Kayaking from the Philippines to Taiwan

Yahoo reports that a Japanese man is going to kayak to eastern Taiwan from the Philippines, " just like people did in the past."

A 31-year-old Japanese man embarked Sunday on a sea kayak adventure from the northern tip of the main Philippine island Luzon to Hualien in eastern Taiwan, hoping to be the first man to paddle across the 700 kilometers of sea within a month.

"Most people say it is very dangerous to cross this area by kayak," Tokyo-born Satoru Yahata of Okinawa Prefecture, said. "But I want to do it just like people did in the past."

Traveling in a 5.5-meter kayak, Yahata set off from the tropical resort of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte Province, about 560 kilometers north of Manila.

He will paddle northward and brave the strong currents of the Balintang Channel to reach in four days to a week the capital of the Philippines' northernmost Batanes Province, about 162 km north of Luzon's tip.

Yahata will then cross the Bashi Channel to reach Taiwan's southern tip, about 190 km from the Philippines' northernmost island Yami.

Last year, Yahata paddled his kayak across almost 300 km of sea from Hualien to Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture.

Well, the peoples of the Philippines and Taiwan had contact with each other, but they didn't do it in kayaks. The Taipei Times offers a tiny taste of boatbuilding and sailing technology among these related peoples...

[Taiwan]