r/BeAmazed • u/PleasantBus5583 • Jul 09 '26
Skill / Talent Kelsey Pfendler rowed solo from California to Hawaii in just 43 days.The fastest solo crossing ever.
2.0k
u/HorselessHorseman Jul 09 '26
Rowing for 43 days sounds insane. Can’t walk around. No real change of scenery. Sleeping alone in the pitch darkness of the ocean. And what if the crazy waves come? This is bit mind blowing to me
1.4k
u/1Steelghost1 Jul 09 '26
Go watch her instagram she discusses all these issues and she actually rowed more at night due to sun exposure. She documented everyday and it is very informative!!
387
u/TopLeaf Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I'll wait for the hour long YouTube doco
188
u/meat_sack Jul 09 '26
I heard Leslie Jones is going to play her in the upcoming Netflix movie.
10
5
u/Kwelikinz Jul 10 '26
She might have to. One time I went on an ocean bird watching excursion and forgot to put sunscreen on my ankles and they were “expresso” for almost two years. I’m usually about latte.
→ More replies (2)17
24
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
22
12
u/ConfessSomeMeow Jul 09 '26
Someone has probably already AI-generated an hour-long video that regurgitates the articles that humans wrote in a voiceover of a slideshow of pictures from the same articles.
14
9
9
u/r3dd17sux69420 Jul 09 '26
I'll wait for the 8-part, 12-hour Netflix doc
14
4
u/Woodit Jul 09 '26
Starring Zendaya 😃
6
u/asterixkoala Jul 09 '26
Left on a cliffhanger at day 23 and subsequently quietly canceled after a 3 year hiatus.
→ More replies (3)2
48
u/DoofusIdiot Jul 09 '26
One woman’s goals is another man’s nightmare. In the middle of the ocean rowing alone at night? Cool for her, never will be me.
23
u/GrallochThis Jul 09 '26
Really, for me, it would be about every 10 minutes, imagining the giant rising tooth filled mouth coming up towards me
→ More replies (1)11
→ More replies (1)10
u/UncoolSlicedBread Jul 09 '26
I bet the views in the night sky without light pollution made it absolutely worth it. Although the noises would get to me.
16
u/So_HauserAspen Jul 09 '26
I'm curious if she discusses her rations? Did she get resupplied at sea?
53
u/Jay1313 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
She was not allowed to accept any outside support whatsoever or it would disqualify her record attempt. She had to leave California with everything she would need, food included. No support boats, no nothing. Just her.
Edit: Kreegs is correct, I should have mentioned she had weather reports and support with navigation over her radio, but no direct support. Just her and her boat.
21
u/SquarePegRoundWorld Jul 09 '26
Damn, I assumed a support boat and it's still crazy, no support boat is fucking epic. I dream of being that self reliant.
→ More replies (16)→ More replies (2)7
u/barto5 Jul 09 '26
What did she do for water?
Store it or do some sort of desalinization?
→ More replies (1)18
49
u/1Steelghost1 Jul 09 '26
She took 90 days of rations stowed in the sides of the boat, they were basically camping/ dehyrated meals, peanut butter and snacks.
→ More replies (1)11
u/Organic-Vermicelli47 Jul 09 '26
No resupply as others have said, but she also mentioned she ran out of coffee before the end! That would demoralize me 😅 I think she had caffeine pills though
13
u/Informal_Ad_9610 Jul 09 '26
was pretty cool - my wife followed her online the whole thing - lots of great info..
→ More replies (13)5
u/CaptainMacMillan Jul 09 '26
Rowing a tiny boat like that in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the black of night sounds both immensely peaceful and immensely terrifying
204
u/electron1661 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I read an article that said something along the lines of the little inside area where she sleeps has to be locked airtight and that way it’s almost like a balloon where if a wave flips the boat, it will automatically turn upright
77
u/LoornenTings Jul 09 '26
I'm no expert on boaty stuff, but I believe most seagoing monohull vessels are built to be self-righting.
27
u/TheBSQ Jul 09 '26
I don’t know if it was her or someone else (a fair number of people do this) but I was following social media posts by someone doing one of these ocean rows and if I recall, there’s two “rooms” / compartments, one on each end, and I think they use one for sleeping and the other for storage (clothes, food, etc.)
They have desalination systems for drinking water, internet, etc. it’s all pretty neat.
But yeah, the boat is self-righting so if there’s a bad storm, you go inside your sleeping room & ride it out. Probably not very fun to be tossed around like that, I’d imagine.
37
u/riverblue9011 Jul 09 '26
No expert but you use words that make me feel as stupid as I am?
36
u/Mindless_Chest_1079 Jul 09 '26
me no smart on float but most big water skinny floaty things try stay pointing up
15
5
3
18
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
89
u/NoLemonadeToday Jul 09 '26
With her lungs
28
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
12
7
u/Face88888888 Jul 09 '26
No, we just sell lemonade. But it’s cold, and it’s fresh, and it’s all homemade.
2
14
u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom Jul 09 '26
It’s probably vented in a way that allows air in/out but not water, I deal with this issue in water treatment
8
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)5
u/JMC_MASK Jul 09 '26
Maybe like those snorkel devices where if you go under water a little floaty device is pulled up blocking the airway. And once you resurface it falls back down to allow air in.
→ More replies (1)30
u/kirinlikethebeer Jul 09 '26
She said she has a bit of recovery to do since the muscle groups she used are very different than those used for walking. This ain’t her first row tho. Super impressive feat and she’s so positive about even the hard stuff.
2
77
u/Dave-C Jul 09 '26
I watched a story about this woman that does long distance swimming. I don't mean like swimming for miles, I mean like hundreds of miles non stop. She told a story about what it is like being out in a sea with no visuals, cloudy so no stars, just darkness. Then sometimes the algae will begin to glow as your arms go through the water and it spreads out from you. You're swimming in pitch black other than this glowing light blue ripple around you.
It sounds like nirvana. It would be hard to imagine something more beautiful.
94
u/No-Shape7764 Jul 09 '26
That’s so fascinating. To me that sounds like an absolute nightmare.
→ More replies (1)12
51
u/Tjaeng Jul 09 '26
The feeling of sheer dread I got from just imagining what you wrote…
21
u/Bob_A_Ganoosh Jul 09 '26
Right? Just knowing there are many large predators inspecting you from below, contemplating whether or not you're a meal.
6
u/LoornenTings Jul 09 '26
You mean sheer nirvana... You know, the kind you get from just floating in darkness, without any visual points of reference, without any sense of place, without anyone around to help. Just you helplessly plodding along, unable to tell how far you've gone or how much farther you've yet to go, in an environment hostile to your species, with no company but the voices in your head and the innumerable soulless creatures hunting below.
2
19
u/emmzilly Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
On a night dive,
calm water and a cloudless sky.Bioluminescence in the water as the boat slices through the ink, peppered with stars. Mirroring the celestial ceiling.
It was perfect as you’d think.
6
u/Domerhead Jul 09 '26
Night dives are easily one of the most magical experiences life has to offer.
13
14
u/outdoorlaura Jul 09 '26
You're swimming in pitch black other than this glowing light blue ripple around you. It sounds like nirvana. It would be hard to imagine something more beautiful.
Maybe I'm too soft but that sounds scary af lol. The ocean in the pitch black of night?? Absolutely not.
9
2
u/photoacoustic Jul 09 '26
I grew up in a town by the sea, and I cried every time my parents took me to the beach. Even to this day, the endlessness of any ocean reminds me of the phobia I once had.
And add darkness to that? Holy shit...
7
u/WulfZ3r0 Jul 09 '26
Not to mention the sand: it's coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere.
→ More replies (1)5
7
2
u/turbo_fart Jul 09 '26
Would you kindly share the title of what you watched? I would love to see this!
2
u/Dave-C Jul 09 '26
It has been years since I watched the video. I tried to search but all I could find was world record holders, the first person to make different achievements, etc. All I can remember is it was a woman and she was swimming from one of the Hawaii islands to another
→ More replies (3)2
u/LetterheadPublic5995 Jul 09 '26
It sounds like nirvana
It sounds like hell to me, but different folks
12
u/Nefertete Jul 09 '26
My brother did this row a couple years ago... all the women teams beat the guys I think. I may have met this woman at the row launch. Anyhow, I am very proud of him because he raised around $40million for Parkinson's in the process!
18
u/Kuraloordi Jul 09 '26
Finnish firefighter has been doing these things for a while now. You get hit by wave? You just flip it back. You sleep when you can't row and when the conditions are ideal you row.
Dropped like 20kg weight when rowing from Europe to America, eating dry food and peanuts mainly.
8
u/Surface13 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Being out in the open ocean alone day and night for 43 days is nightmare fuel. Cudos to her. She's a strong tough woman! Physically and mentally! Bravo
Edit: spelling
7
u/Wasatcher Jul 09 '26
She would tie everything down during storms so if capsized she wouldn't lose gear.
Absolutely mind blowing feat of mental toughness. I followed her on Instagram during the crossing. She would row for hours, take a two hour nap. Row some more. For 43 days. She was upset with herself when she slept through an alarm for 6 hours because her body needed a break.
7
u/SnooHedgehogs8765 Jul 09 '26
There's a guy doing it around the world right now.
Check out 'Adventure Aaron Carotta, on socials.
Just made it to the Seychelles.
3
u/Punch_A_Police_Horse Jul 09 '26
This is actually what gets me when faced with doing anything arduous like this. What of the boredom? That's also what I fear most about prison, by a lot.
2
u/growlybeard Jul 10 '26
You can sing songs to yourself. Unfortunately the only song I know by heart is "Row, row, row your boat..."
6
u/TheBSQ Jul 09 '26
A neighbor I’m friendly with casually mentioned that his best friend rowed solo across the Atlantic.
I was like pfffttt, bullshit, and then looked into it and found out it’s actually not that rare & a fair number of people do it, many documenting it on social media as they go. I feel down an internet wormhole of social media accounts. It’s pretty interesting to see it and learn all the details. They do tours of the boat, explain how it all works, what they eat, their drinking water systems, satellite phones, etc.
There’s also 2 person boats so you can do it with a friend if being solo for so long isn’t your thing.
It’s kinda wild that there’s this subculture of folks who row across oceans.
8
u/Yequestingadventurer Jul 09 '26
A guy just rowed from Indonesia to the Seychelles, 900 days and documented the whole thing. Not to diminish the achievement of the subject of this post at all as time wasn’t a factor in the longer row.
8
u/Darklord_Of_Bacon Jul 09 '26
90 days or 900? She just went 2400 miles in 42 days. Can’t imagine it took 3 years to go twice that distance
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (10)2
u/Warcraft_Fan Jul 09 '26
Probably used a bedpan to relief her without getting up, then swished the pan in the water after each use
→ More replies (1)
814
u/Acrobatic-List-6503 Jul 09 '26
She sliced the former women’s record by half and beat be men’s record by nine days.
Hawaii must be really nice this time of the year.
148
u/BrogenKlippen Jul 09 '26
God damn. I’m really proud of myself when I do 10 laps in the pool.
That was my humbling for this morning.
60
u/Old-Library5546 Jul 09 '26
She probably started out swimming laps in the pool, give yourself time 🙂
22
→ More replies (12)4
48
u/badbitchherodotus Jul 09 '26
My favorite part of the story is that she didn’t set out to break the records—she just wanted to be the first American woman to do it. Then it became clear that she was on pace to be the fastest woman to do it, and then it started seeming like she could actually beat the men’s record too. So cool!
8
u/CitizenCue Jul 10 '26
Not to take anything away from her because it’s incredible, but this route runs with the trade winds, so most crossings are determined mainly by weather.
Since very few people even try to row long distances like this, the resulting times will be all over the place.
11
10
10
u/Corregidor Jul 09 '26
Wonder if the current El Nino conditions had any bearing on her speed. That's a huge differential between those records
5
u/5gpr Jul 09 '26
So what did she do differently? Halving a previous record - or even improving one by about 20% - can't be just an athletic difference, can it?
It's an incredible achievement regardless, this is not in any way meant to minimise it.
11
u/MaggotMinded Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Probably a combination of things. She probably took fewer/shorter breaks than the people who had done it before her, and if she had a better boat and more favourable weather then that would make a big difference, too. It’s not like a short-distance foot race where in order to be X% faster than someone you have to be X% more physically fit. When it’s spread out over weeks like that, other factors like strategy play a much bigger role.
→ More replies (6)6
u/thr3sk Jul 09 '26
Probably a combination of things, getting specific would just be speculation but obviously there's the weather/currents, boat design, etc. As for the major improvement I think compared to many other records there just haven't been that many attempts so the data hasn't really tightened up like you see with more conventional races.
→ More replies (9)4
u/skateboardbanana1 Jul 09 '26
I wonder if she got lucky with currents/wind? That’s just a crazy discrepancy
233
u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 09 '26
How does she carry enough food and water for that? I go through 32 oz of water rowing for 3km on my rowing machine.
292
253
u/superlewis Jul 09 '26
She had enough food for 85 days. She carried some bottled water for emergencies, but mostly water came through desalinization. She had two different desalinization methods - electric and a backup manual pump.
52
42
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
60
u/uses_for_mooses Jul 09 '26
She stopped at Popeyes right before setting off and loaded up on biscuits.
47
u/aramis34143 Jul 09 '26
Step 1: Dump them overboard.
Step 2: Walk to Hawaii on your slightly moistened biscuit-bridge.
5
2
8
3
u/OnlinePort Jul 09 '26
They use solar panels to power a small desalinator that turns ocean water into fresh drinking water. For food they just stuff months worth of freeze dried meals into every single spare inch of the hull.
→ More replies (1)7
u/ThemB0ners Jul 09 '26
She took down a massive shark, by hand, and that fed her for the whole trip.
124
u/No_Point904 Jul 09 '26
"I just flew er rowed in from California and boy are my arms tired....."
→ More replies (1)22
u/Foxfire2 Jul 09 '26
Flying would make your arms even tireder.
7
19
98
u/BluehibiscusEmpire Jul 09 '26
The boat looks special. I wonder if it has communications equipment and and cooking / sleeping space.
Seems just about snug enough to have room for some stuff.
Also what an athlete. No matter how well equipped she was, 43 days of rowing in open sea is far beyond the normal person
73
u/1Steelghost1 Jul 09 '26
Yes it has all that and is actually quite large for a single person OP needed to link her socials. She does a great job explaining the boat, the trip & the reason she did it:
→ More replies (1)11
u/lfreckledfrontbum Jul 09 '26
Naaw😡I only have reddit
15
u/Nice_Firm_Handsnake Jul 09 '26
She has a YouTube channel with the same username
7
4
u/Technicholl Jul 09 '26
Looks like a Rannoch R25. There’s plenty of space on there for one person and there gear/food for the whole trip.
→ More replies (1)2
u/atreidesletoII Jul 09 '26
Right that was second thought after just wow thats insane to be able to do.
58
49
u/Deltamon Jul 09 '26
" - and beat the fastest man to ever do it."
Just FUCKING SAY " - which is the fastest anyone has done it."
→ More replies (9)
56
u/Mudmen12 Jul 09 '26
Is there more context to this?
Like it is incredible but isnt this entirely dictated by weather and water currents?
As in could she go back in 2 months time and do it in 34 days etc.
Im not taking anything away from this i just have fuck all concept of rowing on the open ocean.
77
u/superlewis Jul 09 '26
She will readily acknowledge that favorable currents played a huge role in her speed.
9
u/Massive-Woah978 Jul 09 '26
However there were also days that she would row all day and due to the currents was only keeping the progress she made not gaining any.
37
u/milkyjoe241 Jul 09 '26
Isnt part of the skill of this using the currents to your advantage
15
u/ConcentricCow Jul 09 '26
Of course it is. No one is saying that any of these factors reduces the absolute astonishment of what she did, it's just people not familiar with it trying to understand just how she accomplished it. It was obviously a combination of pure and powerful athleticism combined with a super strong mental game before and during along with a dash of luck (whenever you deal with the ocean there's always a little dash for luck).
→ More replies (1)20
u/SnooHedgehogs8765 Jul 09 '26
Correct. There's a guy doing this right now... Aaron Carotta. Uses data to try ride currents where possible because they're incredibly powerful when you're rowing a slow boat slower than some currents.
→ More replies (4)3
u/Obvious_Mention7207 Jul 09 '26
I hate that this dude has gotten like 1/8th the attention, and hes on day 580+ solo.
→ More replies (3)24
u/TRAINWR3CK6 Jul 09 '26
I would say anytime someone is attempting anything more than a couple day endurance event, favorable conditions are always going to be a priority went deciding went to start.
→ More replies (4)6
3
u/kirinlikethebeer Jul 09 '26
She said she was meant to leave early May but waited for more favorable weather due to a system moving through. There are videos she took rowing through inclement weather. Incredible stuff.
→ More replies (6)3
u/poor-guy1 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
It's a neat record to claim, but, unless it's a race where everyone is together, it's almost impossible to compare times against others. Over this length of event, a small boost in speed by favorable swell, current, or wind can result in giant time gains over the entire distance.
31
u/1Steelghost1 Jul 09 '26
https://www.instagram.com/yourowkelsey
Seriously OP at least give some info
→ More replies (2)9
6
u/08_West Jul 09 '26
When I was a Boy Scout at summer camp, for my rowing merit badge I had to row a mile in the Chesapeake Bay. The camp counselor told me to row out to this buoy which was a mile away and then this other kid in my boat was to row back. It was hard work rowing in small waves! But I got the boat out to the buoy and then the other kid started rowing back. The other kid couldn’t even get that boat a quarter mile before he was sputtering and crying so I had to row the rest of the way back. When we got back the counselor said he accidentally told us to row to the wrong buoy which was closer to two miles away than one.
I can’t imagine rowing 56 miles in a single day! And then doing it another 42 days in a row. Hats off to that woman.
21
13
u/Gold-Mug Jul 09 '26
I'd rather drink Kevin Costner's recycled piss water than to be alone for 43 days on open water.
→ More replies (1)8
10
u/RobeLTDP Jul 09 '26
Are flights that expensive?
5
u/blahblah19999 Jul 09 '26
It's not the price so much as the person behind you putting their bare feet on your arm rest.
4
u/BonerOfTheLake Jul 09 '26
is this the same girl i see in a clip talking to chinese chief officer, exchange pleasantries and email on the radio?
3
5
u/Miserable_Data3679 Jul 09 '26
Genuinely curious - how does one use the bathroom here ?
25
u/aselinger Jul 09 '26
She’s in the middle of the world’s largest toilet…
7
u/Into_The_Horizon Jul 09 '26
You think she held onto something and squat down or she jumped in the water and do it in the water. ? Or did she make a DIY bucket with a pool noodle as a homemade toilet? Or is there an actual toilet in the row boat? Maybe that's what this person was asking lol.
8
u/CandidPreparation737 Jul 09 '26
Hold onto a rope, squat over the side and let the ocean wipe you clean. And if you’re lucky you might get a nibble.
2
2
→ More replies (3)5
4
4
u/qpqpdbdbqpqp Jul 09 '26
imagine being the fastest person to row across the pacific and all this idiot writing the caption could think of was making it a gender thing.
→ More replies (2)
10
u/Valimaar89 Jul 09 '26
→ More replies (2)5
u/ghosttowns42 Jul 09 '26
She did it to raise money for the Whale Foundation, which seems like it supports the health and wellness of the Grand Canyon River guides.
6
u/ImaginaryCheetah Jul 09 '26
i didn't even know whales could work for the national park service
→ More replies (1)2
2
2
u/Zaluiha Jul 09 '26
Because she could? Sounds like a good reason to do stuff. I imagine the tech had a lot to do with it. Was her gear comparable to earlier successes or did it give her a competitive edge?
2
u/Lorelessone Jul 09 '26
I'm a kayaker and sailor and have been in the pacific in some quite wild weather, the thought of doing this seems wild to me. Being on a big ship knowing theirs 4km of water between you and the bottom and 10m waves is more than bad enough.
2
u/williamsgigi Jul 09 '26
She has raised awareness and money for the Whale Foundation in Flagstaff, Arizona. It gives support to Grand Canyon river guides. She’s amazing!!
2
u/Top_Armadillo3033 Jul 09 '26
Why not just say the fastest person to do it? Why have to compare genders?
2
2
2
2
u/JoshAllentown Jul 09 '26
It's an impressive feat, but it feels infantalizing to position it as "even faster than a man!"
Like Joey Chestnut ate "even more hot dogs than a fat guy!" Sure, and I guess I would have thought a fat guy could eat more hot dogs, but the impressive part is that it is a world record, not that it happened to be a world record compared to a certain segment of the population.
2
2
u/ThirtyMileSniper Jul 09 '26
But surely there is an achievement that can be mentioned about the closest man in her life...
Does this need the /s? Do I need to point out that I'm poking fun at when the media lists a woman's achievements in relation to a husband/boyfriend)brother/father? It's Reddit, if course I do.
2
u/0Frames Jul 09 '26
There must be thousands of slightly overweight, middle-aged men on their couch right now thinking "I would be faster"
2
3
•
u/qualityvote2 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Did you find this post really amazing (in a positive way)?
If yes, then UPVOTE this comment otherwise DOWNVOTE it.
This community feedback will help us determine whether this post is suited for r/BeAmazed or not.