Hull and high water

The dreaded Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somali, is one of the most dangerous passages in the world for sailors. Located in the Arabian Sea, it is a notorious hub for piracy.

After sailing for 10 days from Djibouti on April 23, not only did Han Xiao brave the sea alone on his boat, but also encountered the 34th Chinese naval escort flotilla two days later and made radio communication with the fleet, which made the captain "extremely excited and proud".

"The short encounter and talk gives me confidence and power. You cannot imagine how these words warmed my heart at that moment," Han said in a recent video recording the encounter, adding that he hadn't met another Chinese boat during his one-year voyage until meeting the naval fleet.

"When you are happy and unburdened, there are others carrying the world for you. Salute to the Chinese Navy," he added. The Navy began to carry out escort missions in the pirate-plagued waters in December 2008.

"This is the best protection at sea, reflecting the dignity of the Chinese," Han told the camera. He sailed through the Gulf of Aden on May 3, becoming the first Chinese sailor to navigate these waters solo.

The video clip has become popular on ByteDance's Xigua video app, being viewed about 1 million times. Han's adventure is also in the spotlight.

Born in 1985 in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Han graduated from the Sichuan International Studies University. Daring to chase his dream, he opened a bar in Chengdu, ran a hotel in Mauritius and was a tour guide in Europe. In 2018, he got his American Sailing Association 106 advanced coastal cruising certificate after six months of training.

At 34, he decided to put his career on hold, say goodbye to his family and his newborn baby girl, and go sailing around the world for the next three years. He sold his house in Chengdu and bought a monolithic sailboat Deep Blue in Stockholm for over 2 million yuan ($280,400), starting his around-world adventure in April last year.

"As a man born inland, sailing is my dream. It provides a totally different view of life and a new lifestyle," Han says.

His parents and wife supported his dream and told him to just "come back alive".

Nicknamed as Captain Han, he has been recording his experiences on Xigua and has attracted more than 3 million followers.

Sailing over 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 kilometers), Han has explored more than 20 countries so far.

As the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic has led to governments across the world shutting down their borders and putting up travel restrictions, like numerous travelers stuck on road, Han was also affected when harbors and ports closed. Without setting foot on shore for more than 50 days, he is still floating, waiting for permission to go into a port near Sudan.

High seas

Sailing through the world's waterways, including the Baltic Sea, the English Channel, the Kiel Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Red Sea, for Han, the sea is always changing and sometimes merciless.

At the beginning of his voyage, Han was given a lesson in how small man can be in the face of nature.

Sailing the Baltic Sea to the Kiel Canal in last April, Han and his friend, surnamed Gu, detected a storm brewing on their route that they were on course to meet that afternoon. They had no time to change the direction, instead having to face it and sail directly through it. The whole dramatic incident was recorded on his video blog.

Entering the thunderstorm in the darkness, waves reaching a height of one or two meters were hitting the boat and Han couldn't tell when and where the next wave would come. In the pitch black, moonless night it was hard to even tell the direction in which the boat was headed.

The only thing the two sailors could do is lashing themselves tightly to the boat with safety belts, wish of good luck and get tossed about with the vessel at the mercy of sea.

Han asked Gu to shelter inside the boat, while he remained at the boat's bridge. If the engine had got damaged, in likelihood they would have been claimed by the inky depths.

"It feels like a man running in the wilderness, with constant thunder and lightning so close that you can touch death," Han said in his blog.

After 12 hours, the pair finally broke free of the storm and calmer seas prevailed. Han concluded that "Nature can do whatever it wants to screw you" and that "family matters most".

Running out of fuel and only half way to their next port of call, the two floated for three days without phone signal and hope of rescue before finally arriving at an industrial port in Denmark.

The next day, Gu told Han that he wanted to quit and fly back home. The experience also made Han really understand the meaning of his parents' words-"come back alive".

After Gu left him in Amsterdam, Han chose to continue the voyage on his own, because "he has devoted everything to the boat and there is no turning back".

In September, Han, alone, sailed nine days nonstop to pass through the Mediterranean Sea. He set his alarm clock to ring every 20 minutes, to wake him up and check the route and incoming weather.

In one of his blogs, Han said that if loneliness can be scaled, solo sailing must be included.

To mark his solo voyage across the Mediterranean, Han wrote on social media that "Entering the storm at sea. Thank you god for not killing me. Salute to life."

Journey of kindness

Besides the life-threatening moments, Han has shared his more memorable experiences of meeting new places and people in his blog.

On his adventure, which has lasted around 400 days, Han has posted around 200 short videos. Through his lens, his followers have "visited" many popular destinations around the world, including the Mello Bookstore in Porto, Portugal, which is claimed to be the most beautiful bookstore in the world, the popular Navagio beach on the Greek island of Zakynthos, the Tasmanian Bay in Australia which lights up with blue algae, Italy's Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and Erta Ale, a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in Ethiopia.

While enjoying these beautiful scenes, Han has experienced acts of kindness from around the world, making his voyage even better.

During a stop in France, Han met a father and son from Germany at a petrol station, who offered to drive him to the port. Han gave the boy a panda toy as a thank you gift.

A French fisherman gave Han a freshly caught King crab and Han reciprocated with his only spare head lamp and explained how to use and charge the device.

"When people help you, you must do something in return, because most of them you will never meet again in your life," Han said in his video, adding that small acts of kindness make people happy.

In Greece, Han met a 93-year-old British man. The retired British Airways captain admired Han's courage saying that skippers sail into a storm, while pilots fly over them.

Kindness is not only limited to humans, but can also be proffered to nature.

In late December, Han arrived in Cyprus, well known for its beautiful coastline, but he was sad to see so many plastic bottles scattered all over the beach. He picked up as many he could.

"The beaches in a trash-free Cyprus can be called the most beautiful coasts," Han said in his blog, calling for the public to do something to protect the environment.

He will stay in Oman until August, and then start to cross the Indian Ocean, Arriving at an international port in India, before sailing on to the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand.

Picturing his life after the voyage, Han said in his video that he wants to open a sailing and diving organization in a coastal city, bringing the joy of a marine lifestyle to more people.

"It is time to realize my next dream－to return to my family," the man smiles.