Recreating The Viking’s First Cross Atlantic Crossing, 1,000 Years Later

Recreating The Viking’s First Cross Atlantic Crossing, 1,000 Years Later

Early sea trials in the North Sea were brutal, resulting in a catastrophic mast failure and the shearing of all the hull’s lowest nails for several meters due to excessive flexibility. This near-fatal weakness forced the team into a costly, year-long rebuild to strengthen the ship with a new keelson and 400 stronger handforged nails, mirroring the Vikings’ own process of trial-and-error boat building as revealed by experimental archaeology and the discovery of the Skuldelev ships. Credit to : Odyssey – Ancient History Documentaries