Dealing with the doldrums on a Viking voyage

[Still Waters]

He’s crowded into a sleek sailing ship with 65 other men. Scarcely room to move. It’s been days since anybody has seen land − longer since anyone bathed. The old-timers’ repeated tales of bygone raids and voyages are beginning to wear thin.

His place is behind an oar, but there is no need to row continuously on the North Sea. With wind in the sail, the boat surges towards England, where riches await.

But what is there to do while waiting to reach a foreign coast?

http://sciencenordic...s-viking-voyage

[Keel M.]

I doubt they really cared about the bathing thing.

I imagine the 200+ mile trip even just to the Aberdeen area of Scotland was pretty boring. And they had only their dreams of riches to sustain them.

Edited May 14, 2013 by Kasey2601

[Q-C]

I couldn't survive those conditions and I love ships and sailing.

Sounds like a brewery for frustrations and aggressions that need a release once they hit terra firma.

[Bavarian Raven]

Sounds like a brewery for frustrations and aggressions that need a release once they hit terra firma.

And people wonder why they were such good fighters

[s33ker]

I think that the thought of all the raping and pillaging would make miles fly for Viking's.