Choshi (Japan): A daredevil American woman called Sonya Baumstein is in a set out to become the first woman in the world to row solo across the Pacific. To achieve the feat she has to cover a distance of 6000 miles through the ocean by traveling from the Japanese port of Choshi to the San Francisco in the USA.
Only three other rowboats are participating in the journey, and no woman has ever done it alone by rowing from Japan to the US. Sonya Baumstein, from Orlando, Florida, waited for weeks to set out in her custom-designed green boat. She is expected to arrive in California in September by rowing 14-16 hours a day when the weather allows and breaking her sleep to check her location.
She has already succeeded in rowing through the Atlantic to the Caribbean Islands. Hence, the 29-year-old has a good idea about all those weeks she has to spend at sea. According to her moonless nights are the worst as she cannot tell from where the waves are coming or when they will smash into her.
She said that it would be really discouraging as the waves were from every direction and no time for a prior judgment by viewing them.
Baumstein has rowed competitively in high school and at Wisconsin University. But she was so unfortunate to be sidelined by a bad car accident. After recovering from the accident, she had a chance to join with three men who were decided to row the mid-Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Barbados in January 2012.
Regarding the Pacific rowing she is well determined and said that she liked the challenge very much.
On her boat there are equipments and facilities to measure and analysis water conditions which helps her understand climatic changes and other phenomena. During this adventurous journey, Baumstein will not have any supporting boats to follow her. Instead, she has a team to provide support remotely from shore via satellite phone and GPS.
Video on the woman who likes to row solo across the Pacific
