Taiping Princess - A sea adventure of a Xiamen expat ended

Hugh is a WOX buddy. He was last living in Xiamen pursuing an importing and exporting business and last year he heard about an opportunity to sail on a historical, hand-crafted Chinese junk, the Taiping Princess.

After sailing for more than two months in a Chinese junk that was crossing the Pacific Ocean from China, Hugh Morrow got marooned in Eureka.

Morrow, a 29-year-old traveler from Iowa, was the only American sailor aboard the Princess Taiping, which sailed into the Eureka Public Marina Saturday.

But on Monday, Morrow was in jail, and his ship left port without him.

”I was on a Chinese boat, and then I got shanghaied,” Morrow laughed. Then his face hardened. “It wasn't good. I felt that I had brought shame to the trip.”

Morrow, who said he grew up in an Iowa town where “everyone lives and dies within 200 miles,” saw the ocean for the first time five years ago when he moved to Portland. Within a few months he bought a sailboat and learned how to fill its sails with wind.

When he moved to Xiamen, China, to pursue an importing and exporting business, he continued sailing, and last year he heard about an opportunity to sail on a historical, hand-crafted Chinese junk.

”I knew before I saw it I was going to go,” Morrow said.

The voyage has been an adventure, Morrow said. The ship and its crew sailed through a typhoon, and countless storms as it made its way, by wind, across the expansive ocean. Morrow said every day they saw dolphins skimming near the surface of the water, and a whale as long as the 54-foot boat once raised its fluke just feet from the bow.

”It's the vast sameness,” Morrow said. “You'll be out there under a roof of black clouds, for days, and then the sun comes, and it refreshes you with life.”

On Saturday, as the Princess Taiping began to enter Humboldt Bay, winds began to pick up, pushing the ship near some rocks. Morrow said the crew tried to fight the wind, and tried to use the ship's external motor to power through, but they were unable to move against the wind. A ship officer ordered the crew to drop anchor, and Coast Guard personnel pulled the ship into harbor.

Morrow arrived at the Eureka harbor -- but it wasn't the first time he has been in Northern California.

Nearly five years ago, Morrow traveled to California to buy a sailboat with his friend. Morrow said during their trip, the two began an argument, which eventually escalated into a boiling row. Morrow said while he was driving his friend's car to an auto rental agency, his friend called police and reported the car was stolen.

Morrow said he has since made up with his friend, but a misdemeanor charge for joyriding remained on his record in California, until he returned Saturday.

Morrow only blames himself for the incident, and said his jail time wasn't totally bad.

”I started telling my story to all these cons on my cell block, and they were completely into it,” he said. “I told them, 'You don't know how lucky you are, you have food and a warm bed. You should count your blessings.'”

When he was released from jail Monday, Morrow was wearing his only possessions -- the pajamas and rain jacket he wore on the ship. He didn't know where the marina was, or if his ship was still in town.

”I (was) running around on the street in my pajamas asking, 'Where's the marina?'”

It was too late -- 90 minutes too late. The Princess Taiping was just exiting the harbor.

"The Princess Taiping" sets off on a trial voyage off the coast of Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province on Wednesday, March 26, 2008. [China Foto Press]

Morrow has made contact with the captain, Liu Ning-Sheng, and he plans to return to the crew in San Francisco, but he will have to attend court in November, just before the ship returns to the ocean to sail back to China.

Morrow said next time he's going to make sure he's on board.

Sean Garmire can be reached at 441-0514 or sgarmire@times-standard.com.

SOURCE: Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard

Related articles:  

1) Taiping Princess - Hugh Morrow heading back to Xiamen with the crew 

2) Xiamen made 'Princess Taiping' tracks history and re-makes history

NOTE: If you wish to meet Hugh and learn more about his sea adventure in crossing Pacific Ocean in a junk, visit http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/member_profile.php?pgshow=addbuddy. You can find him at  WOX ID Keyword using 'hugh'.

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