Did the Vikings have Mommy Boats?

The Sea Stallion, 100-foot-long replica Viking longship departed a Danish fjord Sunday to sail across the North Sea to its home port in Ireland. It is the largest Viking warship ever rebuilt and with 65 crew will make the seven week voyage powered only by sails and oars.
The ship will be the crews only home on the 1000 nautical miles long journey across the North Sea, into the Atlantic Ocean and south through the Irish Sea. The crew must fight through the toughest waters of Europe and some of the most challenging waters of the world north and west of Scotland.
Do you think Vikings need a Mommy Boat? Well certainly not real Vikings! But these... replica Vikings will be escorted by Cable One (a ship for hire).
Test sailing is not safe
"We've done everything we could to minimize any risks concering the historic test voyage of the Sea Stallion. For three years, the crew have practised in a long series of test sails, getting to know the ship and learning to sail it. No one have sailed a Viking warship like the Sea Stallion for the last 900 years. Basically, the purpose of the practising has been to regain a knowledge lost a long time ago. However, even though we've done everything we could to improve the security, it is never safe to sail an open ship through some of the most challenging waters of Europe. It was risky in the Viking Age - and it is risky today. That's the reason for the escort ships, who can help us if the worst comes to the worst," Carsten Hvid explains.

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