On 1 July 2007, 65 volunteers are setting off on an extraordinary voyage. After ten years of meticulous preparation, a crew of intrepid volunteers will sail a reconstructed Viking warship, the 'Sea Stallion' from Glendalough (the Irish location where she originated), from Denmark to Dublin - a journey of over 1,000 miles through some of the most challenging waters in the world.
The project is not just a thrilling adventure on the high seas, it is one of the largest experimental archaeology projects ever conducted. The team behind the boat's construction hope to gain a unique understanding of Viking technology, and the men who made these ships one of the most feared sights of the Dark Ages. This is experimental archaeology pushed to its limit - the crew will be crossing the same waters in the same type of vessel as the Vikings. They will gain an insight into the hardships, risks and realities that those intrepid warriors would have faced a millennium ago.
Each member of crew has less than one square metre where they must live, sleep and eat. Privacy is impossible. The ship has no shelter from the weather, no cleaning facilities and no lavatories. They will be living virtually on top of each other for six weeks and this will test their camaraderie to the limit. It will also be a challenging test for the boat itself. No one knows whether the structure they've built will be able to withstand the rigours of the open sea. If a mistake has been made in the reconstruction, the ship could be destroyed by the forces of the waves and wind. Every crew member knows there's a risk of shipwreck in the North Sea.
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