
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993                   TAG: 9305140038
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: HONG KONG                                LENGTH: Short

RAFT EXPLORERS BEGIN TRIP ACROSS PACIFIC

A British explorer and his crew set sail aboard a bamboo raft Thursday for a trans-Pacific voyage aimed at showing that Chinese mariners could have reached the New World 1,700 years before Columbus.

Tim Severin and a crew of six, including two artists, lit money and incense sticks in a tribute to Tin Hau, the Chinese god of seafarers, before sailing from Aberdeen harbor on the south side of Hong Kong Island.

Severin's 60-foot raft is a replica of the craft he believes Chinese explorer Xiu Fu might have sailed to North America in 218 B.C. Xiu was on a mission to find immortality drugs for the emperor.

The raft was handmade from 220 giant bamboo logs lashed tightly with rattan.

Severin plans to end the 6,500-mile voyage in California after up to seven months at sea. The crew plans stops in Taiwan and Japan for repairs and supplies. - Associated Press

by CNB