Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Robert Asp was a Moorhead high school guidance counselor in the 1970s when he began building the Hjemkomst, which translates to “homecoming” in Norwegian.
The child of Norwegian immigrants, Asp dreamed of not only constructing the ship, but sailing it to Norway, but he died of leukemia before he could make the journey.
His family and friends carried on his dream.
In 1982, the 78-foot replica ship made its 2-month-long journey from Lake Superior, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Oslo and was greeted by the King of Norway. It will be the voyage’s 45th anniversary this May.
The ship now resides inside the Hjemkomst Center. Nearly half a century later, crew members who sailed the ship pointed out the ropes holding up the sails might collapse.
Only a few people are suitable to repair the ropes on the ship, and one of them is Courtney J. Andersen, a former Minnesotan who has worked on fictional ships like the Black Pearl in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and on real ones, too.
“I think almost every project I’ve worked on for a replica ship, there is somebody with the vision, somebody who says, hey, I want to do this really crazy thing,” Andersen said.
Story by Noah Bloch
Video captured by Noah Bloch, Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval and Tony Xiao
Edited by Tony Xiao
Robert Asp was a Moorhead high school guidance counselor in the 1970s when he began building the Hjemkomst, which translates to “homecoming” in Norwegian.
The child of Norwegian immigrants, Asp dreamed of not only constructing the ship, but sailing it to Norway, but he died of leukemia before he could make the journey.
His family and friends carried on his dream.
In 1982, the 78-foot replica ship made its 2-month-long journey from Lake Superior, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Oslo and was greeted by the King of Norway. It will be the voyage’s 45th anniversary this May.
The ship now resides inside the Hjemkomst Center. Nearly half a century later, crew members who sailed the ship pointed out the ropes holding up the sails might collapse.
Only a few people are suitable to repair the ropes on the ship, and one of them is Courtney J. Andersen, a former Minnesotan who has worked on fictional ships like the Black Pearl in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and on real ones, too.
“I think almost every project I’ve worked on for a replica ship, there is somebody with the vision, somebody who says, hey, I want to do this really crazy thing,” Andersen said.
Story by Noah Bloch
Video captured by Noah Bloch, Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval and Tony Xiao
Edited by Tony Xiao
