I get a lot of calls and emails from people telling me about potential speakers – which I love because we get introduced to such interesting and accomplished people. Last fall I got a nice email from a visitor named John in Portland. He told me what he enjoyed, shared a few things he thought we could do better, and then added one more thought, “Hey, I think this guy would be a great fit for the Wooden Boat Festival.”

The guy was archaeologist Greer Jarrett, and even though he studies Viking seafaring, I wasn’t sure an academic historian would vibe with what Festival audiences are into, but once I talked to him I was blown away by his work.

The study of history is built on evidence, interpretation, and educated guesses—that’s part of the job. The basis of Greer’s work is around the simple question:

How do we know?

How do we know how Viking sailors handled a square-rigged boat? How do we know what routes they could sail? How do we know what was possible on the open ocean a thousand years ago?

What caught my attention wasn’t that Greer studies Viking seafaring. Plenty of people study Viking seafaring. What makes him different is how he does it.

A lot of history is built on evidence, interpretation, and educated guesses. That’s part of the work. The basis of Greer’s work is around the simple question:

How do we know?

How do we know how Viking sailors handled a square-rigged boat? How do we know what routes they could sail? How do we know what was possible on the open ocean a thousand years ago?

Rather than staying on shore and debating it on paper, Greer got on a boat.

Over the past several years, he has sailed more than 3,000 miles aboard traditional vessels, traveling ancient routes without engines and learning what these boats can actually do. His voyages found new Viking-Age harbors, explored ancient interactions among Indigenous communities, and suggested that Vikings traveled farther East than historians had assumed. This Festival, Greer will join us in Port Townsend to share stories from those voyages. If this piques your interest, join us, and meanwhile, check out:

• Greer’s profile from the Explorers Club

• A neat article in Archaeology News about the voyages

• A short video sharing some findings

I’m excited for Greer to share his knowledge and connect with other adventurers – exactly the kind of global linkages we love to create at Festival.

And John, if you’re reading this, thanks for the recommendation.

See you in September!

— Barb Trailer
Festival Director

Your Local Viking Shipbuilder

Most of us will never see a true Viking ship under construction. But we are lucky that the Pacific Northwest has Jay Smith.

For more than 35 years, the founder of Aspoya Boats in Anacortes has studied, practiced, and taught traditional Scandinavian boatbuilding. After apprenticing in Norway, he dedicated his career to researching Nordic lapstrake construction and preserving skills that date back centuries. Okay, cool.

His work reached a new scale over the past decade when he and his team built two full-sized Viking ships. One now sails on the East Coast. The other, the 50-foot Valkyrie, is believed to be the world’s only Coast Guard-certified Viking ship and has carried passengers aboard a vessel built using traditional Scandinavian methods.

Sadly, Valkyrie won’t be making the trip to Port Townsend this year, but the man who built her will. Come hear Jay share the story of building Viking ships in the 21st century at this year’s Festival.