Chinese Junk, Now a Priceless Piece of History, is Headed Home

’s boatyard at the end of West C Street is home to a lot of stuff and a junk built the old fashioned way-by hand from teak logs.  The Free China was built in the late1800’s and today is one of the last of her kind in the world.

The Mercury News reports that the traditionally built Chinese fishing vessel is about 80 feet long and weighs in at a graceful 40 tons.  Her first 50 years were spent as a fishing boat and a smuggling junk. 

In 1955 she was renamed The Free China and sailed to San Francisco.  Now 57 years later Benician has been asked to ready The Free China for one more voyage-this time in the hold of a cargo ship headed to the port city of Keelung on the northern tip of Taiwan.

“They’re spending a ton of money on this project,” said Joy.  “I probably should have charged more but I just wanted to be a part of it.”

Joy lifted the boat off the barrels that were keeping her off the ground on Bethel Island and loaded The Free China onto a barge and brought her to Benicia.  During the voyage from Antioch to Benicia Joy said the tide was against him for about half the journey and a large chemical ship, the on her way back to sea after a stop in the Port of Stockton.  Joy managed to get out of the ship’s way and docked the barge at his Benicia boatyard late Saturday afternoon.

Since then, Joy and his crew have been working furiously to build a secure sling around the junk for the voyage to Taiwan.

“We’ve been busting our ass on this thing,” said Joy who is hoping to move the boat to Oakland Friday morning.

Joy’s reverence for The Free China is evident as he points out details of the teak wood boat’s construction. “When my big house was built,” said Joy, pointing to a large Victorian home that he hopes will one day be a bed and breakfast inn, “this boat had been fishing off Formosa (the former name for Taiwan) for five years.”

As he prepared to get back to work preparing The Free China for her last long voyage Joy said, “I think it’s the wood. You can never get this beautiful old teak again.”

When the restoration of The Free China is complete, she’ll be on display at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung.

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If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor JB Davis at 707-628-0051 or email him at benicia@patch.com.