In the mess Sea Stallion skipper Carsten Hvid is meeting with the two steersman, the boat builder, the project leader, the museum safety leader and two crew members from the following ship.
There's coffee and sea maps on the table and 'Cable One' skipper Lars has just printed out weather reports.
I'm sitting in on the meeting to listens to their talk about our sail to come.
The weather reports are not bringing good news for a Viking ship wanting to cross the North Sea and head for Orkney the next couple of days. Tomorrow the wind is east, eight m/s. Actually a really great wind to head for the northern parts of Scotland. The problem is, that after just one day the wind turns 180 degrees increasing to a hard western wind.
The Sea Stallion wouldn't be able to cross the North Sea during the twenty-four hours of eastern wind.
The low pressure is to far north
”We are not sailing out on the North Sea to cross up against a wind of 10 m/s or more,” says Vibeke. And everybody else agrees.
A sailing ship can't go directly against the wind. Modern sailing ships with a deep draft can cross against the wind at thirty degrees. A Viking ship can not. The Sea Stallion has proved its manouverablitity at sixty degrees against the wind, but that's it!
And especially not if the wind is increasing. Another aspect to consider is that crossing the North Sea will take many days and be tough; The water will spray over the ship side and make everything wet, the ship will crash hard against the waves and disturb the sleeping crew members and the hard wind will make it really cold to be on board an open deck ship.
Fact is, that the low pressures reaching our latitudes has taken a more northern curse and that's not what the weather reports showed a few days ago, when the Sea Stallion sailed from Roskilde to Kristiansand - 240 nautical miles in just thirty-five hours. A low pressure is circlling itself against the clock. A ship placed in the northern parts of these low pressures will then sail with an eastern wind. A ship sailing in the southern parts wil have a western wind.
Bad weather reports
And that is just what we have coming; a lot of western wind. A least that is what the meteorologist can predict for the up-coming week.
The low pressures are waiting in line at the Atlantic to move over the British isles and the southern parts of Scandinavia.
’Cable One’ skipper Lars looks through his weather reports and it doesn't look good:
”The only low pressure with real power in it is above Ireland right now. And it doesn't hold enough power to give you an eastern wind for sailing across the North Sea. During summer time it's important to stay close to the low pressures for wind”.
Moving up coast
Skipper suggest that the Sea Stallion take advantage of tomorrows eastern wind and sail up coats. It's not a big step forward on our way to Dublin, but as skipper says: ”A small shit is better than constipation”.
Skippers suggestion is final this thursday night; breakfast at eight. Departure at nine. Curse up coats about fifty nautical miles.
They also had other topic to discuss besides the weather.
The heavy summer rain is showing on the Sea Stallion sail which is damp-stained. Vibeke would like to rinse the sail in saltet water and 'Cable One' skippers it up for the challenge:
”Of course, we'll use our crane. It will be f..... great! The sail can be use as a net to catch mackerels. We could also hose down your sail with our fire hose. If four crew members are pumping water, you should be able to stay floating, right?” Lars says with a smile.
Postscript: But the Sea Stallion didn't leave harbour friday. When I woke up at 6.30 it was pooring rain and no wind. Not from east or west. I met skipper on the stairs. He had just talked to the Norwegian Adminstration of Navigation and Hydrography who could report no wind, not even on open sea along the Norwegian coast.