Arrived in Haugesund

First sight of the dragon longship…. Superb!!!!

 

Stavenger first stop!

Well this is it, am off to Norway to meet up with fellow VIking Navy folks. I Left Meols at 6.15 today ….. A glorious sunny day …… I just hope it will be the same when I arrive at Stavenger airport at 12.55hrs. on Norwegian air flight 1327 which I am informed is the youngest and greenest fleets in Europe… And with Free on board WiFi and I am making use of that benefit right now!

 

Wirral Viking Raid To Norway

The maiden voyage to Wirral of the biggest ever replica of a Viking longship has been delayed until the early summer of 2014. The 35metre long Draken Harald Hårfagre (Dragon Harald Fairhair) in English – was due to set sail from Norway for Wirral this summer.
Although construction of the vessel was completed in June 2012, its design team needed more testing before it can embark upon a long journey on open seas. The team have not had the chance to properly finish the testing before the wintering of the ship and most importantly to experience open sea conditions and very strong winds. They also learnt that several changes were required to the ship’s rigging and steering oar before they sail again and these changes will also have to be thoroughly tested.
In short the testing has taken longer than they anticipated. The project team, based in Haugesund, Norway, have decided the Draken will stay within Scandinavian waters during the 2013 sailing season for further testing before setting sail for the UK in 2014.  Following an invitation from our Norwegian friends, our very own Wirral Viking Navy are to embark on a visit  to Haugesund for the Karmoy Viking Festival from 6-9th June 2013 to practice rowing alongside the Norwegian crew.
The plan is still that when the longship does arrive in Wirral our now formidable “Viking navy” will row it into the West Float in Wallasey, across the River Mersey to the Albert Dock in Liverpool and out of the estuary again.

.