A Grand Canyon river rafting guide completed a solo ocean row from California to Hawaii after nearly a month and a half at sea, pulling into a Honolulu harbor Friday night on her 21-foot row boat.
Kelsey Pfendler launched from Monterey, California, in May with the aim of becoming the first American woman to row across the mid-Pacific solo. She set out for the more than 2,400-mile journey and was cheered by hundreds as she arrived in Honolulu, where local media reported her finish.
Records maintained by the Ocean Rowing Society International—which adjudicates ocean-rowing achievements for Guinness World Records—show Pfendler finished in just under 44 days, faster than the previous comparable female record holder (86 days) and the male record holder (52 days). In video diaries during the voyage, she described day-to-day logistics and challenges such as blistered hands, difficulty sleeping in stiff winds, and dealing with currents and wind.
As she neared Oahu, Pfendler reflected on the personal meaning of the accomplishment and said she hoped it would encourage others to pursue their own “big, hard, scary” goals, while additional media plans were reported as pending at the time of the coverage.