Viking adventure

Sam Griffiths and his dad camp out under the stars in a 12ft dinghy to enjoy the delights of an historic German waterway

- Sam Griffiths

When 10th century chronicler Abraham ben Jacob visited Haithabu (Hedeby) near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, he described it as ‘a very large city at the very end of the world’s ocean.’

The settlement became a trading centre at the head of the narrow, navigable inlet known as the Schlei. It was a convenient base where goods and possibly small Viking ships could be pulled on a corduroy road (timber track) overland for an almost uninterrupted seaway between the Baltic and the North Sea, avoiding a dangerous and time-consuming circumnavigation of Jutland.

Re-enacting this famous route on our 12ft plywood dinghy was something I’d dreamed of for a long time, and in November 2019 the idea came to fruition when I flew over to a birthday party in nearby Schleswig and was able to visit the excellent museum in Haithabu.

Over the winter I planned a week-long journey that would start at the entrance to the Schlei, involve a pick up near Haithabu, before trailing to the Treene river, which we would then take to Tonning and (fingers crossed) sail to my wife’s family island home on Fohr.

It was carefully considered, elaborate and, as it turned out, completely impossible! At first COVID seemed to be the spoiler but, by late July 2020, lockdown was over, to be replaced by that other stubborn adversary; a consistent westerly.

The ambitious voyage had always been dependent on an easterly, and so I ditched the romantic idea of one continuous journey east to west and decided to go with the now decidedly strong 20-knot westerly.