The Orient Expedition

When the Schurmann Family learns that the Chinese made seven major sea voyages in the 15th century, they decided to build a new boat to carry out the Orient Expedition.

As the Schurmanns sail to Antarctica, they face one of the world's most dangerous sea routes, echoing the historic challenges faced by Chinese explorers on their oceanic voyages.

The Schurmanns navigate the South Pacific, exploring remote islands and cultures. They investigate the legacy of the Treasure Fleet and its impact on local civilizations.

When the Schurmann Family learns that the Chinese made seven major sea voyages in the 15th century, they decided to build a new boat to carry out the Orient Expedition.

After 450 days at sea the Orient Expedition has already sailed around South America, visited Antarctica, crossed the entire Pacific and arrived in Oceania. The goal of the Schurmann Family on its third sail around the world is to reach Asia where it will investigate the trips of the "Treasure Fleet" between 1405 and 1433, when the Chinese explorers visited thirty-seven countries almost a century of the European explorers. Following its route, Sailing Yacht Kat sails up the coast of Queensland, crosses the Coral Sea and goes towards Papua New Guinea. And wherever it goes, the Schurmann Family interacts with native communities and exchanges memorable experiences. In Gona Bara Bara the family encounters a community going through a water crisis and ends up donating five hundred liters of Sailing Yacht Kat's tanks. In Yanaba they meet a man who in 1993 found a message in a bottle thrown by the family when they passed through the region more than two decades ago and the reuniting is more thant a surprise. Thus, living a new emotion every day, the Schurmann's remain steadfast in their investigation into a little known fact and are surrounded by mysteries that preceded the era of the great discoveries.

Near completion of a year and a half, the Orient Expedition continues on its way to Asia to investigate seven great Chinese sea expeditions between 1405 and 1433. Sailing Yacht Kat arrives in Micronesia and ports in Guam, where Vilfredo and Heloísa will talk to a historian to see if the presence of the Chinese in the region is as old as one might think. Were they here nearly a century before the Europeans? The two take the opportunity to leave all the garbage they have collected on some islands in a recycling plant and know about the important work being done on the island. From Guam Sailing Yacht Kat moves on to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where Wilhelm joins a windsurf competition and everyone takes an incredible dive in a cave. The next stop of the Expedition is in Okinawa, Japan, which was once an independent kingdom with a long history of trade and diplomatic relations with the Chinese Empire. Heloísa talks to a local historian to find out if there is a genetic link between the people of this island and the Chinese on the continent and ends up receiving important information. Finally, it is time to go to China, the most important country of this third sail around the world, and the Schurmann Family go to Shanghai for information that can elucidate the facts and dismantle the controversial theories that surround the history of the Fleet Of the Treasury.