Sailing through life on a dreamboat

Zhai's wife has also caught the travel bug.

"I raised the idea of sailing with my wife and - to my surprise - she agreed," Zhai says.

His friends were stunned when he sold his 120-square-meter house in Jinan and the family car for 400,000 yuan ($63,500).

He spent months teaching himself sailing, navigation and wilderness survival at home and in Malaysia. Then, he went looking for his dreamboat.

It turned out to be a 13-meter-long secondhand yacht from Malaysia. The blue vessel has sailed the seas for more than 10 years but is in good condition, Zhai says.

He received instruction from 35-year-old artist Zhai Mo from Shandong province's Tai'an, who's the first Chinese to single-handedly sail the globe.

"He (Zhai Mo) kindly offered practical suggestions. But, most importantly, his spirit has been very inspiring," Zhai Feng says.

Zhai's 8-year-old daughter Zhai Naixin is excited to join her parents on their voyage.

"She'll learn so much more on the open sea than in a confined classroom," he says.

Zhai admits he has encountered more challenges than he'd imagined.

"I feel thrilled and excited to have left my life on land but also increasingly nervous and uneasy about sailing the seas," Zhai says.

"I don't feel relaxed navigating unknown foreign waters, especially with the responsibility that comes with bringing my wife and daughter. I don't have a guide or coach. I rely on books and the Internet to figure out what I'm doing as I do it."

He and his wife have fallen ill and sustained a few bruises along the way.

But while Zhai is feeling a bit anxious, his girl is having more fun than ever.

"My daughter has made many foreign friends in just a few days," he says.

"She also loves the food in Langkawi."

Her biggest problem so far is the language barrier, Zhai says.

"She can only speak some broken English, which makes in-depth communication impossible," he explains.

"But she'll learn faster and speak more standardized English in this environment than in a classroom."

Zhai says he isn't concerned that the family has no income.

"We tend to worry about things that won't actually happen," he says.

"Mother Nature has taught me over the years that things eventually sort themselves out."

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn