First Solo Voyage Across The Pacific
In 1962, at the age of 23, Horie became the first person to make a solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Leaving Nishinomiya Japan on May 12, in 94 days (on August 11) he arrived in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. aboard a 19-foot (5.8 m) sailboat called the Mermaid. He arrived with no passport or money and was promptly arrested. Despite Horie’s best effort to legally depart from Japan, because of lack of precedent for an international travel on a small sailboat, he was not able to obtain a passport, and adequate amount of foreign currency. After learning of his voyage the mayor freed him and gave him a 30 day visa and was awarded the key to the city.
Read more about this topic: Kenichi Horie
Famous quotes containing the words solo, voyage and/or pacific:
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)
“He makes his voyage too late, perhaps, by a true water clock who delays too long.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The doctor of Geneva stamped the sand
That lay impounding the Pacific swell,
Patted his stove-pipe hat and tugged his shawl.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)