Draken is ballasted with stones, which were loaded and shifted by hand. righr handed). Coming abour on D raken presented rhe crew wirh a surprise; rhe ship acrually goes in reverse for several seconds as ir comes rhrough srays before seeding onto a new tack and regaining forward momentum. Sails in the Viking era were made from tighdy woven wool; its natural lanolin served both as a water repellem and to reduce porousness in the clorh. D raken's naval archirects went with silk, however, as they determined it is a durable and more lightweight fabric. They also liked that silk is a natu ral, organic, and ecologically sound material with superior tensile strength, when compared with steel ya rn, for example. Like most narural-fiber sailcloth, it expands when wet but returns ro its original size when dried, and it stores well. While the cloth may be lighrweighr, ir is a 260-square merer sail bent onto a massive yard. Ir rakes nine crewmembers on rhe windlass rwemy minures ro nearly an hour ro raise rhis beauriful red beasr up the ship's single seventy-six-foor Douglas fir masr (irs second- rhe firsr snapped easr of Shetland).
Draken's rigging is from rarred hemp; rradirional m arerials used in Viking ship rigs included horsehair and walrus hide. Indeed, when one approaches rhe ship from downwind, rhe smell of rhe rarred rig and caulking used on rhe hull is hard ro miss. According ro one American gemologisr, ir's possible rhe Vikings used a covered stone to find rheir way in Arcric warers. Sreeped in anciem Nordic Sagas, rhese were simply called "sunstones." Their
use involved holding rhem up to the sky to determine locarion. Draken's crew, however, uses modern navigational instrumems and merhods . I come from Norwegian srock, bur I grew up knowing lirde about Viking mariners and rheir ships. Nonerheless, wirh Viking spirir surging in my blood, I came ro a heighrened awareness for rhis phase of Norse hisrory. Since Draken arrived in rhe Unired Scares lasr summer, I had rhe pleasure of visiring her on five separare occasions, and ir gave me rhe rime and ambirion ro explore her many intricacies, roo numerous to memion here. Visitors rouring rhe ship or even seeing her from rhe dock can'r help bur norice rhe great care and artistry in every detail. The experience has given me a huge appreciation for the sophistication of these early seafarers, my ancestors. Ir is my hope rhar by reviewing rhese words, the reader will come to undersrand rhe deprh of meaning behind rhis one simple phrase, found on rhe D raken Harald Hdrf agre website: "The Vikings were accomplished navigarors, artisans, traders and story tellers, but rheir grearesr uiumph was rhe ship rhey builr." J, Ingeborg Louise 'Vesla' Adie is a kayak guide and historian aboard eco-tourism ships in Antarctica and the Arctic. This year is her thirteenth season working in the Antarctic.
Draken only has one sail, but it's a beast at nearly 3, 000 square feet and can take the better part of an hour to set. To reduce sail, it has multiple reeflines. It also has a bonnet, which can be added on to the foot ofthe sail to increase its sail area in light winds.
SEA HISTORY 157, WINTER 2016- 17
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