Sleepy Eye sailors return Haugen family

spent one

year sailing

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- After nearly a year of riding a 35-foot sailboat on inland waterways, lakes and rivers and parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, the Jay and Janet Haugen family recently returned to life on dry land.

Nowdays, they appreciate things like being able to eat meat, enjoy long, warm showers and dry towels and clothing.

Nearly two years ago, the Sleepy Eye Public School Board approved Jay Haugen's multi-year superintendent contract that included a year-long sabbatical at 35 percent of his salary.

In a letter to the board, Haugen said the sabbatical would help him become a better superintendent and leader of all people in the community.

Last summer, Haugen, his wife Janet, a Title 1 paraprofessional, daughters Kaeti, 16, and Kim, a sixth-grader, embarked on their voyage aboard "Faith Afloat."

The nautical adventure began and finished at Bayfield, Wis. on Lake Superior.

Initially, they planned to sail the Caribbean, possibly as far south as Venezuela and visit the Bahamas after following lakes, rivers and waterways to Mobile Bay, Ala.

The Atlantic and Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway System combine to form the Intracoastal Waterway System. It's a continuous series of connecting bodies of water between Boston, Mass. and Brownsville, Tex. The Haugens also used the Tennessee-Tombigbee and Mobile River System to get to Mobile Bay.

Last winter, they reached Key West, Fla. where they waited for about two months for a weather window that never came.

While visiting the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, the Haugens learned their cell phone would not work. Satellite phone service was available for $5 per minute at a Ranger Station.

Jay Haugen brushed up on his Spanish and helped Cuban fishermen with their English. The Cubans, which the Haugens found very friendly, offered them a dinner of rice and shrimp.

"They were fishermen of opportunity," Haugen said. "Sometimes, they caught nothing. Other times, they had plenty of red snapper and grouper."

While anchored off Key West and Marathon Key on the southern tip of Florida with hundreds of other boats, the Haugens frequently moved their boat because the harbor is being dredged to accommodate large Navy ships .

The Haugens met families that lived on boats and even under tarps tied between palm trees on what appeared to be abandoned islands near Key West and Marathon.

"People that worked common jobs just couldn't afford to live in homes or even apartments in those places," Janet Haugen said. "We'd see them riding to work in all types of small boats in their working uniforms. Other people lived in cars and vans."

Traveling north along Georgia and the Carolinas, the Haugens found people living in shanty towns and even culverts.

They crossed Florida on an inland waterway headed north along the east coast to Chesapeake Bay and New York Harbor via a narrow North Carolina swamp, among other things.

Following the Hudson River in eastern New York, they reached the Erie Canal,.

The Erie Canal was another highlight. Some 364 miles long, it links Albany and Buffalo, N.Y. The Haugens left the canal six hours before it was closed due to flooding from heavy rainfall.

"We were very lucky," Haugen admitted.

On the Erie Canal, the Haugens passed under an aerial bridge that became inoperable after it was struck by lightning.

Jan and her daughters skipped the final 1,000 miles from Buffalo, N.Y. to Bayfield, Wis. The Haugen's son Chris and a college friend filled their places aboard the boat.

The voyage's final leg was covered in just 10 days.

Jay Haugen accumulated enough wheel time on the yacht, which the family shares with a friend, to qualify to take a captain's license test.

Ports along rivers and waterways that offered free dockage, electricity, water and even showers impressed the Haugens.

"Many communities realize that it's a good way to attract people," Haugen said.

Twice during the journey, they were boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard officials who asked for their identities and reasons for being near the U.S. coast.

At one point, weeds in the water intakes caused the engine to overheat. Haugen was able to remove the weeds before serious engine damage was done.

The Haugen kids often made friends with other children on boats. They studied and played together.

Kaeti and Kim did lots of reading aboard ship but sometimes found it tough to concentrate enough to study for long periods of time.

"There were lots of distractions," Kaeti said.

They learned that the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get help if they ever needed it was to make a call on the marine radio channel.

The Haugens often made friends quickly with other boaters and people near where they docked. Writing on the boat announced that their home was Sleepy Eye, Minn., and that attracted attention.

"It was easy to strike up a conversation with people. They often started one, after seeing the name of our boat, Faith Afloat, and our home. Many people were always available to help with whatever we might need," Haugen said. "Wouldn't it be nice if the whole world was that way?"