| Summary: | page 12 September Row, row, row your Hjemkost by Julie Anderson Goncordia junior Deb Asp spent the summer sailing to Nor-way in a Viking ship. What? Yes, believe it or not, Asp and a crew of twelve men set out from Duluth on May 7, 1982 on an approx-imately 1 Vi month long voyage in a 76/2 foot long wooden Viking "It was a way in which people could get their wooded lots cleared for free," explained Deb Asp, "and we could get wood for the ship." Asp's hometown of Hawley, Minn., was the ship's building site, where a Hawley resident came up with the name "Hjemkost," meaning "homecom- Deb Asp gains nautical knowledge from her voyage abroad. ship, complete with dragon figurehead and Viking shields. The idea to build a Viking sfcip came nine years ago, after Robert Asp, Deb's father, discussed Norwegian history with his brother, a Scandinavian studies student at the time. The idea grew and grew until it became a reality. Mr. Asp used an authentic Viking ship displayed in an Oslo museum for his model. Most of the wood for the ship was donated by in-dividuals, churches and such par-ties as Oak Grove High School. ing." The project took nine years of work, mainly in the summer months, to complete. The first seven years Robert Asp worked alone, until he became weakened by cancer and needed a full-time assistant. In order to select a reliable crew, interested individuals lived and trained together last summer. Besides learning how to sail, the summer determined who were the compatiable members. The crew was comprised of Deb Asp, her three brothers, three Norwegians Welcome Back Cobbers!! Stop in and see the perfect way to show your love. A Keepsake diamond engagement ring is the perfect way to show your love. Keepsake guarantees each center diarhond for fine white color, perfect clarity and correct modern cut. Keepsake. When-it's for keeps. Keepsake' Registered Diamond Rings Acrow from the Mon. 9:00 - 9:00 Tue. - Sat. 9:00 - 4:30 and six other Americans. Deb Asp was the only woman and she miss-ed female companionship. The ship did not boast of lux-urious living quarters; it had a makeshift canvas tent on the deck, a storage area underneath, cook-ing on a campstove, and sleeping under the stars. Sailing from Duluth to New York City marked the first leg of the journey. At New York they had a run of bad luck, causing one crew member to decide not to risk the rest of the journey which in turn made the overall morale of the crew decrease. "The current pulled the ship towards the shore quickly; we would get puffs of wind which would suddenly die, and we ended up scraping the side of the ship against the metal piling." This caused spectators to de-nounce the crew as amateurs, although they were not at fault due to the poor wind conditions. A fire on board the ship made the crew more apprehensive about what the future could bring. Roger Asp accidentally started the fire when adding alcohol to an already lit stove. Unfortunately, he suffered from third degree burns, but the fire was safely put out before too much damage was done to the ship. Uneasiness between crew members continued during the first week on the Atlantic ocean. The crew was unorganized, with no regular watch hours scheduled and no full-time cook. Beaten with rain and wind, the harnesses supporting the mast were almost worn out. It took four men twelve hours to fix them. They finished shortly before a terrible storm hit. The storm hurled 25 to 30 foot waves over the Viking ship, filling it quickly, forcing the crew to bail it out. The crew rapidly became depressed. Reflected Asp, "1 don't think we would have quit, but we were sure dreaming about it." Along the first leg of the journey, the crew was presented with at least 10 small New Testaments. Laughed Deb Asp, "I don't know what people thought was going to happen to us!" Only three of the crew members were Christians. "Once in awhile we'd get together and pray and read from the Bible —maybe during a watch time," said Asp. Days were comprised of three watches, four hours a piece, two people at a time, with the others doing maintenance. After the first week, one member was designated as full-time cook. Then the crew ate well! The cook furnished them with hot meals, including apple pie, homemade bread, mincemeat pie, spice cake and cornbread — all made in a dutch oven. Asp even made a pizza in it. Activities for entertainment in-cluded reading, writing in jour-nals, sining, waterskiing behind the ship on a shield, and swimm-ing in the 70 degree water of the Gulf Stream. Sea creatures revealed themselves to the voyagers too: "There was one time when a whale surfaced and it was as long as the ship!" exclaimed Asp. Another day, 30 or 40 pilot whales, 20 or 30 feet long accom-panied the ship for aboul 45 minutes. Dolphins were common visitors, although "they came most often when some kind of music was being played on the ship," observed Asp. Birds were also an everyday sight. Upon reaching Norway, the "Hjemkost" crew members were greeted jovially by Mother Asp, family members, and a crowd of Norwegians and Americans. Asp said, "One of the fist things I did was to take an hour and a half long shower!" So what is to become of the "Hjemkost"? The initial plan was to sail it back again next summer. However, there are other options now available: to ship it to New York, where it would be the lead boat in a parade of ships, to ship it directly to Duluth, or to fly it directly back via the cargo depart-ment of a 747. Plans are underway to build a museum for the ship somewhere in Minnesota. "It would be nice to see it sail back," Asp said wistfully, "but the fundraising for such a project as this is hard." Although Robert Asp was dying of cancer(he passed away two years ago)hc worked faithfully on completing his dream. He can become a role model for us all to keep on dreaming, lo never stop, because our dreams can keep us going and can be fulfilled. Working on the "Hjemkost" was truly for Robert Asp a "Homecoming." St. Thomas Newman Center 707 S. Uth St. (Catholic Campus Church) OPEN DAILY 10 am - 10 pm Eucharist: Sunday 9:30 and 11 a.m. Mon.-Thurs. 4:30 p.m. Sacrament of Penance Weekdays 4 p.m. or by appointment PASTOR'S OFFICE HOURS: Most class days through the year Pastor - Fr. Bill Mehrkens Paul Erickson, leader of the Minnesota Lappland Expedition with team atop Sweden's highest mountain. The Expedition team, incorporating two blind persons, skied 500 miles in 41 days, demonstrating the limitless potential of the disabled. 1981-82 Chairperson Red River Loppet Skiathon (fund raiser for the blind) 1982 National Board Member Health Sports Inc. (handicapped rehabilitation) Disadvantaged citizens of our community don't want handouts. They want the opportunity to prove themselves as productive members of society. State government should base programs for the disabled, poor and underprivileged on a concept of incentives toward self-sufficiency. 1981-82 Chairperson Sports for Health Week (handicapped recreation) PAUL ERICKSON Proven Leadership MN House of Representatives 9-A lor by Enchton VolurMrct CMTVTHH**. Bob SuchoU. I '*
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