I might as well sign up as crew on a Viking dragon ship.
Do you want to join the crew? The voyage from Norway to America will be a challenging and demanding but unique experience. It is important to be of good health and have a strong physique. Draken Harald Hårfagre is an open ship, there is no under deck and the only shelter is a small tent. It will be cold, wet and hard work. We will need crew from April to September 2016, and we want our crew to be a part of the project for at least 2 months at a time.
Fill out the form and we will get back to you. Please fill it out as thoroughly as possible. Do not forget to mention if you have any special skills that can be of value for the project. We will start the recruitment process in December and keep it open until February or until we filled the positions.
Oh. They have requirements. Damn.
But wait! Special skills! Does berserkergang count?
Special skills? Well, I’m a poor swimmer when facing oceans, so I’ll work that much harder to keep your rickety barge afloat when the Atlantic finally claims its prize…
Sorry if that sounds a tad pessimistic. But when people say the Vikings crossed the Atlantic, that always leaves open some burning questions. Questions like, what are the odds that a particular ship would make it, how many of the crew could expect to survive the long and gruelling journey, or how many tries did it take to get it right? The expedition may be decidedly less fun if they have to be rescued by their escort every other day.
An ocean-going vessel inspired by myth inspires rather little confidence. Weren’t there some folks in Kentucky building another myth-based ship that’s been sinking for years?
Allright. I’ll stop there. [/cynicism] [/pessimism] [/defeatism]
“Valhalla I am coming….”
You could apply as drone photography specialist and avoid the hard labor. But then, the rest of the crew might start to resent you, and toss you overboard. And your little drone too.
Komarov @ 1:
I expect you would have been every bit as negative about the Kon-Tiki expedition, yeah?
Re: Caine, #4:
As a rule: Yes. Beside the poor swimming I’m also very good seeing the worst in everything, depressing everyone and destroying morale. Everything you need on a trying sea voyage. Had I been there when the Kon-Tiki raft smashed against that reef, my presumably last* words would have been, “I told you so”. And I would have died with a smile, had I only been capable of one.
But thanks for the link. :( … :I … :[ … :{ … Well, I didn’t think it manage a smile now either.
*because pessimism
Komarov:
But you wouldn’t have died, so I think perhaps a smile would be permissible. Maybe. ;D
I’d love to do something like this, if only I were younger. Way back when, I did a working voyage on a tall ship out of Boston (similar to the Picton Castle), and it was fucking great! If my spine wasn’t so bad these days, I’d do a working voyage as often as I could afford it. Of course, a tall ship is downright luxurious next to a Viking Dragon ship. You get bunks and everything.
What would Mary do without you?
Voyager @ 7:
What makes you think Mary wouldn’t want to crew also?
Well, I have rowed wooden boats, sailed in a few races, and served as rescue-boat crew, as icebreaker crew, and as cutter crew. I even have facial hair. Hmmm.
Mary has twice as much Viking blood in her veins as I do, and she’s in better shape than I am. Put her on the boat and she’d probably make me her thrall and shieldbearer, and I’d be reduced to following her around and handing her a fresh ax when she shattered one on the skull of an enemy.
It’s been done before. The Raven was a replica of the Gokstad ship sailed across the North Atlantic in 1895. Last time I saw The Raven, she was in a open shed in a Chicago park rather in need of maintenance.
They did have the advantage of a captain who had commanded full rigged ships, so he was used to ocean sailing under sail. They had the disadvantage (1895, remember?) of no modern navigation aids or communications, and–thus–no way to call for help if they got into trouble. They did get hit by a major North Atlantic storm and the captain later wrote that he was surprised at just how good the sea-keeping qualities of the longship actually were.
Oh come on, a blogger is just the modern term for a skald – that’s a bona fide Viking expedition skill if ever I saw one. Don’t tell me the old Norse kings wouldn’t have wanted live-blogging of their exploits if it were available. You could be the latterday Egill Skallagrimsson!
Or they might be open to a bit of zebrafish if they get bored of all the herring.
So, which towns and monastaries ate they going to raid?
I was in the U. S. Navy and spent a few years at sea, but I’m afraid the idea of spending months crossing the Atlantic in an open boat during hurricane season is more than this old Squid (which is a higher form of Marine life) would even contemplate. I doff my Dixie Cup to them all.
erik333 @ 13
Damnit! I was just about to ask if they were going to sack a monastary for old times sake.