An 83-year-old yachtsman is getting ready to make a treacherous solo journey across the Pacific to Japan, a feat he’s done three times already and which he hopes to do again aboard his 19-foo…
TIBURON — Squinting his eyes against a radiant sun gleaming on the waters of Belvedere Cove Friday, Kenichi Horie stood confident atop the small, 19-foot aluminum sailboat Suntory Mermaid III as it swayed on the waves — his home for the next two and a half months.
“It’s almost the same as before,” Horie said of his first voyage across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco in 1962.“But my age, that’s the difference.” Yachtsman legend says Horie arrived in San Francisco with no passport, no money and little to no English speaking skills and was promptly detained. Upon hearing of his brave journey, then-San Francisco Mayor George Christopher personally released him, gave him a 30-day visa and gifted him the key to the city.
Asked if he is confident about the journey, Horie said “always.” Aside from the danger of typhoon weather as he nears Japan on the last legs of his trip, the journey should be smooth sailing. For avid sailor and member of the Silicon Valley Sailing Club Nick Sugimoto — CEO of the Honda Innovations research lab in Mountain View — Horie’s journey is something he’d likely never have the guts to do.
The museum is home to Horie’s Suntory Mermaid II as well as other artifacts from his journey, including his logbook, life jacket and trusty flip flops, which he delighted in seeing.“It’s a tremendous feat to do even just once, and this is going to be his fourth journey,” Ho said. “I have no doubt in my mind he is as strong a yachtsman as his history shows. He’ll absolutely make it.”
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