Dockan

The Dockan (Docan), a 40-foot-long (12.2 meter) boat, arrived in Miami, Florida, on October 1, 1947, with eight refugees on board after an uneventful 83-day journey from Göteborg. Leonhard Veski, a ship master from Hiiumaa, served as captain, and the owner was fisherman Heinrich Redik, who had fled from Estonia in the boat in 1944. The two met in Göteborg where they made secret plans to escape. Veski, a refugee since 1940, had been sailing on English and American steamers and was eager to take the yawl across the Atlantic. On October 4, the refugees were flown to New York where they were detained on Ellis Island for nine months before obtaining permission to stay in America.

Crew and passengers:

• Captain Leonhard Veski, Hilda Veski, and their children Vello, 18 months, and Hillard, 3 months
• Heinrich and Elfride (Alfrida) Redik 
• Einar (Elmar) and Akelina Kalme