Beijing family's yacht ends up at RMN base
Published on: Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: A young family from China can now add another chapter to their adventures at sea when choppy seas and a faulty engine inadvertently landed them at the Sepanggar Naval Base here, on Sunday. The family of three, comprising 37-year-old engineer Zuo Fei, his wife Che Zhao Xia, 31, and their seven-year-old daughter Zuo Zi Xuan, arrived at the Navy Yacht Club's jetty at about 5pm without realising that they had actually entered into the naval base. The episode unfolded when the trio decided to make a stop at what was initially thought to be a public jetty after they set sail from the Sutera Harbour jetty at about 11.30am.
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"We arrived at the jetty and imagine our shock when told that we had actually entered into a military base," said Zuo when met at the Sepanggar Naval Base on Monday. He said they heaved a huge sigh of relief when after some questioning, they were not only allowed to berth at the jetty but also given food and accommodation by the navy. It was learnt that their unusual voyage began last March with their first family trip outside of their rural village in Chang Jiang where they flew to Langkawi and decided to buy a second hand 34-footer cruising ocean yacht for 300,000 Renminbi (RM189,312). "We have very limited time together as a family because of our busy work schedules and the only time we can actually have family time is during the Chinese New Year where we have at least 10 days together," said Zuo who runs an engineering company, while his wife manages their family business.
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"It would be another year before our daughter starts schooling and we decided to take this opportunity to have family time and travel the seas with her," he said.It took them about three months to repair the yacht and without any real sailing experience, they set sail for Penang in July, cruising through the Straits of Melaka before going to Perak where they berthed for a month to repair their yacht.
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After that they began their journey to Singapore, Indonesia, and Sarawak before coming to Kota Kinabalu where they berthed at the Sutera Harbour jetty and stayed for about 10 days before heading to Palawan in the Philippines, which however had to be postponed due to choppy seas and a faulty engine. Region Two Navy Commander Rear Admiral Datuk Khairul Anuar Yahya said this is the first incident where they have visitors under such circumstances, adding that assistance was given based on humanitarian grounds and good bilateral ties between Malaysia and China. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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