Modern Viking Ship To Sail From Norway To Chicago For Tall Ships Festival
(CBS) -- In about a month, a modern-day version of a Viking ship will leave Norway for a 3,000-mile trip to arrive in Chicago on July 27 in time for the Tall Ships Festival, reports WBBM's Steve Miller.
A few thousand people applied to be on the crew of the Viking ship. Bert Rogers, the executive director of Tall Ships America, says he's not surprised because it should be an adventure of a lifetime.
"It's just an amazing spectacle a feat of seamanship and navigation for these guys, these people, to make this trip," he said.
Rogers says the crew will be rowing when they have to and sailing when they can.
"I think in the open stretches they'll use the wind as best they can," he said. "Although at high latitudes the winds tend to blow from west to east, which is against them."
The Viking ship is the Harald Fairhair, or at least that's what it's called in English. Historians say Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway.
The Viking ship will arrive with the other tall ships on July 27 and they'll be here until July 31.
For more information, visit www.drakenexpeditionamerica.com.