{"id":3758,"date":"2026-07-04T21:06:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T21:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3758"},"modified":"2026-07-04T21:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T21:06:36","slug":"grand-canyon-raft-guide-completes-record-breaking-solo-row-from-california-to-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3758","title":{"rendered":"Grand Canyon raft guide completes record-breaking solo row from California to Hawaii"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (AP) \u2014 A Grand Canyon river rafting guide who aimed to become the first American woman to row across the mid-Pacific solo has completed a record-breaking journey from California to Hawaii.<\/p>\n

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Hundreds gathered to cheer on Kelsey Pfendler as she pulled into a Honolulu harbor Friday night on her 21-foot row boat, Lily, after nearly a month and a half at sea, local media reported.<\/p>\n

Pfendler, 32, who launched from Monterey, California, in May, set out to become the first American woman, youngest woman and fastest woman to make the more than 2,400-mile journey solo, according to her website. Hundreds of thousands of people followed along with her journey on social media, where she shared the highs, lows and quirks of her trek in videos taken as she bobbed alone on the vast ocean.<\/p>\n

Pfendler appears to have broken the speed record for both women and men, according to records maintained by Ocean Rowing Society International, which adjudicates ocean-rowing achievements for Guinness World Records. The organization didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press about Pfendler\u2019s finish.<\/p>\n

The rowing society\u2019s online records showed Saturday morning that Pfendler finished in just under 44 days, faster than the previous comparable female record holder\u2019s 86 days or the male record holder\u2019s 52 days as recorded by both the society and Guinness World Records.<\/p>\n

Pfendler\u2019s video diaries explained the logistics of her passage and survival on the ocean. She detailed challenges including blistered hands, the struggle to sleep amid stiff winds and the mental and physical struggle of coping with sometimes-unfavorable currents and wind. She explained how she cooked, protected her skin from the sun, washed her clothes and made fresh water.<\/p>\n

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In some videos, her voice cracked with emotion. In others, she poked fun at her own forehead hat tan line and joked about the importance of her caffeine pills.<\/p>\n

Pfendler\u2019s website says she has been a professional raft guide since she was 18 and has spent the last eight years leading trips along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just love boats in the middle of nowhere,\u201d she said in one video.<\/p>\n

Local news outlets reported Pfendler was eventually expected to address the media. An emailed interview request sent to Pfendler\u2019s team was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

In a recent video posted as she neared Oahu, she reflected on the meaning of her accomplishment and what she hoped others would take from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any part of this made at least one person feel a little bit more powerful in their own skin, I couldn\u2019t ask for anything else and I\u2019m happy,\u201d she said. \u201cThink about trying to find your own big, hard, scary thing. You might not think that you are strong enough to finish it right now, but you\u2019re definitely strong enough to start it, and you\u2019ll find everything else along the way. I\u2019m going to go finish my big, hard scary thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kelsey Pfendler launched from Monterey in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGrand Canyon raft guide completes record-breaking solo row from California to Hawaii - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3758\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grand Canyon raft guide completes record-breaking solo row from California to Hawaii - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kelsey Pfendler launched from Monterey in May.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3758\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T21:06:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Grand Canyon raft guide completes record-breaking solo row from California to Hawaii\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T21:06:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758\"},\"wordCount\":547,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/689e9715261550f5368d2c43c6750040.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3758\",\"name\":\"Grand Canyon raft guide completes record-breaking solo row from California to Hawaii - 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