‘Vikings’ land at Beachwood Mangroves
"This is the first authentic Viking ship on the open sea in South Africa," said crew member, Nick Heygate.
PILLAGING pollution, looting litter, modern day ‘Vikings’ took to the Beachwood Mangroves on Saturday, 25 January as part of their mission to live sustainably. The Midgard Expedition, a group of global citizens lead by Bjorn Heyerdahl, were docked at the Point Yacht Club in their authentic Viking ship, the first of its kind to take to the Durban seas this month.
“This expedition is not just about crossing oceans as our ancestors did and achieving or having more, its about becoming more. Its about growing up, waking up, cleaning up and showing up for what is demanded of global leadership right now. Its about being conditioned and groomed to become leaders – contemporary Vikings,” said Heyerdahl.
“Unless something drastic changes in the way humans think, identify and behave humanity will be extinct, along with most mammalian life forms, in the next 100 years,” he added.
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Forming part of the crew is skipper for the Southern Hemisphere, Nick Heygate who said the ship was built in Roodepoort.
“After some flat water trials, we refined it a bit. The crew flew in a week ago from Johannesburg. The first trip to sea took us four nautical miles out of the harbour toward North Beach. This is the first authentic Viking ship on the open sea in South Africa,” he added.
Crew member, Susanne Williams is a boat builders mate who completed a five year apprenticeship as a ‘Viking priestess.’
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“We properly blessed the boat, its got the proper ruins carved into it. We went through a ritual and initiated the crew. Everyone was quite cool about it, although it was quite unusual for them,” she said.
For Williams, a key focus of the voyage is connecting with others, including local elders, and comparing notes on traditional practices.
“We are trying to find the right balance between this kind of rational, post industrial head space and compare it to what everyone else is doing,” she said.
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