the Irish coast, every chance to start sailing towards the English Channel must be taken. Even a light wind and misty, rainy weather. Photo: Viking Ship Museum.

2008-07-03

A light wind from the north has sent the Viking Ship Museum’s research project down along the coast of Ireland.

After four days in the little coastal town of Howth north of Dublin with no possibility of sailing south towards the English Channel, the crew of the Sea Stallion woke up on Thursday morning to a light northerly wind. The Viking Ship Museum’s research project could at last continue its return voyage home to Roskilde.

At 10.00 am local time in Ireland, the 60 crew members waved farewell to their many new friends in Howth, rowed out into the light wind, and set sail for the south in misty weather and the prospect of showery rain.

“We want to get as far south down the Irish coast as possible,” says skipper Carsten Hvid. “The current will be the decisive factor for us today, because there certainly isn’t much wind. Luckily, though, it’s coming from the right direction. At 11.00. the current in the Irish Sea will turn to the south. Then we will run with it.”

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The Sea Stallion has left Ireland on course for Lands End

The crew get ready for the long voyage. Photo: Werner Karrasch

2008-07-06

The high tide bore the Sea Stallion away from Ireland with 200-400 nautical miles ahead

We have the opportunity for the longest single voyage in the Sea Stallion's existence in the next few days. The Viking Ship Museum’s research project, the "Sea Stallion from Glendalough", left the little port of Wicklow in Ireland at high tide shortly before noon today. The ship had been waiting three days in Wicklow for a favourable wind for its journey home to Roskilde.

The course has been set for the south-western "corner" of England, Lands End. But if the ship, crew and wind are up to it, the Sea Stallion may go on all the way up the English Channel to Portsmouth in one go. This is a distance of 400 nautical miles. If we manage that, it will be the longest single trip the Sea Stallion has sailed, and could take three to five days. The Sea Stallion has provisions and water on board for the 60-strong crew for at least six days.

"The first target is to get to Lands End. There is a good steady north-westerly wind that can take us south", says skipper Carsten Hvid.

"It's about 200 nautical miles to Lands End. When we get close, we will decide whether the ship and crew are in a state to go on. If we get the right wind, there is in fact a chance that we will go all the way to Portsmouth non stop. The ship and crew have never sailed so far in one stretch before", says Carsten Hvid.

Yesterday evening, Saturday, Wicklow Sailing Club held a farewell reception for the Sea Stallion. Our stay quickly led to a good relationship with the people of Wicklow and its town council, who placed a local school at our disposition so the crew could sleep under a roof. Their hospitality was without end.

Created by Lars Normann