Mariner Kenichi Horie, who has voyaged across the Pacific seven times, welcomed the return of the yacht he recently sailed to San Francisco with open arms Wednesday at the port of Kobe.
Horie, 63, completed the two-month trans-Pacific voyage on his MALT's Mermaid 3 from Hyogo Prefecture to San Francisco on July 17. He then returned to Japan and waited while the boat was transported back in a container ship.
"Having spent two months together at sea, this yacht has become my alter ego, as well as my girlfriend," Horie said with a smile as he touched the hull after it was unloaded at around 10 a.m. "It has done its very best."
As he was awaiting the yacht's return, he worried the container ship might encounter an accident. "Now that my yacht has returned, I finally feel this trans-Pacific voyage is complete," Horie said.
The Mermaid 3 is made of recycled beer cans, whiskey barrels, plastic bottles and other materials. It is similar to the boat Horie used in his first Pacific crossing in 1962 along the same route.
After being exhibited in Japan, the Mermaid 3 will be donated to the museum of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park within the year and is scheduled to be exhibited alongside the original Mermaid that Horie used 40 years ago.