It lasted 504 days, with a total voyage of more than 28,000 nautical miles, circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean without stopping... At 9 am on November 15, a white sailboat slowly entered the terminal of Shanghai Port International Passenger Transport Center.
On the deck, Captain Zhai Mo kept waving to the shore.
He had been away from land for too long on this voyage.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
For me, there should be a departure and a return, and a circle must be drawn.
When I entered the coordinates of the Yangtze River estuary, I felt very excited, because I finally reached one of my meeting points, which means that my lap is over.
In fact, as early as 2009, Zhai Mo, who has ten years of sailing experience, had completed the feat of sailing around the world by self-driving a non-powered sailing boat for a week, so he was known as "the first person in China to sail around the world".
When talking about why he set foot on the path of sailing in the first place, he felt gratified.
Zhai Mo, the Navigator:
In 1999, when I went to New Zealand, I met a Norwegian navigator when I finished the art exhibition and made a documentary.
It was my first time on a boat, and I had hardly seen a sailboat.
More than 70% of the earth is water. You can go to places in the world that cannot be reached by planes and trains, and you can explore in a boat.
I was quite excited at the time, so I bought a second-hand boat, and I drove to Tahiti, the place where I painted in high school. Because of his (work) "Tahiti Woman", I also wanted to see it. Look, just drifting alone at sea for 28 days.
My sailing was supposed to be learning by the way.
After the first voyage, Zhai Mo became very interested in this dangerous extreme sport.
In the following time, he stayed with the water all year round, relying on the boat under his feet, and drove to many places around the world to play or hold art exhibitions.
After more than 20 years, the 53-year-old is at the helm again, and with the two crew members, he sailed to the long-lost north.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
Set sail from Shanghai, pass through the Sea of Japan, then to the Bering Strait, then to Svalbard, to Iceland and Greenland.
This is the northernmost point of Greenland, and this place is where large icebergs are produced.
After setting sail, Zhai Mo decided not to stop at the coast because there were not many resources available on the land they passed. They stayed in the boat for food, lodging and transportation these days. Although they were lonely, at least they could guarantee food and clothing. .
Navigator Zhai Mo:
There are four major fishing areas in the world. We passed through all three fishing areas. We caught a lot of fish when we passed by. .
In addition, hundreds of catties of pancakes from their hometown and spare ingredients have become the food they depend on for survival.
But the quiet time is not long. The original plan was to use four months to enter the Arctic Ocean from the Bering Strait, circle around and return the same way.
But halfway through the voyage, they were hindered by the weather, and part of the return route was frozen.
In the end, they had to make a detour and return, and the voyage time was more than four times the original time.
Despite his rich experience, such a change is still an unprecedented test for Zhai Mo.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
The most dangerous place should be at 75 degrees north latitude, because all the navigation equipment in this place has failed, which is the biggest obstacle for our navigation, and we don't even have a heading.
In addition, when you arrive at this place, it has a time window period, and if you don't pass it, you will be frozen.
If it freezes, this place is actually relatively close to the land, and it will face a polar bear (in danger).
Not only that, another big test they encountered was the strong polar wind.
For several days in a row, I encountered strong winds of magnitude 9 to 10, and waves of more than 10 meters roared in. Only a small sailboat cut through the ice and waves in the Arctic Circle.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
The route we took happened to be the route that the Titanic (hit into) the ice went down, so we were also worried at the time, afraid of hitting (the ice), because we couldn't avoid it.
At that time, the speed was very slow, (there were) large areas of ice floes, including icebergs.
In the water, sometimes you can't see it, and you don't know how big the ice is.
At that time, we also bumped into it slowly, because the movement and sound were relatively loud, and then during the inspection, the hull slowly leaked (water), and finally we repaired the ship in Boston.
The voyage was difficult and dangerous all the way. Fortunately, the preparations in the early stage were sufficient, and the ships were more advanced, so that they passed through the dangers again and again without any danger.
On the way, he also encountered a lot of unique and beautiful scenery, so the natural scenery, or the dolphins following the drift, are the protagonists under his lens.
In the North Pole, he encountered an iceberg he had seen on the Internet, and took a photo in the same position to compare it with 100 years ago.
It can be seen that compared with the past, the current iceberg is much more exposed.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
We traveled the East Siberian Sea for nearly a week, but we didn’t see a single piece of ice, which has already melted to that point.
It turned out that we entered the Arctic Circle, almost all of which were ice floes. This change still shocked us very much.
With global warming, in fact, I really want to let more people understand the changes brought about by global warming through my sailing, and also pay attention to environmental protection.
The journey has ended successfully, but as an ocean charity image ambassador, he said that he plans to sail south in the near future, and continue to let more people pay attention to the melting glaciers and beautiful rare sea areas with his own sailing.
Navigator Zhai Mo:
Human beings can climb the highest mountain in the world, but they cannot enter the deepest seabed. In fact, I feel that our unknown about the ocean is only limited to its appearance. Exploring the unknown, especially sailing, is more primitive and magnificent. Because the visual impact we see near the shore is bigger and stronger.
(CCTV news client)