Viking Longship
 

Went down to Mystic Seaport Museum today to see the Viking Longship, Draken.(Dragon) She will spend the winter at Mystic. She will be covered up soon, so if you want to see her..move fast.

This ship did a tour of the North Sea and then crossed the Atlantic, stopping at Iceland and Greenland on the way. She is 115 feet long..built as she would have been about 1100 AD.

Yea: I know there are no Viking Longships on Winni...:D


http://www.offcenterharbor.com/flots...rald-harfagre/

The video of the ship underway shows some good speed. I suspect my ancesters would be pleased!

The visit to the British Isles with the newly built ship likely generated a different reaction from the shore residents than the visits made centuries ago.

LOL, mine as well :)

The video I linked to leads to quite a few "follow on video's" of the same ship, and others.

Some great sailing. :)

While I was viewing... (Scrutinizing) the ship in Mystic, I was looking for the rudder. There was no rudder apparent. I finally found it lying on the deck up forward on the port side..

Looking at the follow on videos, it became apparent that under sail, the rudder was a semi fixed item on the Starboard side aft.

Then I remembered something from decades ago....The term "Steer-board" (Vs. Port) came from the position of the rudder on a Longship. :look: NB

The heyday of the Vikings seems to have been from about 850 AD to about 1066 AD. WHAT happened in 1066..? :)

1066 was the Battle of Hastings, I think. Right. I looked it up October 14, 1066.

Question was rhetorical: I did a search as you did. I'm getting overloaded with Info. When you search One item... you get redirected to multiple other places. I need to be a Phd.. History Major. :D

At this point I will remain interested in the Dragon Harald Fairhair in Mystic. If you are interested in such things, I recommend taking a safari down there as soon as you can to see the ship before they cover it up for the winter. It's docked just north of where the Morgan is usually docked. :look: NB

PS: This Ship is the largest known Viking Longship to be built...in the world...To date.

OK. I thought it was an interesting date coincidence that Hastings was Oct 14, and this posting started on a similar date. Those old guys calendars were not always 100% accurate, and the mail was very slow in 1066.
Nevertheless, the longship info was interesting as were the videos. Thanks for posting.

Starting in 1950, there has always been a "Viking" in our family as a boat name. My paternal grandparents were both from Denmark. We appreciate the seafaring achievements of the Vikings.

We too had a boat named "Viking" in our family. It was one of two boats built by my great uncles in Lanesville MA in the 1930's. Most of the details are now lost to history but one boat was 36' and the other 40'. The other boat was named the "Cora Jane". Both were built at the end of a dead end street that was within 300' of the rocky shore. Due to the rocks, the boats had to be hauled up the hill and a few streets over for their maiden launch into Lane's cove.

The first boat was used for the paid entertainment of my uncle's fellow Boston PD friends. He took them out fishing, picnicking and likely drinking. After the second boat was built and launched to replace the first, WWII began and as one would expect, the entertainment gig ended quickly. The 40' boat was repurposed as a dragger on which my teenaged father served as mate.

My dad had some intersting stories from that experience.

been on them
 

twice- rhine xmas markets and bordeaux. great boats and itineraries. prices not bad. always have deals

More good sailing in Dragon Harald Fairhair: .. Whoops.. lost the mast. :look: NB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bTkmG5b-VQ#t=2.239256

EDIT: MORE great sailing in Dragon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMVsNEwvX0

Some might wonder why I seem to be so passionate about the Sailing in these Long Ship videos. I have been there. Not on the Dragon Ship but in my own boat. Newport to Bermuda in 1979 and 1981. Solo. Fantastic sailing. Exhilarating to say the least. ...Memory's...:D NB

Think About This...
 

A Longship similar to Dragon, was sailing the Atlantic at 10.5+knots......somewhere around 1000 AD.

The Mayflower, sailed to America 600 years later (1620 AD) at maybe 4.0 knots. :look: NB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XORSpUUy0lQ#t=2.221607

Note: That horizontal capstan (winch) that is used with the wooden "capstan bars", is the Main Halyard winch. It is used to hoist the sail and yard to whatever position (height) on the mast that is required for the wind conditions.

"Taking A Reef"
 

When the wind picks up, you have to reduce sail. You may have noticed in the videos, the many little "strings" hanging from the sail in horizontal rows. These are "Reef Points". To take a reef, the sail area is shortened by rolling/tucking the sail up and tying it up in rolls with those strings..Reef Points. :)

At the same time, the yard is lowered to get the sail area down closer to the deck.... Less healing moment..And OFF we go....Arguably, This is the fastest point of sailing...Reefed Down... and Close Hauled with a Good Breeze.. :D :D NB

Ballast
 

Sailboats ... are inclined to Tip Over..what with their sails pushing them to do so. SO: Sailboats have to have some kind of Ballast to counteract this tendency.

Modern sailboats have a Weighted Keel hanging down below the boat to counteract this tendency. The Longship has no such keel. It is a shallow draft "skimming dish"..... That's why it is Fast.

When I saw this boat at Mystic Seaport Museum, I noticed that the bilge, directly below the removable deck boards was pretty much filled with beach stones. No weighted Keel under this boat. The weight of the stones (ballast) keep the boat reasonably upright.:) NB

More Info... you probably didn't need to know. :D :D NB

Sailing In Salt Water... Offshore
 

One of the crew members commenting in the last video, mentioned "Spray" on her clothes..not drying. :look:

This is totally true. When sailing offshore, spray comes aboard as droplets..OR Buckets..and lands on your clothes. When sailing in the Gulf Stream for example, (it's warm water) just sailing along at speed generates an effervescence from the sea and it settles on Everything. When the moisture evaporates, you still have salt crystals. They don't go away.

The next time it gets humid, the salt brings back the wetness. The only way to solve this wetness problem is to wash the clothes in Fresh Water. Usually NOT an option at sea.

Sailing on the Lake is different: Spray comes aboard..NO Problem. It's fresh water.. and will dry out shortly with no after effects. :D NB

Btw
 

There are no Cabins or Staterooms below deck on this Longship. Nothing. There is "The Tent" ..at deck level, which may have a few bunks..otherwise the crew (34), lives, eats and sleeps On Deck. :) NB

Ty
 

Thanks for the follow up info NB. Good history details.

A Wedding..Greenland.
 

Two Crew members are wedded by the Captain. :) NB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiO9EGt2qdk

Whenever I feel like it, I click on the video in post #12 ..and GO Sailing. ..exciting/relaxing..:D :D NB

Mayflower II
 

An Aside: The Mayflower II has arrived at Mystic Seaport Museum for further restoration work......(Nov 2).

Contrary to earlier plans, She will NOT return to Plymouth.. for the next Two And a Half Years. She will be available for viewing at Mystic but NOT for boarding during this time. :look: NB

The Longship Videos
 

I am really taken with the excellent videos of the Dragon... Sailing.. Particularly the ones where the camera is obviously not on board...sailing among the ice...etc. How do they do that? My first thought was the film was taken from another boat.. or a helicopter...is the ship near enough to land where this would be likely?

Do you think the ship... has a Drone ..to go out and do this filming.?? :look: :look: NB

With Sadness
 

All of my posts about the Longship have been totally positive and upbeat. :)

Running out of great At Sea videos today, I ran across this video taken at Bay City, Michigan. Apparently, the Dragon Ship was being charged $400 an hour for a "Pilot", while in the Great Lakes. $9000 a day. This was mandatory. The Longship was considered to be a "Commercial Cargo" Ship.

Longship Captain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba5c8Z9Samg

PILOT:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_pilot

My Last Post on this topic.
 

Scroll down to the Last paragraph to see where the Commercial Cargo directive came from. :look: NB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draken..._H%C3%A5rfagre

LATE EDIT: The US Coast Guard is under The Dept.of Homeland Security.

Maybe Not
 

I have been down in the dumps with the way OUR (US) Government treated the Draken Longship Visit in the Great Lakes........ Appalling. :eek:

Time to move on.

Sailing the Longship:

Whisker Poles: Notice in the videos the athwart ship poles at deck level at a slight angle to the beam of the ship...one on each side. They are used as a fixed anchor point for the sail... down low to attach the "Tack"..of the sail..the lower leading corner. The "Tack" will change from one side of the sail to the other.... as the ship sails on one tack (direction) Vs the other.

Whisker poles..similar to Spinnaker poles, are still used today.

A previous adventure with a Longship..The "Sea Stallion". didn't have whisker poles...and had difficulties with sail handling. NB

Was the Sea Stallion accurate? Are whisker poles a "modern" addition to the Draken?

I just had another look at the Stallion videos. I was wrong. She has a short whisker pole, but you have to look for it and know what to look for.

The poles (two) on the Draken seem to be longer....extending outboard further. The butt end fits into a wooden socket at deck level below the gunwale...one socket each, port and starboard.

The Stallion was an experiment. They had some remains of a 1000 year old longship and assembled the pieces on a steel frame, much like they assemble pieces of an crashed airliner today. There were many pieces missing.

They built the Stallion using the mock up, and came up with a best guess where there was a question. :look: NB

Look up Sea Stallion on U tube. There's a 90 minute video that covers it all. It can be difficult to watch.

All in a Day's Work...
 

Would Draken Longship have been allowed a "free" tour of the Great Lakes if they'd removed the engine? :confused:

A "Cliffs Notes" video of less than 5 minutes appears here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWU7XwED_yA
The audio of the rushing water has a musical affect!
:look:

Although the bilge-pump is a manual one, the base appears to be an aluminum casting. :eek2:

That whisper pole appears on the Sea Stallion—at the arrows:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pslhwlqcoz.jpg

_________________
Sailing—Good for Pillaging, Plunder and Burning (preferably in that order).

YUP: You got it right. That's the "Whisker Pole" on the Stallion. That video was the best video to see the whisker pole.

Relative to the Draken in the Great Lakes..I'm Movin on. Lets go back to post #12 and go sailing. :) NB

My take on the Draken Videoes Vs. The Sea Stallion
 

The Sea Stallion videos were crude.. 10 years ago?? The Draken videos were taken this past summer. Well done. Now we have drones. :)

The Sea Stallion was a 100 foot (narrow beam) Longship with 61 people on board. No tents. Unimaginable in my opinion. Granted, they weren't doing a transatlantic. The longest transit was 300 or so miles. That's about three days, more or less. The Draken is 115 feet and the crew was 34. :liplick: Much more comfortable.

The Stallion 90 minute video was most telling. I think there might be TWO versions of this video. The first version I watched showed RAIN..debilitating, day after day in the early stages of the voyage. The next time I watched it....the rain emphasis was GONE. Just lookin...:) NB

Sailing History
 

I am a big Supporter, and Member of the Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT.

THIS Longship thread started.. when I saw the Draken Longship tied up at the pier at Mystic last month. :)

There is another ship that often "Winters" at Mystic Seaport. The 1812 Replica of the schooner Lynx. :) NB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlLFRgMvXRI

Weatherboards
 

Since the earlier videos of the Draken,... and before the Atlantic crossing, there was a subtle addition to the top of the gunwale..or coaming... around the ship. Something I would call weatherboards. :look:

They are permanently attached and I first noticed them when I saw the ship in Mystic.

10 inch high "boards" (A kind of fence) installed along the rail to raise the freeboard, to reduce the amount of water coming aboard over the rail. The weatherboards have open spaces for the whisker poles. :) NB

Modern version
 

So here's a photo of the modern version of weather boards, more integrated into the hull. Pardon the model, NB. I'm sure she's of Viking heritage.
http://www.apreamare.it/

Self Bailing
 

Most boats today are "Self Bailing". That means that any water that comes aboard over the rail, via spray, or whatever..Drains away automatically through overboard drains. :)

NOT the case with this Longship. Every splash of water that comes aboard has to be pumped overboard on a regular basis...Manual pumps.... or electric. :look: NB

Merry Christmas
 

Merry Christmas to all, and especially those of you who have shown an interest in this thread, and especially the Webmaster, who has allowed this thread to continue, even though it has little to do with Winni. It's about Sailing. :) :) NB

Draken Update
 

I just received my Quarterly copy of "Sea History" (Winter 2016-17). Great article on the Draken, with pictures.

The Sailing Part: Apparently the Longship is capable of well over 14 knots.....and getting Scary. The crew was uncomfortable with the way the ship handled at that speed and generally took measures to slow her down. ... Take a reef. :D NB

My Take: I wonder if the "StearBoard"-- (Rudder)-- was starting to :Stall:..Cavitate.. Like the wing of an airplane when it looses lift...effectiveness...Stalls. :)

When the rudder stalls, the ship will "Round Up" into the wind with MUCH shaking of the sails and rig..until the helmsman can get the ship back on course...and then if the sails are not trimmed differently..it will happen again. :(

When you can do 14 knots under sail..you don't need oars.

A further thought: 14 knots Under Sail is a Big Deal even today. :D NB