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DATE:	WEDNESDAY April 22, 1998
POSITION:	Latitude: 22 degrees 24.8min NORTH Longitude: 115 degrees 51.9 min EAST 25 nautical miles east of Hong Kong
ENTERED BY:	Captain Jan Miles

Greetings,

We are sailing with all working sail in a moderate breeze from the south-southwest making about 5-6 knots to the west. Soon we will have come as far west on this Asian Tour as our itinerary will take us. When we depart from this part of the world, we will be homeward bound. But not quite yet -- we've still Taiwan, Korea, and Japan to visit on this side of the ocean, and then down the west coast of North America before turning south to Panama and north again to Baltimore. For me it feels a little strange to contemplate actually starting the trek home. Since early December we have been westward bound. The way home will be longer in nautical miles and longer in time, but it will be going home nonetheless. I can't decide if I feel good or bad. Maybe that is because there is still so much to get done here before we actually start toward home.

Leaving Xiamen some 350 miles ago turned into a decent sail for a change. On this leg we have not run the engine for more than a day. That's a minor miracle compared to the three days of motoring we did getting into Shanghai, and the four out of five days of motoring it took getting to Xiamen from Shanghai. For the last 12 hours we have been sailing in relatively dry weather -- and with sunshine rather than the heavy overcast and fog we're almost getting used to! The fishing traffic has not been bad either, although there are some vessels around. It's hard to say why they pick the places they do to fish. Our chart does not suggest there is a special feature about the bottom that attracts them. In fact the bottom is pretty shallow at 20 meters and rather uniform for the most part. Often during the day we find fishing vessels at anchor with no activity on deck. But at night there is no question that they are moving about their business. And again, PRIDE's watch leaders are nearly glued to the radar as they keep track of the nearest boats.

The weather on this leg has been more cooperative, too. At least there has been wind, mostly from the northern quadrant. We have had an occluded front stalled overhead. But now the front is well to the north of us and we have clear skies at night for the first time since arriving on the Chinese coast.

Our traffic situation has changed, too. There are a lot more big ships rather than the fishing vessels we've seen up to now. Unfortunately, some of these guys don't seem to know or care that we are a sailing vessel. Maybe that is because they can't tell any better than I can what they are looking at in the dark. From a distance, PRIDE at night on radar looks just like a fishing boat. So these big guys come barreling toward us at full speed and get really close before turning in acknowledgment that we, as a ship under sail, have the right of way. More than once I have contemplated executing a bold evasive maneuver before it was too late only to see the ship make a turn at the last minute. I use the radio to call them. Since our radar is linked to the GPS, I can identify their geographic position. But I do not know if they understand English because they do not answer my calls. I also flash our spreader lights while calling on the radio. So far, two vessels have come within 0.1 nautical miles as they have passed, and they have turned less than a mile from us. At least our fishing friends move a lot slower and are a lot smaller, so they can maneuver faster in much less room. But a big ship takes a while to maneuver and a whole lot more room to do it in. But I was warned that ships on this side of the ocean like to get close. So I guess I am not surprised, just disappointed that the big ship operators do not know more about sailing vessels and their lights at night.

In other business, getting ready for arrival in Hong Kong has been an adventure in telecommunications. The arrangements to be made, as usual for a Chinese port, are detailed. Dealing with this is made easier by the satellite communications now available aboard PRIDE. It is possible to fax from shore to ship whole forms to be filled out. We then fax the completed forms back to shore along with the usual written discussions pertaining to arrangements for our arrival. In a pinch, a call on the satellite phone can be made to clarify details. Yesterday and today, for some reason, I have only been able to fax between the States, but not to Hong Kong. Yet phone calls are getting through immediately. With 12 hours difference between us and the States, I can't get our office to help until it is late in our day. But at least that has been possible.

Then comes time to call our friends at WJZ-TV for my bi-monthly, live, on-air chat on "Coffee With Marty Bass and Don Scott." My alarm clock is set and I start to make the call timed, as agreed, for 0600 Baltimore time. But the call won't go through. The busy signal I get is not familiar either. After a panic search for the satellite phone handbook, I learn that our Pacific satellite is "congested." How could that be? Finally I decide to switch from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean satellite. That's not an obvious choice considering its height in the sky and general direction, but hopefully it works. After a few false starts, I get through 10 minutes late, but in time to talk a little and learn about the pending arrival of the Whitbread fleet racing up the southeast coast of the States and into Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore. (Isn't it neat that Maryland is able to have an international racing fleet race to its shores while its sailing ambassador is half a world away paying respects to the Chinese? Who would have thought?)

Meanwhile, with the Indian Ocean satellite "up," I can get faxes to Hong Kong. It's a good thing, too, because the details for our arrival are now set in stone. We are to meet a boat at 1015 tomorrow at Ap Lei Chau (Aberdeen Island) and pick up a party of folks from the press as well as our advance team. We then sail in into Victoria Harbor past the Hong Kong central business district before tying up around noon between two moorings (bow and stern) where formalities for clearing-in are to be completed just before more media come aboard. And that is just the beginning of our stay! There are boxes of goods from the office and crew mail to get aboard, the new cook to meet and welcome, and events for the week to be discussed with the agent and Jerome Bird, our home office representative. In Hong Kong, each time we have a public event, we must move PRIDE from the mooring buoys to a floating dock, then back again to the mooring till the next event. (The only yacht facility in the business district is the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club and the water is too shallow for us. And any other dock available is too busy to let us stay overnight.) On top of this, there are plans to review for the trip up the Pearl River to our next port of call, Guangzhou, our last stop in China. That trip is unusual because there is a low wire that requires lowering both topmasts when we make the trip up the river. But that is another story. Let's all hope it is a routine story to tell - with no mishaps. But Hong Kong beckons so I must be off.

Cheers,
Captain Miles

Greetings,

Our transit down the China coast to Xiamen from our island anchorage was without incident. The fog lightened up as we progressed further south. I attribute this to warmer water as we moved toward the Straights of Taiwan. The fishing traffic decreased, too. I don't know why, but it certainly reduced the tension among the watch leaders. We did little sailing because the wind was only Force 1-2. But one night, with a full moon overhead, we had a great deal of phosphorescence. This is a mesmerizing phenomenon for sailors as the water, disturbed by PRIDE's passage, glows with a greenish light and sparkles. One can even see the two corkscrewing paths of PRIDE's twin propellers.

Later, after dawn, we discovered a lot of muddy reddish substance floating on the water. Our teacher, Leslie Bridgett, got out the microscope and identified the red stuff as the source of the phosphorescence and further established that it was probably a local "red tide." We learned later that, in fact, there has been a devastating red tide bloom off Hong Kong that has decimated the aqua-culture farms there. This bloom was moving north along the coast of China with the northbound current typical at this time of year.

The approach to Xiamen is through a bay some 10 miles long. On the east side are a set of islands that are Taiwanese with the Chinese mainland on the west. Over the years there has been some tension between Taiwan and China about these islands. The charts hint at this by pointing out areas of "doubtful mines." I was careful to stay some distance away from the shore as we passed by. We were approached by a white motor vessel with a military look. It turned out to be Taiwanese and seemed to be a fisheries patrol or air sea rescue launch rather than a military vessel. There were no guns and the crew was dressed in international orange coveralls. They stayed by for several minutes while they jostled to get pictures of themselves with PRIDE in the background -- before taking off with a call of "Welcome to Taiwan!"

As we made our entrance to the bay with Taiwanese possessions on the right and the Chinese mainland to the left, we set sail in wind of near calm. First impressions are important and, even in little wind, having sail up is very important. I found it interesting that there were no sailboats about. There were a few traditional vessels around that sported masts that evidently hoisted a junque-like battened sail, but we saw no sail up. Inside the bay, the wind picked up as a sea breeze came in over the surrounding land. We maneuvered around, killing time, and then headed for the pilot station. Once the pilot came aboard with the agent, I was asked if I would take the sails down. I said "Sure" but I was hoping we could keep them up for the run into the city since there were a large group of people waiting for us. This led to a discussion with the agent. In the end the pilot agreed to let the sails remain up. The pilot then indicated he wanted to go dead down wind to the buoy some distance ahead, marking the entrance to a narrow channel. Normally, I would have discussed the merits of jibing. But I figured this was out of the pilot's experience, so we did as he asked. It felt weird and false to be trimmed in close to keep the sails from flogging or the ship from jibing unexpectedly while we maneuvered in for a photo opportunity so that our entrance could be properly recorded. In fact the front page of the next day's paper had a photo of PRIDE at a nice angle with sail up. No one could tell we weren't really "under sail." All in all, another successful arrival.

Logistics here were similar to Shanghai. The city water is not for drinking. The bay water was too full of silt to run the watermaker. So we had occasional deliveries of many 5 gallon jugs of mineral water that we poured into the tanks. Hooking up electricity was simple and merely entailed transforming their 380 volts AC to our 220 AC. We do not worry much about the 50 cycle electricity because all our electrical machinery aboard is designed to run either on 50 or 60 cycle current. Security was the same here as in Shanghai -- the crew had to present passport and pass to a guard at the top of the ramp. However, as the week passed, the guards got to know us and would wave us by.

Xiamen is a tourist town, I'm told. That may be, but we saw only a handful of Europeans or Americans. There is a lot of tourist activity though, particularly heavy ferry traffic to an off-lying island that makes up part of Xiamen's "inner harbor." The island has a lot of colonial-era European architecture dating back to the Boxer Rebellion that is of interest. The ferries are crowded with Asians. It seems a lot of them visit from Singapore and the Philippines. Unless you have made a study of the faces, it is not easy to identify national differences.

Hospitality in Xiamen has been outstanding. The crew is now on a tour, courtesy of our ship's agent. I am staying aboard to permit the entire crew to go. My generosity is not without self interest. I get a quiet ship; they get an extra day off. But up till today, our last in Xiamen, our hosts have been tireless in their efforts to show us their city. Their attentiveness demonstrates how seriously they take the Sister City relationship with Baltimore, which was established by former Mayor Schaefer some years back. Our hosts have scheduled a tour of some aspect of their city every day we have been here. Many groups have visited the ship as well. I am usually aboard because of the type of visitors scheduled. Whoever they are, the ceremony of welcome is sincerely formal. This has caught us off guard occasionally. Thankfully, our teacher, Leslie, has been sharp at anticipating these kinds of formalities and usually has a return gift in her bag that we've used to reciprocate our visitors' inevitable gift. Benjamin Blum, Baltimore's representative from the Mayor's office, has also been super at responding to each and every welcome ceremony with sincere and well chosen words.

The tours have been a mixture of commercial and cultural interests. The commercial trips were designed to demonstrate the huge amounts of money and energy being spent on infrastructure so that foreign investors would be willing to set up partnerships here. Many have already done so, including Kodak Film and Dell Computers. This infrastructure includes housing for Chinese workers. The theory behind the special Commercial Zones is that many of the older traditions of work, such as aqua-culture, will eventually change to what is needed by the new businesses. At the moment, many of the buildings stand empty even as new structures arise. It seems not everyone is willing to change jobs, even if it means a nice apartment to live in rather than their current ramshackle homes. I guess old habits die hard here, just as they do at home.

The culture has been interesting. We've seen parks, a small but lovely aquarium, and a small museum on the island of Gulang Yu, which in itself is almost a museum. The island has been inhabited for over 1,000 years. Its chief claim to attention these days is that it is the area where Europeans stayed and lived during the colonial era.

To me, the most interesting part of the culture was a concert demonstration of traditional music held in our honor. This Chinese music was highly formalized, not unlike a classical string quartet in the European tradition. The music has its roots not so much in the folk culture but in the court music of the various dynasties going back over 1,000 years. The pieces I heard were long and initially seemed repetitive. But with time and exposure, one realizes there are nuances and progressions occurring with rather interesting rhythms. The singing is very high pitched and can at first seem grating to the Western ear. But we learned it is very stylized and goes back in time at least as far as the music. Following its flowing ways is quite interesting, particularly since the women singing also played very unusual instruments. One very subtle one was two bits of wood in each hand that got clicked together -- not unlike castanets. However, the style was not as rapid as castanets and seemed much more precisely timed. The women had a stylized grace that became mesmerizing as you become attuned to the style.

As I mentioned before, ceremony is very important here, much more so than in Europe where PRIDE has traveled several times. For Xiamen, the honor of hosting PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, a vessel from her Sister City in Maryland, was taken very seriously. They showed their appreciation for our visit with an elaborate welcome ceremony complete with what seemed like an army of young girls with small drums and two tiger dragons that performed a vigorous dance. There were speeches of welcome from the host dignitaries and speeches of thanks from us as well. The press was in abundance.

During the various tours, Benjamin Blum represented Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, Leslie Bridgett represented Maryland schools, and I did my best to represent PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, Maryland's goodwill sailing ambassador. Throughout our visit, our hosts constantly demonstrated their openhearted welcome, and continually emphasized the mutually beneficial nature of commercial opportunities. It is curious to me that we are seen as important emissaries by the Chinese in contrast to our visits to Europe and Canada where we are seen as just another commercial public relations enterprise. Even on visits to our European Sister City of Cadiz, Spain, where hosting is more formal than in Northern Europe, the hosting here in China is even more formal. I wonder how emissaries from China are treated when they come to Baltimore -- and what the Chinese think about it.

Tomorrow we depart for Hong Kong. This will be the furthest south we will go. The latitude will be equivalent of Cuba. The wind is likely to be against us, but not particularly strong. It seems the summer monsoon has started now and winds will prevail from the south till fall when the system reverses. When we make our final departure from China in a couple of weeks, we will be heading northward, so the wind should become favorable more often than not.

Cheers,
Captain Miles

Ahhh! We're anchored at a quite island! No outside demands, no visitors from dockside, no availability to anyone! Not even any underway worries since we're at anchor. This is the first time PRIDE has been isolated and unrushed since some time last year. We're here because we're slightly ahead of schedule on our way to Xiamen and we need to kill a little time and get some maintenance done. It really feels good to me. It looks good, too.

We are in a bay of a Chinese island some twenty miles off shore. It has steep hills with a steep granite shoreline. PRIDE could almost pull alongside a nearby cliff and tie up. There is a small community ashore and lots of green. It's like the green of the granite hilly shores of Maine. Not being allowed ashore may not please everyone aboard, but it sure simplifies life. The crew is working on chipping rust from cannon barrels and the gun door hinges. The ship sounds like a blacksmith's shop with all the chip, chip, chipping of hammers on metal. This is not the easiest of anchorages - it has a swell that sometimes causes PRIDE to roll some 10-20 degrees. Although not the most comfortable, it's still better than cutting our way through the dungeon fog outside.

We found the fog almost immediately on departing from the great Yangtze River mouth and turning south along the eastern shore of China. There are a lot of islands and inlets along this coast. I dare say it must be beautiful and maybe even mystical. But the overcast sky and heavy haze that soon turned to fog did not permit us to see any of it. In fact, we have hardly seen a thing in the two days it has taken to get this far. However, the radar shows there was LOTS going on out there! We must have seen a thousand radar contacts in the these last two days as we passed through the Chinese fishing fleet. Vessels were sometimes scattered and sometimes congested from area to area. When congested, there might have been up to 90 vessels in the radar's six mile range (six miles from center to the outermost ring). All of these vessels maneuvered in an unpredictable fashion, usually in pairs. PRIDE's watch leaders spent whole watches glued to the radar because there was no way to pick a path through the fleet and maintain a two mile distance between PRIDE and any other vessel (which is common practice in North America and Europe). In fact, it was frequently impossible to keep a distance of more than a third of a mile. Many times the distance was only a tenth of a mile! I was called to evaluate the watch leader's concerns frequently. I don't think I got to sleep more than two hours in a row at any time in the transit to this anchorage.

We managed to sail some of the trip down here. Sailing in fog adds a special dimension to sailing. It increases tension greatly but it also enhances the sense of mystery. You can't help but think about what it was like in the old days before electricity and radar to help discover other vessels near you. What did they do? They sounded a horn or a bell regularly to announce their presence to any ships that might be near. But that does not find land, which can't ring back Unfortunately that system is not used much these days because we rely on modern technology - to everyone's risk, I think. There is only so much understanding you can get from a radar image. Having a close contact sound a horn can be very helpful in clarifying the distance and direction of that vessel.

PRIDE motored along through a virtually silent fishing fleet (until we got less than a quarter mile from one and then we could hear its motor). We blasted our horn whenever a contact showed itself to be coming within a mile of us. With this kind of unrelenting anxiety, sailing in the fog was a diabolical addition of stress since sailing limits the options for turning to avoid collision. Also, it became evident as early as our approach to Shanghai that sailing vessels of any kind are not often seen here. So standard protocols about giving sailing ships the right of way are not always known or followed. Even when they could see us, the fishing vessels were not too concerned about getting out of our way when they were not fishing - and they were even less concerned when they WERE fishing. In fog, they couldn't tell on their radar that we were a sailing ship, and we couldn't tell if they were fishing. So the rules of the road were violated a number of times. But, in all occasions, the Chinese operated with calm professionalism. I attribute this to how many of them there are! They must find themselves tangling with each other often enough not be overly impressed with PRIDE as she sailed out of the gloom and just as quickly slipped back into it again.

Entering this island bay after dark in fog was a bit of a challenge, too. There are no American charts available with any detail. Normally, a detailed chart of this island back in the States would have a scale ratio of 1:20,000. The only chart available has a scale of 1:300,000. A one mile distance on the 1:20,000 scale is 3-3/4 inches long. A mile on the 1:300,000 scale is only 1/4 inch long. Normally I would not consider this bay a viable stop due to the lack of detail on the chart. But the Coast Pilot listed it (Nan-chi Chiang) as being a good anchorage for small vessels in water of 14.6 to 16.4 meters depth. So we carefully entered the mile wide mouth of the bay in the fog and proceeded slowly up the center, watching the depth all the while. The bay is 2-3/4 miles long and tapers to a narrow end. It is described as "suffering from a swell when the wind is from northeast." I was interested in getting deep into the bay to get out of the swell and perhaps finding shallower water. Halfway in, the forward lookout spots fishing buoys. So we stop and turn to avoid them. In the foggy moonlit night, they seem to go on forever across the whole bay.

After double checking the radar, I realized that what I was at first assuming were false echoes caused by waves were, in fact, fishing buoys. On closer examination of the screen, I was able to determine that this "fish-farm" did not quite go across the whole bay. So we felt our way along the perimeter of the farm, which brought us to within half a mile of the sheer rock shore, and made our way deeper into the bay. Finally we had the anchor down, the anchor light up, and the anchor watch set. It was a roll-y anchorage, true, but a lot more pleasant than being outside! And we still could barely see the shoreline of our cozy bay despite the fact that it was only a tenth of a mile away!

Soon the fog lifted a little and we saw lights. Soon after that a number of boats came floating around PRIDE, each crowded with Chinese shining flashlights and talking rapidly and simultaneously. There was no way we could communicate with them, so we said nothing and merely kept an eye on their activities. They were obviously curious. They came right up to PRIDE and touched her planking but did not try to board. They read her transom and looked closely at her chain plates and channels and tried to follow the complex rig up into the fog. I wondered what they were thinking when they saw PRIDE with her rakish rig. I also wondered if these folks were friendly. They came and went a couple of times before a motorized version of their long narrow vessels came alongside. This one held several people wearing uniforms with bright red epaulets. One of them spoke a halting English. I was introduced to the senior uniform, whereupon I immediately invited him and the interpreter aboard. Instantly a swarm of eight came scrambling aboard -- four in uniform while the others appeared to be civilian. The interpreter made introductions again and the officer and I shook hands. Then came a painfully slow dialogue with me trying to describe through the interpreter what we were and why we were in their waters. Saying Shanghai and Xiamen was easy. But they drew a blank with Baltimore and Maryland. I was eventually able to indicate that we were from "near Washington, DC" which they recognized. Somehow, I was able to get across the idea of our history and PRIDE's mission as a goodwill ambassador. Then I was asked about papers. This would be easy as Chinese officials in Shanghai had given us documents to carry to Xiamen. So I invited them below. Fortunately, only the uniforms followed with the interpreter.

In the light below, it was easy to see these folks were young. I do not think the oldest was over thirty. They took a look at the papers and asked again why we were in their bay. I felt this was a fair question, since I hadn't seen another sailing since arriving in Shanghai and it would take some time to understand what we were about. To help with this explanation, I got out one of the booklets on PRIDE that we give away as souvenirs. It has pictures of schooners during the War of 1812 and photos of PRIDE OF BALTIMORE and PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II in recognizable locations, like under the Tower Bridge in London which they recognized. This helped them grasp our world wide goodwill mission. Once they understood that I just wanted to kill time before heading off to Xiamen, they indicated we could stay. But we could not come ashore. (I don't know why, but that did not bother me as we were there to get some rest for the crew and some maintenance done.) They also asked that we not dump any garbage since this was a marine nature preserve. No problem, since we don't dump garbage anyway.

And so here we are. Anchored at the island of Nanjishan Liedao. The locals watch us and we watch them between our maintenance projects. The day has become somewhat clearer than the last three days. But the fog is still around. However, that has not stopped maintenance by the crew nor their sense of anticipation for a quiet night and maybe a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

Cheers,
Captain Miles

We are out of the Yangtze River and into the East China Sea, coasting along China's eastern shore. It has taken us another long day to get out to sea from downtown Shanghai, but the weather has been friendly. The wind is now very light out of the north and the sea is quiet. We are motoring along with one engine and we have our four lowers up (mainsail, foresail, staysail, jib) and the square foretopsail set. A low is promised for the area again -- it is heading towards us from the east. I can't decide if I should be really concerned or not. At least another 24 hours will be needed to tell. In any event, it is nice to be underway again. That's not because any of us want to be at sea and away from opportunities of getting off the ship and stretching our legs -- we were certainly cooped up enough during the crossing. It is just that our obligations ashore in Shanghai were so intense that we are glad to be back to a slower pace for a while.

After our intense day of getting up to Shanghai six days ago, the next five days were no less intense. But this time it was coping with a new language and new formalities, while also trying to get things done to the ship to correct or refresh things from the strain of the long voyage. When we were in Shanghai, the ship was on display from morning till night by a variety of co-hosts, including the Maryland Business Center China, Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Edelman (an American P.R firm), the Shanghai American Club, and COSCO (a Chinese shipping company that does lots of business in the Port of Baltimore). Also our hosts and the owners of our docking location, Shanghai Lujiazui Development Group, felt a proprietary interest in PRIDE II. They are the developers of the Pudong Business Center where we were docked, just across the busy river from the Bund, Shanghai's financial district. In each case, national security officers were present and we were challenged to make ourselves understood and figure out protocol. On top of this, we had to figure out how to get laundry done, food aboard, drinking water secured, and the ship refueled. My professional obligations included being available at all the corporate events as a spokesperson for PRIDE and be recognized as an honored guest by our Shanghai hosts. It was not easy balancing these obligations with my concerns for the ship and crew.

The earliest discovery of logistical complications came on Thursday. While it was a relatively light day in terms of public exposure (three separate schools came for tours), I had to spend a lot of time working with the ship's agent regarding the ins and outs of getting refueled and how to get drinkable water aboard. In most ports, these are the two easiest problems to resolve while getting electricity can be a problem. Here it was reversed. We had electricity, but city water is not considered drinkable even by the local population. They use bottled water. With crew showers and general cleaning, we use more water in port per day than at sea. Under these conditions, our tanks would soon be empty. The options seemed to be buying bottled water by the five gallon jug or running the watermaker on board. The Huangpu Jiang (river) where we were docked looked pretty muddy, therefore full of silt. It would not be prudent to run the watermaker as it can be harmed by silt. But I was not looking forward to buying lots of bottled water either.

Getting fuel was more a matter of laws of the land than the technical issue of loading it. We were told that since PRIDE is a foreign vessel, she was not permitted to buy Chinese fuel -- at least not from marine resources. One option was to find a local gas station and negotiate for the delivery of fuel in 5 gallon tins and pay street prices with all the taxes that come with that type of fuel. But we could not buy the nearly tax free marine fuel normally available for vessels in commerce, such as the hundreds of fishing vessels, freight carriers, tugs, ferries, etc., that ply the river where we were docked. But, I figured, PRIDE is a commercial vessel, too, so why not? I assigned our local agent, James Chan, a well spoken and bright young fellow, the job of getting permission for PRIDE to get refueled at a marine source. I was really not thrilled by the idea of having the crew load over 400 gallons of fuel via tins. It was also important that James understand and pass on the fact that it would not be wise for PRIDE to try the next leg of our voyage to Xiamen with less than half her fuel capacity aboard. To make a long story shorter, it took James more than a day to get permission to get fuel. But he was finally successful. We solved the water problem by buying some 75-odd jugs of bottled water.

Meanwhile, Andy, our cook, found welcome advice from a local expatriate from Maryland, Joan Goodson, a recently retired teacher from Baltimore County who is teaching this year at the Shanghai American School, and restocked PRIDE's galley without trouble.

National security was an interesting experience. In spite of the fact that PRIDE was cleared into Shanghai and China, the crew were given special passes they had to present, along with their passports, to a guard stationed at the top of our gangway each time they passed on or off the ship. When we "presented" as we left, a note was made of our passing. When we returned, another note was made. During receptions, any attendee had to present a special pass to be allowed onto the ship. Each pass was good for only one visit - so there was no going back and forth between pier and ship during the party. So, guests would get refreshments from the catering service on the dock, then come down to the ship for awhile before heading back to the dock for more refreshments, but with no chance of coming back aboard. We also had a 2 A.M. curfew to be back on the ship. At first, the procedure was followed exactly. But after a while the guards would just wave us through. Since only 13 people were living aboard, the guards got to know all of us by face and pass number. It was only when the guard was changed or a senior official was around that the ritual would reappear. In spite of what seemed oppressively authoritative control, everyone we met was very friendly and welcoming.

Another adventure was trying to decipher the innuendo of protocol in unclear English. For instance, details about the schedule for the ship and events, such as when and where catering was to be arranged, were usually modified several times by the time the event was actually on. Second, along with all the State level representatives in the Maryland and Chinese parties, I was part of a number of press conferences and was expected to speak. While I am often interviewed by the press, I am rarely involved with speaking to the press corps in a conference situation. I am afraid I was not very smooth nor imaginative. I will have to brush up for the future press conferences that are likely to come up. But all was not lost. Former congresswoman Helen Bentley was present to represent Governor Glendening and Maryland Port Administration Commissioner Mickey Miller represented the Port of Baltimore. They did very credible jobs of speaking at the press conferences and PRIDE was well represented and duly recognized.

Protocol also required that I be available for the events that took place aboard PRIDE. There were enough events during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that I was unable to get away from the ship. So I saw little of Shanghai, except after dark when the day's business was done. The crew got around a lot since they each had a day off during our stay. And Leslie Bridgett, our stowaway teacher aboard, got taken around to see more of Shanghai than anyone on the ship. Almost too much in such a short time, she says. A couple of times crew members went with her to help with the cameras she lugs around to record her visits. Each time anyone came back from these adventures ashore, I would hear about what they saw. I am looking forward to getting around a bit more at our next stop, Xiamen. There are not as many business events scheduled while we are there. And it is not nearly as big a city as Shanghai. So I hope to have a little more time.

PRIDE's dock while in Shanghai was on the Huangpu Jiang (jiang means river), a narrow river that ebbs and floods with the tide and has lots of current (nearly 3 knots). Chinese authorities have not allowed any vessels to moor at this location for years because they want to preserve the view across the river from both sides. It is just opposite the Bund, Shanghai's business center. With the Bund located right on the river, you might described it as Shanghai's "Inner Harbor." PRIDE was moored on the opposite shore called Pudong. It is an area that is being aggressively transposed from rice paddies and old shipping facilities into yet another business district. I am told that this conversion started seven years ago. It is remarkable what has been built in that time. Two structures, each easily the height of the Empire State Building, stand proud among a number of buildings that are each half to three quarters of that height. The view across the river from both sides is proof of the good decision to prevent commercial shipping from being located on the shoreline between these two centers. I am told it took nearly two months of steady politicking to get permission for PRIDE to tie up there.

It apparently was not obvious to everyone that PRIDE would be an enhancement to the view between these two centers. Most people think of PRIDE as beautiful and an enhancement to any location. If the leaders and people of Shanghai did not think so before, they do now. As each day passed, I got an increasing tattoo of requests/pleadings by the press, photographers, and business people (many of whom had been skeptical of or mystified by PRIDE's purpose and presence in Shanghai) to "please put up the sails!" Even at the dock! But the wind blew pretty freshly either up or down the river throughout our stay. Having that much wind blowing direction was not conducive to safely having much sail up while tied to the dock (although we do sometimes raise sail while docked if the conditions are right). With this increasing Chinese enthusiasm for PRIDE's unique look, it occurred to me that our location would be a beautiful setting for other tall ships visiting Shanghai. Any of the big square riggers would provide a spectacular backdrop to the expanding business center of Shanghai, with its muddy Huangpu Jiang and its non-stop shipping passing straight through the center of town. It's fun to think PRIDE's visit to Shanghai may have shown them the benefits of highlighting maritime history in their future plans.

Departure was our only opportunity to show the ship off with any sail. Interestingly, we had to get permission to do this. That was not a surprise since a busy thoroughfare often has regulations against raising or using sail in the harbor. We ran into this requirement earlier in our visit during one of our school tours. During these tours, the kids' favorite activity is raising the staysail which is one of four stations we run them through. In the middle of one of the tours, the harbormaster on duty in our area came over in his riverboat to investigate. James Chan happened to be around and with his cell phone was able to get things cleared up by getting verbal permission for PRIDE to set this one sail while tied to the dock. It seems that if you want to do something different in China, it is imperative you get permission first. PRIDE's visit presented a lot of requests for permission. Anyway, we set lots of sail as we left the dock with the press and many dignitaries there to wave to us off. Congresswoman Helen Bentley was there along with Wang An De, the Chairman & General Manager of the Shanghai Lijiazui Development Group, the developers of the new Pudong area, as well as the Director of the Maryland Business Center China. Sadly, the day was low overcast nearing fog, so the photos weren't as spectacular as they could have been. The Bund was shrouded in a heavy haze although it was discernible in the background.

For our departure we had three extra persons aboard, two officers from Immigration and our agent, James Chan. They were aboard to oversee our transit to the fuel depot. Refueling went smoothly except for some mathematical confusion converting dollars and gallons to renminbi and liters. But everything worked out fine and we got underway again an hour later, sans the officials and James. Then, with pilot aboard, we hurried our way down river, bound for the sea. One last maintenance chore still needed doing though, re-tightening the rigging that holds the foremast up. This requires the use of come-alongs and a lot of marlin. With the come-alongs we tighten the shroud lanyards. With the marlin we re-seize the lanyards so they won't slip when under strain. It took the crew four hours to re-tighten the foremast standing rigging. By that time we had dropped off our pilot and were entering the East China Sea on the next leg of this Asian adventure.

Cheers
Captain Jan Miles

Almost There!

We are in the delta of the Yangtze Jiang (river). It is called the Changjiang. We have a Chinese pilot aboard - a very personable fellow. After two long nights of fog and traffic, it is nice to have visibility again. The fog has cleared with the passage of the long awaited cold front. I'm constantly pinching myself mentally to remind me where I am. It's been four months and 12,000+ miles, but we are finally in China! PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II is the first Baltimore Clipper to arrive here in many a year - maybe more than 150. It's still incredible to me. To you, too?

The river water is fast moving liquid mud. The cold front has brought wind. The river spray deposits mud on deck. Our efforts in cleaning the ship yesterday seems almost wasted. The river has a fast moving current as well. We are running both engines full speed. On a calm day that could push PRIDE along at 10+ knots. With the wind blowing against our masts and rigging, we are probably losing 2 knots. The GPS says we are only making 5 knots over the bottom. So, the river is flowing at 3 knots, at least. The pilot says that at this speed it will take 8 hours to get to our dock. I think I'll heed his suggestion and take a nap.

Before I go, let me say that it's hard to grasp the size of this river by just reading about it (it is the third largest in the world after the Amazon and the Nile). Right now, we can't see the north shore because it is low and far away. We can just barely make out the south shore - we can see some buildings on it, at least the tall towers. And visibility is clear - at least 20 miles now. We have been in this river for nearly six hours making 5 knots. It's unbelievable that we have come this far into the river and we STILL can't see anything! I am familiar with the Mississippi - this is BIGGER!

There are a lot of ships on the river. The area outside the mouth was full of ships at anchor - easily 60 of them just sitting idle in the dense fog, costing loads of money. Many more were anchored up the river aways. The pilot told the first mate that today was the first day any ship could move on the river after two days of dense fog. (Tell us about it! It was just as dense off-shore where we were.) So the ships have been piling up for two days waiting to go upriver to Shanghai. Now that the fog has lifted, the pilots have their work cut out for them. The radio has been full of messages from ships pleading for pilots. We are fortunate to have a pilot for this little ship of ours.

Later the Same Day,

We Made It - And On Time!

While I napped, PRIDE proceeded up the river against the current. The twin Caterpillars worked furiously at full speed to push against the fast current of 3-4 knots and the wind blowing against us at 20-25 knots. Sometimes spray went over the entire length of the deck. By early afternoon we were far enough up the river to make the turn south into the Huangpu Jiang. This is a tributary of the Yangtze on which Shanghai is situated. This portion of the river is so full of maritime activity as to be nearly indescribable. We passed twelve miles of docks, ships, and commercial industry. There is a continuous line of mooring buoys on both sides of the river to which a myriad of different kinds of vessels are moored. They range from small ma/pop bulk cargo carriers (some 50 feet long, very low freeboard, often full of gravel, with a cabin aft for the owner's family), to huge container carriers. In between are lots of tugs, fishing boats, and ferries. Weaving a path through this maze is like negotiating one of New York City's major avenues in a car, merging with trucks, cabs, buses, bikes and pedestrians, at the height of rush hour. But our pilot was easily up to the task.

As one approaches Shanghai from the water, the tall buildings are visible from afar, except in rain or fog. With the inclement weather we're having right now, this city of 12 million has a somewhat grubby look. It's kind of like the movie BRAZIL that came out a while ago set in a future era after a long period of indiscriminate development. In spite of the cold, wet, and grubby look, I can't help but be impressed by the beehive of activity on the water. I can hardly wait for things to clear up so I can see this place with color!

Upon arrival there was a contingency of officials waiting to come aboard. Once secured, a full dozen uniformed authorities came aboard and crowded into the aft cabin. They were all very polite and sociable. Our ship's agent, James Chan, of China Ocean Shipping Agency, and an associate came aboard to guide me through the formalities. Thanks to modern technology, it went smoothly. Two days ago I received a fax via satellite from James with forms to fill out. I was able to make copies of the originals using the fax/printer/copier/scanner that we installed on the ship for this voyage. I was able to make more copies while the authorities waited. I was, in turn, given special permission to shoot off our cannons on Friday between 11:45 and 12:30 during the official Welcome Ceremony. We also got passes for the crew to get off the ship. The system here is that even if the ship is cleared into China, no one is free to come and go without being checked each time he or she gets on or off the vessel. All foreigners who visit the ship must surrender their Chinese visa to a guard at the gangway which they must claim when getting off. The crew must show their own special pass and passport each time they leave. No Chinese national can come aboard without special permission or authorization.

Once the formalities were over and the authorities left with their souvenir picture postcard of PRIDE, it was time to talk about the ship's schedule, needs, and events in upcoming days with representatives from the organizations and businesses planning parties aboard during our stay. Meanwhile the mates and crew were getting the ship organized - the awning up, the gangway rigged, the electricity hooked up. We docked at 1530 hours, but I was not done with details and visitors until 1830 hours, just in time for supper. After that, it was back to the business of the day. This time it was calling back home to Baltimore to tell of our arrival. I spoke live on the air with WBAL TV, with "Rouse & Co" on WQSR radio's morning drive show, and with the "Mark Steiner Show" on WJHU-FM public radio. Since we in Shanghai are 11 hours (and a day) ahead of folks on Eastern Standard time in the good ol' US of A, I was not finished until 2230 hours. What with all the fog during the last two nights and days, I haven't had much sleep. I think it is time to correct that.

But it's truly good to be able to say (as Leslie our Teacher Aboard has taught us)

"Zai jian" or "goodbye" in Chinese,
Captain Jan Miles