Friends of the Viking Ship board member, Ken Nordan contributed to an article for National Geographic, published in March of 2017.
In the summer of 2016, National Geographic Senior Graphics Editor Fernando Baptista visited our ship and was given an extensive and informative tour by FOVS board member Ken Nordan. Since our ship is an exact replica of the Gokstad ship, it offered Fernando, in his own words, to “feel and sense the ship” to inform his art work and the facts presented. In its feature story on Vikings, National Geographic included a centerfold of a Viking ship based on our own “Viking!
You can view the article here.
Dennis Calderon
A friend of mine, Ira Milan, 97 years old, had a company in New Orleans that built ships. Besides still being an active musician, with his own polka band, he builds ship replica models from scratch, including drawing up his own designs first. He built a beautiful detailed model of the Gokstad ship from the fold out of the March 2017 Nat Geo article. He and his wife (who is 96 yrs) have been married forever. I believe he is an Isleno (descendant of settlers from the Canary Islands who settled in Spanish Louisiana during the 18th century), and is an unassuming, talented, kind, and interesting man who probably love to share his model(s). If it wasn’t for going to his house to borrow his Tuba I probably wouldn’t know about his ship models. I doubt many know. Thanks.