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They knew it would be an adventure of a lifetime, but as the Princess Taiping left Honolulu with 5 American (Hawaiian) crew for an unprecedented and historic trans-Pacific voyage, the Hawaiian voyagers, their Chinese captain and 6 other crewmates never could have forseen that their 54 foot boat, the replica of a three-masted Chinese war junk, built without nails or metal, would came to an abrupt end only a day short from reaching her final destination after a 14,000-mile voyage across the Pacific in ten months.
Last June 26, the Princess Taiping, which means Peace in Chinese, left Keelung on the trans-Pacific voyage. Princess Taiping was launched last January at Amoy or Xiamen. The ship was registered in Hong Kong. It had sailed to Japan, and then onto San Francisco on October after missing a planned stop in Vancouver. She docked in Honolulu in time to celebrate Chinese New Year and collect a passionate crew of young Hawaiian sailors, game for life aboard the replica ship, without motors or modern conveniences.
Under full sail, the Princess Taiping with her classic junk silhouette was joined by Hokulea, the famous Hawaiian Voyaging canoe, with her crab claw lauhala sails. The two boats and crews shared some sea time off of Honolulu and the crews exchanged information on traditional navigation and sailing history.
The Princess Taiping was expected to berth at Keelung this morning completing a 14,000-mile voyage across the Pacific in ten months.
All crew were safely rescued after the junk was cut in half by a freighter in Suao, a fishing port on northeastern Taiwan.
Captain Liu and his 10-member crew, thrown into the seas in the hit-and-run accident as they neared their final destination and completion of their ambitious record-making voyage, were saved by Taiwan's air force and coast guard rescue team.
Masao Kinjo, a Japanese crew member, Elizabeth Zeiger, John Hunter and Hugh Morrow of the United States Jason Arnold, Larz Stewart, William Cook Thomas, Jack L. Durham and Yoji Mori were all rescued and released after treatment for hypothermia and minor injuries
Nelson Liu, skipper of the Princess Taiping, was released after treatment yesterday at the Veterans General Hospital at Suao.
“We had earned 99 marks (out of 100),” said 62-year-old Liu, resting at the Veterans General Hospital at Suao.
“It's a pity that we couldn't earn the last one mark,” Liu lamented. “No word can describe how sorry I am.”
Liu was sleeping when a crew member woke him up to warn him of an unknown freighter coming too close to the Princess Taiping.
“I contacted the freighter by radio,” Liu went on. “We talked in English and I was told to keep my ship to the starboard side of the freighter,” he added.
Liu obeyed. Two minutes later, however, the freighter split his vessel.
“The only identification I have of the freighter is its christened name, Champion Express,” Liu recalled.
The Coast guard confirmed the Champion Express was off Suao. But it did not stop to look for those thrown overboard, they said.
“As a matter of fact,” a coast guard lieutenant said, “the Champion Express, which was heading north, stopped only a few minutes, and then continued to sail northwards.”
The Princes Taiping was 45 feet wide at the beam, was a well researched and handbuilt exact copy of a war junk of Koxinga's navy. War junks of Koxinga fought and defeated the much better-equipped Dutch fleet in 1671. the
Koxinga, a loyal general of the Ming Dynasty (1369-1644), drove the Dutch out of Taiwan and claimed the island for China in 1572. He attempted to restore Ming rule to China, overrun by the Manchu, who set up China's last imperial dynasty.
by Katherine FIsher, Hawaii Health Guide
Photo of Princess Taiping ©by Evan Tector
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Princess Taiping under sail by Diamond Head. Photo by Evan Tector
