{"id":3533,"date":"2019-04-29T15:05:57","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T15:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/?p=3533"},"modified":"2019-04-29T15:05:57","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T15:05:57","slug":"blind-japanese-sailor-completes-non-stop-pacific-crossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2019\/04\/29\/blind-japanese-sailor-completes-non-stop-pacific-crossing\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind Japanese sailor completes non-stop Pacific crossing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A blind Japanese sailor on Saturday successfully completed a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima prefecture, making him the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joined by a sighted navigator, it was 52-year-old Mitsuhiro Iwamoto\u2019s second two-handed attempt at the 14,000-kilometre journey. His first ended when his boat hit a whale and sank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/methode\/2019\/04\/20\/c39bb5b8-634d-11e9-b745-17e2afcf325c_1320x770_173700.jpg\" alt=\"Japanese sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto speaking in 2013. Photo: AFP\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japanese sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto speaking in 2013. Photo: AFP<strong>Share:<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Shared%20from%20South%20China%20Morning%20Post&amp;body=Blind%20Japanese%20sailor%20completes%20non-stop%20Pacific%20crossing%0D%0Ahttps:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3007008\/blind-japanese-sailor-completes-non-stop-pacific-crossing\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn\u2019t give up and I made a dream come true. I\u2019m the happiest person on Earth,\u201d Iwamoto said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A native of Kumamoto prefecture currently living in San Diego, Iwamoto left the western US city on February 24 aboard his 12-metre boat Dream Weaver with navigator Doug Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since his first attempt, he has taken part in triathlon races to familiarise himself with swimming in the sea and to help him overcome the traumatic sinking of his boat in the middle of the Pacific in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/methode\/2019\/04\/20\/b6c360de-634d-11e9-b745-17e2afcf325c_1320x770_173700.jpg\" alt=\"Dream Weaver, on which Iwamoto and Smith were travelling. Photo: Kyodo\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dream Weaver, on which Iwamoto and Smith were travelling. Photo: Kyodo<strong>Share:<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Shared%20from%20South%20China%20Morning%20Post&amp;body=Blind%20Japanese%20sailor%20completes%20non-stop%20Pacific%20crossing%0D%0Ahttps:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3007008\/blind-japanese-sailor-completes-non-stop-pacific-crossing\"><\/a>SUBSCRIBE TO&nbsp;THIS WEEK IN ASIAGet updates direct to your inboxSUBMITBy registering for these newsletters you agree to our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/terms-conditions\">T&amp;C<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was travelling in the opposite direction on his failed attempt, starting in the northeastern Japanese prefecture and aiming to finish in San Diego, with a Japanese navigator. His boat sank five days after leaving a Fukushima port and the two were rescued by Japan\u2019s Self-Defence Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe undertake this voyage not only for personal accomplishment, but to send a message that anything is possible when people come together,\u201d he wrote on his webpage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iwamoto lost his sight at the age of 16. He and Smith made the voyage to raise money for charity and for efforts to prevent diseases that cause blindness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A blind Japanese sailor on Saturday successfully completed a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima prefecture, making him the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing. Joined by a sighted navigator, it was 52-year-old Mitsuhiro Iwamoto\u2019s second two-handed attempt at the 14,000-kilometre journey. His first ended when his boat hit a whale and sank&#8230;. <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2019\/04\/29\/blind-japanese-sailor-completes-non-stop-pacific-crossing\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3534,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions\/3534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}