Fast Facts: First man to make a solo trip across the Pacific 60 years ago

Kenichi Horie, a 23-year-old man from Japan, was the first person to make a non-stop solo crossing of the Pacific, leaving Japan on May 12, 1962, and arriving in San Francisco aboard his 19-foot plywood sloop sailboat the Mermaid on Aug. 12, 1962.    The 5,300-mile journey took 94 days, and Horie arrived in San Francisco without official clearance. He was briefly arrested before Mayor George Christopher saw to his release and presented him with a visa and key to the city, according to the National Park Service website.    According to an Aug. 25, 1962, article from the Gadsen Times, Horie left Japan at almost 9 p.m. and encountered several storms, including a gale on June 2, just three weeks out of Japan.    After hitting another storm, Horie cut off three feet of his 22-foot mast to prevent another gale from damaging the mast.    After 94 days, Horie spotted Point Reyes, 40 miles north of San Francisco, and after being tied up at a yacht dock by US Coast Guard, the sailor offered sake and beer to everyone to celebrate his accomplishment.    In his book “Koduko: sailing alone across the Pacific,” Horie states that his reason for making the voyage was purely because he could and wanted to. Despite some protest...