BUDARDALUR, Iceland — A replica of a ninth-century Viking ship left the tiny Icelandic port of Budardalur on Saturday to re-create the Atlantic crossing of the Vikings 1,000 years ago.
The builder and captain of the Islendingur is Gunnar Eggertsson, a direct descendant of Leifur Eiriksson, or Leif the Lucky, who, according to medieval Icelandic sagas, reached the New World, which he called Vinland, in 1000 on board a similar vessel.
The crowd cheered as the Islendingur, propelled by a mild breeze in sunny weather, left for the original Viking settlement in Greenland, where it will moor in July.
The ship will sail on to L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, on July 28, where in the 1960s archaeologists uncovered the remains of Viking settlements confirming that Norse sailors were the first Europeans to set foot in North America.
The Islendingur will then proceed down the east coast of America, via Halifax, Boston and Newport and sail into New York on October 5.
The 80 tonne boat, fashioned from oak and pine, is 22.5 metres (73 feet) long and has a maximum breadth, or beam, of 5.3 metres (17 feet).
In the Viking era, a ship like the Islendingur would have had about 70 crew with a double shift of oarsmen for 32 oars.
Eggertsson is taking only eight people with him. Although the Islendingur will rely mainly on its sails to take it across the 2,600 miles (4,160 km) of the Atlantic, it also has engines to help it in an emergency.
The crew of nine is reinforced by two tame ravens, named Huginn and Muninn after the two who were advisers to Odin, the king of the Norse gods. Such birds are believed to been aboard Leif the Lucky's boat.
Apart from the engines, Eggertsson and his crew decided to diverge from historical detail only on matters of food.
Viking ships had an open fire resting on a sandpit in the middle of the vessel, with livestock providing fresh meals for long voyages.
The modern Vikings will be using a gas stove to cook their meat, which will be kept in a refrigerator during the trip.
They will, however, dress up as Vikings every time they enter a new harbour, wearing helmets and brandishing swords and shields.