It is reported that Zhai Mo, the first Chinese person to complete a solo, unpowered circumnavigation, will arrive in Dali on July 14, 2011. The main itinerary is to investigate the feasibility of building a sailing club at the Dali Erhai International Ecology City and conduct trial voyages.
The first Chinese person to complete a solo, unpowered sailboat circumnavigation, Zhai Mo, has been recorded in the world's maritime history.
Zhai Mo will visit the Erhai International Ecology City to examine the sailing project.
Author: Ding Yaozhong 05-18 09:53:18 On the morning of August 16, 2009, six nautical miles southeast of Wanpingkou in Rizhao, Shandong Province, with gentle sea breezes and bright sunshine, a solitary sail entered people's view: Captain Zhai Mo of the Rizhao ship has returned! The first Chinese person to complete a solo, unpowered sailboat circumnavigation has returned! The nearby welcoming fleet immediately approached, and thirteen escorting ships quickly surrounded the small sailboat driven by Zhai Mo. At 10 AM, when the fully-sailed Rizhao ship swiftly entered the inner harbor pool of the World Sailing Race base, hundreds of citizens who had long awaited its arrival erupted in excitement, with five trails of colored smoke rising and transforming into auspicious clouds in the blue sky. With his long hair, exuding an artistic temperament, Zhai Mo waved to the welcoming boats and shouted loudly: Hello everyone! His excitement was evident. The first thing Zhai Mo did upon landing was perform a half-hour thanksgiving ceremony for the sea. During the celebration meeting, Li Quanhai, Deputy Director of the Water Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, presented Zhai Mo with a certificate honoring him as the first Chinese person to complete a solo, unpowered sailboat circumnavigation. Zhai Mo specially prepared three national flags that had traveled over 35,000 nautical miles, experiencing the scorching sun and storms of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean, gifting them to CCTV, the Chinese Sailing Association, and the Rizhao Municipal Government. Zhai Mo's name has been recorded in the annals of world maritime history.
Awakening the Dream of Navigation, Setting Sail on a Long Journey
Zhai Mo, born in November 1968 in Tai'an, Shandong, was the sixth child in his family. He grew up under the majestic Mount Tai, where the sea was just a dream beyond the mountains. In 1999, by chance, he came into contact with sailing and thus developed a deep interest in navigation. At the time, he was holding an art exhibition at the New Zealand National Arts Centre, and the organizers asked him to help shoot a film about navigation. During filming, he met an elderly Norwegian sailor, and Zhai Mo asked him how many countries he had visited? The old man pointed to the sailboat in the port and said: I don't remember how many countries I've visited. But I do remember that my sailboat has already circled the Earth one and a half times! This statement from the old sailor awakened the childhood dream of navigation that had lingered in Zhai Mo's mind.
Due to financial difficulties, Zhai Mo picked up his old trade of painting and raised funds through selling paintings. With the help of friends, he finally managed to gather more than 1 million yuan and purchased a suitable ocean-going sailboat from Japan. This sailboat, designed and produced by the British, had a carbon fiber hull, measuring 12 meters in length and 4 meters in width. After purchasing the boat, Zhai Mo improved the equipment on board, including the global positioning system, satellite communication, wind-powered rudder, electronic rudder, and fresh water treatment facilities.
Invited by CCTV, Zhai Mo undertook the task of filming for the large-scale TV series "The Road of Civilization: A Global Journey of World Civilizations." On January 6, 2007, Zhai Mo set sail from Rizhao, located on the coast of the Yellow Sea, aboard the Rizhao sailboat, embarking on the magnificent feat of China's first solo, unpowered sailboat circumnavigation.
Zhai Mo possesses the spirit of a tough Shandong man. Zhai Mo said: During a solo voyage, it is impossible to sleep in the cabin; one can only stay on deck. Every time you sleep, you must tie yourself to the boat and sleep for two or three hours. You also need to get up periodically to check the course of the ship and adjust any deviations. Initially, Zhai Mo found great joy in navigation. Standing at the harbor watching the golden sunset, the blue sea, and the white sails was breathtaking. However, single-handed sailing often entails life-and-death challenges. On July 25, 2007, the screws on the rudder were snapped by the wind and waves, forcing him to activate the emergency rudder and navigate manually. The emergency rudder on the Rizhao was directly connected to the rudder at the bottom of the ship via a connecting rod, without any assistance, and crucially, it could not be let go. For an entire week, he alternated between both hands to steer the ship while sitting, standing, lying down, kneeling, and even crawling. Although he could change positions, his hands could never leave the rudder. Zhai Mo said: If I can hold out for ten days, I'll reach Madagascar; if I can't, it might result in the destruction of the ship and loss of life.
The Five-Star Red Flag on the Ship Introduces Foreigners to China
The sea chart showed that the nearest land was a highly confidential U.S. military base on Diego Garcia Island. To seek a sliver of hope, Zhai Mo had no time to think and boldly headed towards the island, where he was suspected and interrogated. Thinking he was lucky to make it to land, when the American soldiers questioned him, he sat down on the ground, thinking nothing mattered anymore. The entry of a Chinese civilian ship made the American soldiers feel like they were facing a major threat. They confiscated all photographic and video equipment from Zhai Mo's ship and detained him. Later, after urgent coordination and clarification of his identity, Zhai Mo was released. Ultimately, the U.S. military returned all his belongings, replenished his fresh water and food supplies, repaired his rudder, and under the escort of six soldiers, Zhai Mo sailed away from Diego Garcia. Despite photography being prohibited on the island, the soldiers still invited Zhai Mo to take a group photo as a keepsake before he left.
Without a companion, following him were the sea breeze, big waves, heavy rain, and sharks. When the ship sailed in waters 5,000 to 8,000 meters deep, the sea surface was black, and rarely were there animals. However, during one deep-sea voyage, a shark appeared next to Zhai Mo's sailboat, maintaining a distance of 10 meters and following him for an entire day and night. By moonlight, the shark would jump out of the water and swim alongside the boat. Zhai Mo said: If the shark hadn't disappeared on its own, he planned to throw all the food on the ship into the water to feed the fish and then escape. Since the fragile sailboat couldn't withstand an attack, and it was getting darker, he almost lost hope. Unexpectedly, the shark got bored and suddenly turned away. Just as Zhai Mo relaxed, when the sailboat arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, several black shadows with phosphorescence suddenly darted toward the boat. Instinctively, Zhai Mo thought they were sharks again. When one of the shadows leapt beside the boat, Zhai Mo's heart finally eased—he realized they were dolphins.
Zhai Mo said: "A sailboat is floating territory, because my ship flies the Five-Star Red Flag, I represent my country." Sailboat navigation usually involves landing visas, and many immigration officers helping stamp his passport said: "You are the first Chinese sailor I have seen." At that moment, Zhai Mo felt immense pride! Zhai Mo's English wasn't perfect, but he spoke one phrase very fluently: "Please take me to the largest Chinese restaurant in town." Zhai Mo said this was experience accumulated from his long voyages; the best way to let local Chinese know his information was to find the largest Chinese restaurant in the city. This not only solved language communication issues but also allowed him to connect with local Chinese organizations through the restaurant owners.
On August 18, 2007, Zhai Mo was warmly welcomed by overseas Chinese in Jakarta. Local overseas Chinese provided him with updated equipment and necessary supplies and took turns inviting him to dinner every day. Many overseas Chinese had lived on the island for decades without knowing each other. Due to Zhai Mo's arrival, they dined together for the first time and became good friends.
For Zhai Mo, the greatest happiness was appreciating the local customs and feeling the warmth of the people after enduring storms. In Hawaii, the port authorities even waived all his visa fees and granted him a visa allowing him to stay for six months. Zhai Mo said: "Every time I arrived in a country, I flew the Chinese Five-Star Red Flag, and many people didn't recognize it. Which country is this? I informed them one by one, and at that moment, I realized the significance of this voyage." During the two and a half-year journey, Zhai Mo visited countless small islands, villages, and ports. Each time, he actively interacted with the almost isolated indigenous residents, learning about their local customs and studying their traditional arts. Wherever he went, he stayed for about a week and held art exhibitions. Once, on a small island in the Polynesian archipelago, the daughter of a local chief fell in love with this Chinese sailor, and the chief agreed to let Zhai Mo take her away. However, considering the risks of the voyage, Zhai Mo ultimately declined this beautiful romance. He said: "I am a wanderer, and I cannot let the woman I love worry about me."
What touched him most was that those friends who initially strongly opposed his voyage completely changed their stance once they realized his determination could not be altered. They poured all their resources into supporting him. Two taxi drivers from Qinhuangdao, upon hearing about his grand endeavor, each withdrew 100,000 yuan in cash from their homes for Zhai Mo to use. When he was in peril, it was these friends who mobilized everything to rescue him. Friends worried about him, worked hard for him, shared his fate, and endured nearly a thousand days and nights with him!
Before setting sail, after much deliberation, Zhai Mo wrote a power of attorney and entrusted it to a friend. His friends also prepared for the worst. To avoid worrying his family, Zhai Mo never revealed his sailing routes to them. Watching others his age already married and having children, his mother couldn't help but blame him for not focusing on a proper career. Zhai Mo once said: "Dying at sea is better than dying in a woman's arms." Zhai Mo had a girlfriend seven years younger than him. After becoming a sailor, Zhai Mo painfully ended this relationship because he didn't want the person he loved to live in constant fear for him.
Few outsiders can imagine the various challenges Zhai Mo faced during his 35,000-nautical-mile voyage. In early 2009, passing through the Philippines, Zhai Mo suffered from a fever for five days and five nights. At the time, he drifted to an unnamed deserted island with no inhabitants. He thought he had contracted dengue fever and randomly took some medication he had on the ship, later discovering that some of the medicine had expired. On January 14, 2009, Zhai Mo struggled to send a text message to a friend: "Fever for five days, stranded on an island with no doctor, strong winds and high waves, feeling powerless, likely to die." Trapped on a two-square-meter deck, at that moment, Zhai Mo had no idea whether his next step would be life or death. After the storm slightly subsided, he struggled to get up and steer the ship, and with his strong willpower, Zhai Mo eventually persevered. After arriving in Hawaii, Zhai Mo rested there for five months before starting his return journey. He redesigned his route, from Hawaii to the Philippines, extending the sailing time by half a month. After leaving the Philippines, he began heading towards Chinese waters, encountering headwinds all the way, taking five days and five nights from the Philippines to Sanya. After maintenance and adjustment in Sanya Port, he made visits to Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shanghai, and other places along the way.
After this voyage, Zhai Mo's next goal is to participate in the Vendée Globe, a French single-handed non-stop around-the-world yacht race. This is an international top-tier competition, and so far, no Asians have participated, so he must give it a try. Zhai Mo said: "When a person raises a sail at sea, he represents a country, and the whole world unfolds before him. I want to let the Five-Star Red Flag of China fly proudly across the world's seas once again!"