Okinawa couple setting sail
on year-long trip around the world
By Mark Oliva, Okinawa bureau
Mark Oliva / Stars and Stripes
Ben and Lisa Miller pose with their dog, Crew, in front of their
sailboat |
KADENA AIR
BASE — Ben Miller is casting his entire life to the wind and the sea.
Miller and
his wife, Lisa, are sailing out of Okinawa on Saturday for a round-the-world trip,
accompanied by their dog, Crew, for the next year or so.
"They
say for every hundred thousand people who dream of doing this, one thousand actually buy a
boat and attempt it," Miller said. "One person from that thousand actually does
it. And an even smaller percentage finishes."
But
Miller’s bucking the odds and setting sail.
Miller
started harnessing wind and water in 1963, sailing with his father on a 16-foot boat on
White Rock Lake, in Dallas. The 2½-mile-long lake was hardly the wide-open sea, but it
was enough to whet his taste for salt spray in his face and a breeze at his back.
He took to
the ocean during his first stint on Okinawa in 1981 while on active duty with the Air
Force, sailing the Ryukyuan archipelago. His second stay in Okinawa started in 1988 and
found him attempting over-the-horizon trips, dropping anchor in places like Hong Kong. But
his true passion was speed, not distance.
"What
really got me interested was when I raced from Okinawa to Tokyo in ’93 and won,"
he said.
Miller has
won the Okinawa to Tokyo race three times. He’s also dominated the Okinawa-Kume
Island race since it began a decade ago, snagging four first-place and four second-place
finishes.
Even though
he loves speed, one distance-based goal has been tugging at his sleeve.
"I
always thought I’d like to go around the world," Miller said.
Lisa Miller
might be the reason behind his daring venture. She shares his passion.
"He
only got serious when he realized he has someone who’d go with him," Lisa said.
They sold
their racing boat, Knighthawk, and for the first time in years, Miller found himself with
sea legs but no deck to balance them on.
"I
told Lisa I’d go to Hawaii and I wouldn’t come back til I got a boat,"
Miller said. He wasn’t looking for the stripped down, streamlined vessel of his
racing days. Long-term sailing needs creature comforts.
"I
wanted something with hot and cold running water," he said. "I wanted running
water, a microwave, stove, fridge and oven."
He found
what he was looking for in Remedy, a 37-foot yacht. He decked out the engine with new
accessories and re-rigged the lines and sails for the voyage.
His voyage
from Hawaii to Okinawa gave him feel for how the boat might handle.
"We
went through a storm and the boat flexed a lot," Miller said.
More
accurately, he battled 30-foot seas and 60-knot winds. The valuable lesson was that the
Remedy could handle the open seas.
Preparations
have been intense. Ben and Lisa have sold nearly everything they own. They’re also
packed to the gills for the voyage, using six-months’ of supplies as a benchmark.
"For
this trip, you really have to prepare for anything," he said.
That
includes four global positioning systems, weather faxes and an array of marine radios.
They even decked out the boat with an autopilot system.
"I
want this to be a vacation," Miller said. "I don’t want it to be too much
drudgery. A lot of our trips will be day trips, but the Indian and Atlantic Oceans will be
24-hour operations."
For those
legs, the Millers plan for alternating four-hour shifts.
The Millers
have even taken practicing living on their new floating home in preparation for the
voyage.
Food is
also a serious concern on an extended journey.
"When
you’re at sea, you make a lot of one-pot meals," Miller said.
"That’s
one pot at an angle with everything sliding," Lisa said. "It’s a ballet in
the kitchen."
The trip
isn’t without risk, both physical and financial.
"No
insurance company will take on a risk like this," Miller said. The couple has
invested about $120,000 into the voyage. "It takes one navigational error to put you
up on a reef. You’re kind of a fool if you’re not a little scared. But caution
is what’s going to get you through it.
Lisa, a
social worker by training, said the toughest part might be getting along in confined
quarters. "When we’re out sailing, we hardly see each other because of the
shifts," she said. "In port, we have to be respectful if we need some space. I
have to practice what I preach."
But the
dreams outweigh the risks, and come Saturday, the Millers will pull anchor for the last
time on Okinawa and sail of into the Golden Week sunset, bound for their first port of
call, on mainland Japan.
"Have
you ever heard an old person tell you, ‘I wish …?’" Miller asked.
"I don’t want to … say I wish I did this."
To track
the Millers’ progress on their journey, log onto their Web site,
<CF21>http://www.geocities.com/remedyusa95/</CF>. They plan on regularly
updating their stops and accomplishments along the way.
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