Please note: The Draken was launched on Wednesday, April 5, and is no longer in the Shipyard. Visitors may view the longship in the water at the Museum’s Bulazel Wharf near the Stillman Building.
The Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre was hauled out of the water Friday, March 31 for several days of routine maintenance in the museum’s shipyard. The vessel has been spending the winter at Mystic Seaport after her 2016 expedition to North America from Norway.
The crew will be “clinking” the planks (testing and tightening the fastening bolts), inspecting the hull, and painting the bottom among other tasks. Visitors to the Museum can observe the work in the Shipyard. The ship will be out for at least four days, perhaps longer if the weather does not cooperate.
The Draken is a reconstruction of what the Norse Sagas refer to as a “Great Ship.” On April 26, 2016, Draken left her home port Haugesund in Norway to begin her expedition to sail to America. The aim of this expedition was to explore and relive one of the most mythological sea voyages – the first transatlantic crossing and the Viking discovery of the New World, more than 1,000 years ago. So far the ship has crossed the Atlantic, sailed throughout the Great Lakes, down the Erie Canal to New York City.
Her crew is presently developing plans for 2017.
