SECRET ISLAND

BEYOND THE FORBIDDING ENTRY RULES OF TAIWAN IS A CULTURE RICH IN SEAFARING HISTORY AND STUNNING LANDSCAPES, FINDS CAMERON DUECK

We were still five miles from port when we realised that clearing into Taiwan might not be as simple as we'd hoped. Our VHF radio crackled into life and a stern voice from the port authority asked who we were, where we were coming from, and where we were going.

It was mid-October, and we'd just sailed 340 miles from Hong Kong across the Taiwan Strait, double-handed. The crossing was mostly upwind and rough, affirming the strait's nickname, the Black Ditch. Strong currents, choppy waves and sporadic rain was not how we wanted to start what we planned would be a multi-year cruise, but packing up our home and saying goodbye to family had taken longer than we planned, so we took the weather we were given.

Our cruising plans were vague, but we wanted to overwinter in Taiwan and then sail Teng Hoi, our Hallberg-Rassy 42F, north to Japan. Taiwan is a familiar destination for Hong Kongers, sharing enough common culture to feel neighbourly, but enough differences to make it interesting. Taiwan would offer a relatively soft start to our new cruising life, or so we thought.

We were pleased with ourselves as we closed in on Kaohsiung, on Taiwan's south-western coast. This was the longest crossing we'd made as double-handers, and we were in a jubilant mood, showering and preparing for port, when the radio call came in. I answered the port authority's questions, adding that we'd submitted all of our pre-arrival paperwork via MTNet, Taiwan's maritime administration website. We lowered our sails and were motoring past the massive stone seawall when they called us again, asking us to wait outside the harbour while they checked our online documents.

After a few hours of bobbing in the sea, the port authority invited us to moor at a coastguard security dock for further inspection. We were 2m from the dock, about to cast our mooring lines ashore, when they changed their minds and ordered us to turn around and leave port, sending us into the evening dusk.