Inspiration comes in various forms and at various times in our lives. Take the Hjemkomst, for instance. Robert Asp, while recovering in the hospital from a fall which resulted in broken ribs and a punctured lung, came up with the idea of building a Viking ship and sailing it to his familie’s motherland, Norway. For those of us not fluent in the language, hjemkomst means homecoming. Robert and family built this ship based on an actual viking ship in Norway. It is an exact replica down to the smallest of details. After completion the ship was indeed sailed to Norway in 1982 eight years after Robert’s dream began.
My wife and I toured the ship at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN recently. We were awestruck by Robert’s tenaciousness and his unwavering commitment to complete his dream even after being diagnosed with leukemia. Unfortunately, Robert passed away before his dream of sailing the ship to Norway was realized. He did however, sail her as captain for four months on Lake Superior as they worked out the bugs and prepared Hjemkomst for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Two years later his family and other members of the crew decided to complete their brother’s dream and sail her to Norway. This coming August marks the 30th year anniversary of their voyage.
Their voyage was not without incident. 500 miles from the Atlantic coast the Hjemkomst suffered severe structural damage in the form of a 14 foot crack in the garboard. The resourceful crew made repairs at sea and continued on making landfall on August 9th, 1982 to a celebration and reunion in Oslo Norway. The crew’s accommodations consisted of what amounted to a canvas tent with wooden bunks inside, if you could call it “inside”. The tent was on the floor of the open boat and just aft of the mast. The ship measured 76 feet long and had a beam of 17 feet. She had rocks for ballast.
If you have the time I recommend watching the video, it is quite interesting.
Watch The Hjemkomst of Robert Asp on PBS. See more from Postcards.