the northwest corner of Golden Gate Park, surrounded by a low fence and put on display. Amundsen knew that because of the fame that his exploits aboard Gjøa had earned, he would be able to gain access to Nansen's ship Fram which had been custom-built for ice work and was owned by the Norwegian state. Therefore, Amundsen left Gjøa in San Francisco. He and his crew traveled back to Norway by commercial ship. Of the original expedition members, only Wiik failed to return to Norway, because he had died of illness during the third Arctic winter. Preservation Over the following decades Gjøa slowly deteriorated, and by 1939 she was in poor condition. Refurbishment was delayed by World War II, and repairs were not completed until 1949. Being displayed outdoors and having faced 66 years of high winds, ocean salt and sand, the boat once again suffered deterioration, until in 1972, with the help of Erik Krag, a Danish American shipping company owner of San Francisco, Gjøa was returned to Norway. Erik Krag was knighted by the King of Norway for his efforts in shipping home Gjøa. The Gjøa was displayed in the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norwegian: Norsk Maritimt Museum) in Bygdøy, Oslo. In May 2009 the Norwegian Maritime Museum and the Fram Museum (Norwegian: Frammuseet) signed an agreement for the Fram Museum of Bygdøy to take over the exhibition of the Gjøa. It is currently displayed in a separate building at Fram Museum. A bauta (memorial pillar) now stands near Gjøa's former home in San Francisco. The Gjøa was also featured as a filming location in the 2005 documentary, The Search for the Northwest Passage, in which Kåre Conradi played Amundsen. See also Arctic exploration Hendrick van der Heul Sources Roald Amundsen told the story of the exploration of the Norwest Passage in Nordvestpassagen : Beretning om Gjøa-ekspedisjonen 1903-1907 . The material was translated into English as The North-West Passage: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the ship "Gjøa" 1903–1907 (Ams Press Inc; 1908, and reprinted Kessinger Pub Co; 2007, ). Huntford, Roland (1999) The Last Place on Earth (Modern Library) Oterhals, Leo (2006) Havdrønn : om berømte båter og stolte båteiere'' (AS Lagunen) References External links The memorial bauta in San Francisco Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum Exploration ships History of Oslo Museum ships in Norway Individual sailing vessels Pre-statehood history of Alaska Ships built in Norway Nome, Alaska