Colorful Viking: Hitting the open waters of the North Sea in July and August, the Sea Stallion Glendalough will be retracing the route of a 9th Century Viking voyage. (Photo courtesy of the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark)Here’s how I really want to spend my summer vacation.

On July 1, a crew of 100 will begin rowing and sailing the Sea Stallion of Glendalough, a recreation of a 9th Century Viking ship, from Roskilde, Denmark. Seven weeks later, they hope to land in Dublin, Ireland, all in one piece a mere 1,200 miles away.

The 100-foot ship is modeled after a similar ship salvaged from the depths of the Roskilde Fjord in 1962. The 2007 trip in the recreated vessel will backtrack the route the original ship took from its home port in Dublin, a city that was founded by Vikings. The project is being coordinated by the Viking Ship Museum of Roskilde, Denmark.

Old tools: The recreated Sea Stallion was made using hand tools as close as possible to the tools used in the Viking age. (Photo courtesy of the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark)Work from the crew will be divided up into four-hour shifts. They’ll be rowing the oars and tending the huge single sail. The crew will be made up of 78 men and 22 women, a significant change from the staffing the original Viking ships, which were almost entirely all men.

And the 21st Century crew will have some other advantages: global positioning technology, cell phones and waterproof clothing along with a support team on another boat.

But not all modern conveniences are involved with this new Viking ship. As much as possible, hand tools similar to those of the Viking
Sailing colors: Builders of the Sea Stallion had to guess on the color scheme of the ship's sail and trim, but have an accurate recreation of the ship's shape. (Photo courtesy of the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark)era were used in the ship’s construction, as were the fabric methods of that time in making the sail. The only guesswork of the whole process was determining the color schemes of the ship’s sides and sails.

We all have the chance to be part of the trip and keep tabs on the entire voyage through the Viking Ship Museum’s website. You can go to this link to follow the progress of the ship, read the history of its creation and learn a lot more information about the Viking era. You can also register your e-mail address there to get updated information as the trip approaches. The educational section of the website will include 3-D animations, film and photos of the trip.

All I can think of as a way to sign off here is to say “Skoal Vikings!”