A 70 YEAR-OLD NEW YORK MAN, WILLIAM WILLIS, IS SHORTLY TO BEGIN A SINGLE-HANDED CROSSING OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, A DISTANCE OF 10,000 MILES, ON A STEEL RAFT.TODAY (FRIDAY) HE LEFT FOR CALLAO IN PERU, SHIPPING HIS RAFT ABOARD AN OCEAN LINER.

FROM PERU HE WILL BEGIN HIS LONELY VOYAGE, A FEAT NOT SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED BEFORE.MR.WILLIS HAS ALREADY MADE A SHORTER PACIFIC VOYAGE.IN 1954, HE SAILED 6,700 MILES TO SAMOA, ON A BALSA WOOD RAFT.

THE NEW RAFT IS NAMED "AGED UNLIMITED".IT IS 33 FEET LONG AND 18 FEET WIDE ACHIEVED AND WEIGHS FIVE TONS.THIS REMARKABLE SAILOR HA NO PARTICULAR SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES IN HIS VOYAGE BEYOND HAS NO PARTICULAR SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES IN HIS VOYAGE BEYOND PROVING THAT A MAN OF 70 CAN UNDERGO ENDLESS HARDSHIP AND SURVIVE.