South China Sea Rescue of British Sailor, But Why?

by Rich Chang/Cruising Editor on 8 Sep 2006 A perplexing story was reported by Rich Chang for the Taipei Times this week
Chang reported that a British man is expected to leave Kinmen today and continue a voyage to South Korea after being rescued on Friday by a Taiwanese fishing boat in waters near Kinmen.
According to the Kinmen coast guard, the 60-year old Englishman, Alastair Alexander, was on his motor sailboat, Faith, alone in waters near Kinmen on Friday evening. He asked a Kinmen fishing boat for help because his boat had lost power.
The captain of the fishing boat reported the matter to the Kinmen coast guard, which then helped Alexander to get his vessel to a fishing port in Kinmen on Friday evening.

Alexander told Kinmen coast guard Hsieh Wen-chia that he intended to sail his vessel from South China to South Korea, and that he started his trip in Shantou City, Guangdong Province on Thursday.
Alexander said that while sailing near Kinmen, the boat suffered engine failure which he was unable to repair.

According to Hsieh, Alexander said he had devoted himself to sailing for more than 20 years visiting more than 50 nations in Europe, Asia and Australasia in his boat. Alexander was surprised to find himself on Kinmen as he initially thought he had ended up in China.

The Kinmen coast guard offered Alexander tools to fix his boat and also gave the him a crate of bottled water, a crate of beer and some food.
Hsieh said that Alexander, who has lived in Hong Kong for some time, had said that people on Kinmen were very welcoming and that he would visit the island again in the future if he had the chance.

It’s excellent to know that the Kinmen Coastguard were so helpful, and certainly reassurance for sailors heading in that direction. However, Sail-World has to ask why a sailor with so much experience found it necessary to call for assistance far from shore because his ENGINE malfunctioned. The story describes the boat as a ‘sailing boat’ – maybe a last minute tow to get into a berth or alongside a wharf, but why a rescue at sea?

The culture of over-relying on calling for help as soon as any problem on a sailing boat emerges is to be discouraged. The good services of Coastguards around the world should be reserved for genuine emergencies.