Dione Chen is fighting to save an 80-foot wooden boat that is rotting in a shipyard in the Sacramento River Delta. Though not much to look at, the Free China is the last authentic Fujian-style junk boat in existence. What’s more, it brought Chen’s father, who died last fall, to the United States in 1955. But today—after changing hands several times over the years—the boat is in danger of becoming firewood.
To keep that from happening, Chen, ’83, MBA ’90, is working on two fronts: finding a long-term home for the boat, and making plans to raise money to restore it. Taking time between jobs to focus on the project, she has spoken to dozens of people—including historians and maritime enthusiasts—to figure out the best way to give the boat “a public life.”
Though the project seems overwhelming at times, Chen is comforted by the fact that her father and his crewmates did not have a firm plan at first, either: “They started their journey with no money, no plan, no boat . . . just the opportunity.”
