Zhai Mo circumnavigated the globe in just under three year. Photos: CFP

By Yang Ruoyu

Artist and adventurer Zhai Mo takes as his model the intrepid heroes of the martial arts of Louis Cha, and he takes it a lot farther than most people. The 42-year-old has even sailed off into the sunset, becoming the first man in China to circumnavigate the globe in a small, motorless sailboat in a voyage from January 6, 2007, to August 26, 2009.

From artist to voyager

Before being addicted to navigation, Zhai was an artist who specialized in impressionist oil paintings. He is interested in various cultures and has held exhibitions around the world.

At an exhibition in New Zealand in 2000, Zhai had his first experience with a sailboat. An old Norwegian artist showed him his sailboat and told him about how he'd circumnavigated the globe one and a half times in it.

"If you buy a boat, you are the captain. You can go any place you want to go," the Norwegian artist told to Zhai.

That kind of free lifestyle attracted Zhai, and he made up his mind to become a voyager on the sea. He spent his savings of about 400,000 yuan ($60,775) to buy a secondhand sailboat on an island near Auckland, New Zealand. He asked the seller to sail the boat back to Auckland with him, and in that five-hour voyage Zhai learned how to steer a sailboat for the first time.

Zhai's first trip was to Tahiti, and it was not a lucky voyage. He encountered a class-11 gale, drifted at sea for 28 days, and finally arrived at Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean.

"While I was drifting at sea, I thought that no matter which island I got to, I would open a Chinese restaurant there and no longer voyage," Zhai said.

He changed his mind once he was actually ashore, though. From 2000 to 2003, he sailed around New Zealand and several countries in the South Pacific Ocean and to Hainan, China.

Zhai got over 1 million yuan from selling painting and borrowing from his friends, buying a three-meter-long motorless sailboat from Japan, which was more suitable for oceangoing voyage. On January 6, 2007, he set off on his around-the-world voyage from Rizhao in Shandong Province.

From Rizhao to Rizhao

The first man to complete the single-man voyage around the world in a motorless sailboat was an American named Joshua Slocum in 1898. He went missing during his second voyage.

There are always uncertain dangers on the ocean, and Zhai couldn't find an insurance company that would insure him during his attempt.

On the first day of the journey, Zhai fell down on the boat and broke his hand, and that was only the beginning of the unfortunate experiences. In 2007 July, he encountered a big storm in the South Indian Ocean. Then he found that the screw of rudder was broken, so he had to stay up for six days to maintain the boat's direction by hand.

The wind carried Zhai to a US military base in the Indian Ocean, where he was detained and his cameras confiscated. After his identity was confirmed, he was asked to leave but lucky enough to get his cameras back.

Aside from sharks and pirates, Zhai said the most terrible thing was the calm sea, because when the sailing was smooth he felt lonely, relaxed and unalert to dangers. Zhai often pondered his art or worked on paintings during those moments.

Zhai said he got help whenever he came ashore for supplies. First he'd ask locals in his broken English to direct him to the biggest Chinese restaurant, because he believed overseas Chinese in nearly any place would give him what he needed for free, in support of what he was doing.

In Hong Kong, a Chinese businessman purchased a new sail for his boat. In South America's Bolivia, local overseas Chinese prayed in the church for a long time to get a statue of Virgin Mary for him, which was said to be able to keep him safe on the sea.

At the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern point of Africa continent, a group of sailing amateurs held a big party for Zhai when he arrived there. They were all surprised that Zhai had the courage to undertake his wildly dangerous voyage, so they whistled together in the port to salute Zhai when he left.

With these dangers and supports, after 953 days, Zhai finally returned to Rizhao on August 26, 2009.

"I can not find a word to describe my feelings at that time. Every part of my body shook. That night I got dead drunk," Zhai recalled.

From one to another

Many people thought that Zhai would relax for a period of time at least after completing such a hard voyage. However, he immediately started to prepare for the next journey. He plans to start a second voyage this year organized by the Ministry of Communications and State Oceanic Administration, in which he plans to lead three motorless sailing boats with some carefully selected volunteers to sail around the world through 33 countries and regions.

Zhai says he plans to sail around the world three times. The first round has been already finished. The second round will start this year. The final voyage, where he plans to travel through the Arctic Ocean, has never been successfully completed by anyone in history.

"When I completed the first round-world voyage, I found my ambitions became greater," Zhai said. "To satisfy those ambitions, I can only sail more, so that motivates me."