In 1962, Kenichi Horie had already crossed the Pacific in violation of a Japanese law that prohibited navigators from sailing out of the country.
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He arrived safely. An 83-year-old sailor landed in Japan on Saturday June 4 after crossing the Pacific solo and nonstop. Kenichi Horie thus became thehe is the oldest person to achieve this feat, according to the organizers of the journey. The arrival of the adventurer of the seas in the Strait of Kii (western Japan) marked the end of a voyage of more than two months, aboard the Suntory Mermaid III, equipped with solar panels. The adventure began in a San Francisco marina on March 27. “I’m exhausted”wrote Horie on his blog, Friday, after a three-day battle against contrary currents.
In 1962, this octogenarian had crossed the Pacific at the age of 23, then breaking the Japanese law which prohibited navigators from leaving the country by sail, and thus entering the United States illegally. “I was constantly anxious and stressed about getting caught”he said recently.
Kenichi Horie has accomplished other feats at sea, completing a 7,500 km journey aboard a pedal boat in 1993 and undertaking a Pacific crossing in 2008 aboard a boat made in part from recycled material and whose propulsion had relied on the driving force of the waves.