The Sea Stallion has a very tight sailing schedule, so it did not stop when it swept under sail through the channel at Thyborøn and into the Limfjord. The long reconstruction of a warship built by the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is home in Denmark once more after a two-year scientific expedition.
It took 48 hours to sail the 260 nautical miles non-stop from Den Helder in Holland to the shelter of the Danish fjord. Most of this long trip was across the North Sea. Once in the Limfjord, the course was set for Glyngøre, where the 60 members of the crew will get a well-deserved rest for a night after the long and relatively hard sailing in the North Sea with gusts up to gale force at times. The choleric wind was no problem, however, for the reconstruction sailed well as it rode the waves with the wind behind it.
And now the Sea Stallion from Glendalough is approaching the culmination of the biggest experimental project in the history of marine archaeology, with a total budget of DKK 26m including the building of the Sea Stallion. The ship has been on its way home from Dublin since 29 June. It spent the winter there at the National Museum of Ireland after the voyage from Roskilde to Dublin last summer. When the voyage ends in Roskilde, the Sea Stallion will have sailed 1400 nautical miles home from Dublin this summer.
"Basically, we have to sail every time the wind allows us to take another step nearer Roskilde, for we have spent a lot of days in a lot of harbours waiting for wind. But this evening we will celebrate a successful and fantastic trip across the North Sea, and our friendly hosts in Glyngøre have promised us a hearty dinner. There might also be just one beer each. We must be quite ready the rest of the trip through the Limfjord to the Kattegat tomorrow. And then we head south. We have promised to be home at the Viking Ship Museum by 2 pm on the 9th, and that is a promise we intend to keep", says skipper Carsten Hvid.
The Viking Ship Museum and Roskilde City Council have planned a big welcome-home celebration – see the website at <link http: www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk external-link-new-window internal link in current>www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk which also describes the big Viking market from 9–12 August. Both the Viking Ship Museum and the whole city are ready to receive the 60 adventurers, sailors, shipbuilders, historians and archaeologists.
At least 10,000 visitors are expected in the city when the Sea Stallion sails into the museum harbour on 9 August to the cheers of the many people who have been able to follow the voyage in detail on the website at <link http: www.havhingsten.dk _self external-link-new-window external link in new>www.havhingsten.dk. The website has kept the ship on-line for the whole nation and the rest of the world 24 hours a day. A floating editorial team on the support vessels has supplied news, reports and moving pictures every day.