Princess TaiPing Farewell Ceremony

After two days of short and light but frequent rain showers, Sunday 16 Feb turned out to be a bright and sunny day for Princess TaiPing's farewell ceremony. Present were scores of friends and supporters of the boat and crew, principally from the Hawaiian Chinese community. After speeches by various dignitaries and captain Nelson & Angela a long buffet of Chinese food was laid out for the guests.

The photos in descending order are:

1. The venue for the ceremonies at The Fuel Dock. Note the wooden masts of the Princess TaiPing in the background.

2. The Director General of the Taipei Cultural and Economic Office addressing the guests. The crew of the Princess TaiPing are at the left, all wearing red tops.

3. Nelson addressing the crowd.

4. Nine of the crew of 10 (Nelson not shown). Note that only 3 members of the crew are Chinese. They and Hugh at the far right next to Lao Tang and Angela are the four remaining members of the original crew that set out from mainland China.

5. Angela speaking with Nelson beside her.

6. The six new crew and Hugh. Starting from the left: Jack, Larz, Jason, Carlos a Hawaiian from Molokai, John Hunter, and Liz.

7.Princess TaiPing's courtesy flags. Note the Union Jack as part of the Hawaii state flag.

8. A group shot of the entire crew.

9. Princess TaiPing's propeller out of the water. It is driven by an ancient one-cylinder tractor diesel.