Tseng and Fu were students in Liu's sailing classes and joined on his invitation. At the suggestion of Liu's father, the famous painter Max Liu (劉其偉), a large number of guest crew members were also recruited.
The expedition was divided into 40 sections and took the boat, renamed New Era, through the South China Sea, across the Indian Ocean, into the Mediterranean Sea, followed by the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea and eventually into the Pacific Ocean.
Meeting the boat at the dock were some of the guest crew members and representatives from various yachting associations. One element of the homecoming that could not escape all those gathered was the American Stars and Stripes flying from the mast of New Era. President of TOSA Liu Ai-min (劉愛民) said sailing was an undeveloped leisure activity in Taiwan and the current laws do not cover licensing of all types of sailboats. Regulations only allow non-motorized sailboats under 20 tonnes to be registered for a recreational use license. New Era weighs 32 tonnes, and therefore had to be registered outside Taiwan. "We just need to keep pushing for better laws," says Liu.
Besides the lack of a well-rounded system to regulate the various kinds of sailboats, Lin Meng-kui (林孟貴), president of Chinese Taipei Yachting Association (中華明民國帆船協會), also laments the scarcity of spots available for sailing. "We used to have 72 clubs around the country, but now we only have four or five. Most of them have been taken over by the military or local governments," says Lin, who also contributed to the 2001 Globe Expedition project. Because of the lack of facilities, the association is having problems training sailboat operators. This year, there is one less reason to train them. The ROC Games, the country's largest biannual sports competition, will not feature sailing as it did in 1999. "We are surrounded by water. It's part of our lives. The land is packed to capacity and the water is where we find hope, for more opportunities to develop a better leisure life," Lin said as New Era pulled in to harbor.
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