Vikings hit beach at Bowman Bay: 2004

History shows the Vikings made it to the East Coast of North America a few hundred years ago. It took them until March 21, 2004 to hit the beach at Bowman Bay in Deception Pass State Park. A couple of dozen Whatcom County residents in period costume descended on the park in conjunction with the filming of a documentary by a crew from The Discovery Channel. The channel sponsored a series looking at how things were made at various times in history. Among the episodes: a feature on how Vikings made boats. On hand for the latest segment of filming were Anacortes craftsmen Jay Smith (who built a 21-foot Viking boat) and Paul Thorne, who hand-crafted tools for Smith to work with.