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Tokyo (CNN) — Sailing solo across the world’s largest ocean once is an achievement. But 83-year-old Japanese ocean adventurer Kenichi Horie has done it several times.
On Saturday 4 June, he set a record by becoming the world’s oldest solo sailor to sail non-stop across the Pacific.
Horie arrived in the waters of the Kii Peninsula in western Japan at 2:39 a.m. local time after spending more than two months crossing the world’s largest body of water.
“Don’t let your dreams stay with dreams. Have a goal and work towards achieving it and a beautiful life awaits,” Horie told CNN via satellite phone as he made his way from Shikoku Island to Wakayama, the final leg of his journey. trip.
He said some parts of the trip were challenging, but he checked in with his family every day by calling them on his satellite phone. “If I didn’t call at least once a day, they would be concerned,” he added.
Horie did not call in any ports during his trip and was spotted off the coast of the island of Oahu in Hawaii on April 16. He will arrive in Cape Hinomisaki in western Japan on June 4.
The sailor will attend an arrival ceremony in the town of Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture after the Suntory Mermaid III is towed to its home port, Shin Nishinomiya Yacht Harbor.
‘Japan’s most famous sailor’
“I was confident that I would make it – I just wanted to take on the challenge,” Horie said, adding that he sometimes felt anxious during the storms at sea as he only had a radio on board and there was no GPS at the time. .
Horie remembers joyfully offering the Americans who came to meet him the sake and beer he had brought across the Pacific.
Horie, then 23 years old, was greeted by his parents and sister when he returned to Japan in 1963.
Hideyuki Mihashi / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Low-fi, eco-sailor
Horie has shared the idea for the past few decades that the sea is “an irreplaceable source of life for the Earth,” but said he does not identify as an environmentalist. “I’m just doing my part as a member of society,” he said.
Horie, who has previously said he wants to keep sailing until he’s 100, never expected to take a solo, non-stop voyage across the Pacific six decades after his maiden voyage.
“I didn’t think I’d be sailing at 83, but I’m still healthy and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity,” he said. “Challenges are exciting, so I’d like to keep trying.”
A sign donated by Horie, immortalizing his request, reads: “Remember for a moment, if you will, the act of a young Japanese who loved the yacht and the United States of America.”
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