Seeking secure harbor
“On the long-range voyages, we labored in watches of 4 hours on and 4 hours off, and that’s nearly lengthy sufficient to get some sleep in your off watch, but additionally nearly quick sufficient that you do not get actually, actually, actually chilly, which is clearly a danger,” mentioned Jarrett. “It was manageable, however we appeared like penguins. I imply, we’re sporting six layers of wool at any time and sleeping all stacked collectively for heat. But different occasions it is very nice. The spring and the autumn in Scandinavia, there’s far more probability of high-pressure cycles, which implies that it is clearer and sunnier than in the summer time itself.”
Nonetheless, there have been some tough moments, reminiscent of when the mast spar holding up the mainsail snapped, forcing the crew to improvise and lash two oars collectively to carry the sail so they might proceed their journey. It took a number of days to restore the boat so it might sail once more. There was no security boat following alongside in case the crew obtained into bother, and no engine, though they did have a life raft, which the crew has but to make use of.
Based on his crusing trials, Jarrett believes that the Vikings had no want for navigational instruments like maps, a compass, or a sextant, relying as an alternative on what he calls “psychological maps”—or a “maritime cultural mindscape”—primarily based on sailors’ reminiscences and experiences handed down orally by generations. Those maps may also learn by the myths linked to well-known coastal landmarks, reminiscent of skerries, small islets, or reefs.
“People had been transferring by boat alongside the west coast of Scandinavia for a very, actually, actually very long time, most likely since the late Neolithic, if not earlier—hundreds of years earlier than the Viking age,” mentioned Jarrett. “There are massive buying and selling networks in place beforehand, and that’s mirrored in the names, place names alongside the west coast. My major argument is should you spend 3,000 years touring up and down a shoreline through which you need to use the coast always for navigation, then it is pointless to develop instrumentation.”