On Friday evening of July 3, American Kelsey Pfendler rowed her 21-foot ocean-going rowboat into Honolulu, Hawaii and completed a remarkable, record-breaking solo adventure across the Pacific Ocean.
Pfendler, a veteran Grand Canyon River guide, had the goal when she departed Monterey, California on May 21 to become the fastest and youngest woman to complete the 2,400-mile course. She did that and more.
Rowing 16 hours a day she arrived in Hawaii in 43 days and shattered Lia Ditton’s record of 86 days, 10 hours by whopping 43 days. But she also crushed the standing men’s record for the course by a full 9 days.
When she moored her boat Lilly at the Hawaii Yacht Club, she was greeted by hundreds of fans and well wishers.A reporter for the online news blog Hawaii News Now was in the crowd and spoke with several of the people there.
“Accomplishing an amazing feat, you know? People should really give a lot of respect to a woman that can do that,” said Robert Hoffman, who was among the hundreds who started gathering at Magic Island for Pfendler’s arrival.
“I know she’s done it with other people but she’s doing it by herself now, and she’s be going out there, and that’s something that most people wouldn’t think of — that’s being alone out in the middle of the ocean for 43 days,” said Marco Gomez of San Antonio, Texas.
Her achievement is all the more remarkable because she had already rowed from California to Hawaii on a larger boat with a crew of herself and three other woman. Their time was only three days faster, with two rowers and two sets of oars for propulsion.
For her solo trip, she made use of social media and posted short videos on Instagram. By the time she had arrived in Honolulu, she had built an audience of more than 700,000 followers. Plus, her non-profit Whale Foundation had raised $30,000 to support her fellow River Rafting Guides.
At the Yacht club one fan chimed in, “She’s just so inspirational. Actually, on Kelsey’s last live post … she said for everybody who feels like they can’t do it — I’m doing this for you,” said resident Stacey McConlogue.
