The 2016 North Atlantic voyageExpedition America 2016
A defining milestone in the story of Draken
In 2016, Draken Harald Hårfagre set sail from Norway on a demanding voyage across the North Atlantic. The expedition tested the ship, the crew, and the original ambition behind the project, while bringing history to life through real ocean voyaging, public engagement, and intercultural encounters.
The voyage westIn late April 2016, Draken Harald Hårfagre, the world's largest Viking ship built in modern times, left her home port in Haugesund, Norway and sailed off for a challenging voyage across the North Atlantic Ocean.
The aim 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 a thousand years ago. History tells us about the Viking explorer, Leif Eriksson, who discovered America over 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The expedition was all about exploring the world, just like the Vikings did.
The project will, like Leif Eriksson, create intercultural meetings and inspire people to go beyond the horizon in a modern Viking saga. Along the traditional route, the ship will pass Viking settlements and new archaeological findings.
Reaching the American continent, Expedition America 2016 sailed on to visit ports in Canada and USA.
Portstops
April 26: Haugesund, Norway
April 27-30: Lerwick, Shetland
May 1-6: Torshamn, Faroes
May 9-16: Reykjavik, Iceland
May 21-27: Qaqortoq, Greenland
June 1-6: St Antony, Newfoundland, Canada
June 13-18: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
June 19: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
June 24-27: Brockville, Ontario, Canada
July 1-3: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 8-10: Fairport Harbour, Ohio, USA
July 14-17: Bay City, Michigan, USA
July 27-31: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Aug 5-7: Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
Sept: Oswego, NY Canals, New York, USA
Sept: New York City, New York, USA
Oct: Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, USA
Draken Route
After years of hard work, sea trials in the Norwegian fjords, and a small setback, Draken and her crew completed a successful open-sea trial voyage in 2014. Draken was finally ready for an epic expedition. This expedition would test the nerves and abilities of the ship and crew.
On April 24th 2016, Draken Harald Hårfagre set sail across the icy north, beginning Expedition America 2016. Due to tough weather, Draken made two port stops on the way to Iceland. April 27-30 in Lerwick, Shetland, to replace the starboard shroud and May 1-6 in Torshavn, Färöarna to repair the sail. The first stop was in Reykjavik on the 9th of May, and celebrated the arrival on the Viking island of Iceland in proper fashion. From Iceland, we sailed for Greenland, rounding the treacherously windy and confused seas of Cape Farewell and Greenland’s southernmost tip. We needed to dodge the sheet ice to seek refuge in the port of Qaqortoq in Greenland’s southwestern fjords. From Qaqortoq, we sailed across the Davis Strait, a thousand miles north of where the Titanic met her fate, manoeuvring past icebergs for Newfoundland, Canada. Our first stop in Vinland was St. Anthony's harbour and the known Viking settlement of L’anse aux Meadows, tentatively on the 1st of June.
Draken sailed on, as we suppose the Vikings sailed, into the Gulf of St Lawrence to Quebec City, Canada, to arrive for the weekend of June 17th. From the 1st to the 3rd of July, Draken joined the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2016 in Toronto, Ontario and participated in the Redpath Waterfront Festival. The race began, and the next port of call was Fairport Harbour, Ohio, in Lake Erie, July 8-10. Off to Bay City Tall Ships Celebration in Lake Huron, July 15-17. At the end of July, Draken sailed into Lake Michigan and landed at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois, to join the Tall Ships Chicago July 27-31. From Chicago, we sailed up Lake Michigan to Green Bay, Wisconsin and the Tall Ships Festival Green Bay August 5-7. Green Bay was the last port on our Tall Ships Challenge route in the Great Lakes before we sailed on. From Green Bay, Draken sailed all the way back through the lakes and headed off for the NY Canals. We downrigged our two-and-a-half-ton mast in Oswego in order to manoeuvre the canal system to the Hudson River.
Many long days and sleepless nights have gone into building Draken Harald Hårfagre, restructuring and strengthening her hull for greater flexibility, and planning this voyage; all no small feats.