- Who
- William Fadeley Jr., Eugene Hajtovik
- Where
- United States (Jacksonville to New York)
- When
William "Bill" Fadeley Jr. and Eugene Hajtovik (both USA) completed a 1,770.28-km (1,100-mile), 13-day trip by airboat along the Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville, Florida, to the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA, on 3 July 1986. They made their “Ride to Liberty” onboard the 5-m (16-ft), 350-hp Miss Jacksonville. Mr Fadeley’s journey included 10 days of travel and 3 days off for bad weather. It began in Jacksonville, Florida, USA on 21 June 1986 and reached the Statue of Liberty from New York Harbour, New York, NY, USA in time for Liberty Weekend, which celebrated of the restoration and centennial of the Statue of Liberty. A supporter of Amnesty International, Mr Fadeley had painted eight names on the airboat’s rudder, including those of Steven Biko, Father Popieluszko and Nelson Mandela, and took his airboat with a banner that read "Free all God's children now" around the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, where President Reagan was making his address.
The airboat, equipped with a 350-horsepower engine driving a seven-foot propeller and capable of reaching 72 mph (115.87 km/h), was developed to be operated on water about 12 feet (3.66 m) deep but managed to travel 32 miles (51.5 km) in the Atlantic along the Jersey coast.
Eugene Hajtovik, a mechanic, shared the journey on the airboat with Mr Fadeley, while William Frisch followed the airboat from a chase car and collected signatures from people on shore who could testify to having seen the boat. The return trip started on 7 July 1986.
