Adidas Outdoor athlete Sonya Baumstein, 29, will depart from Orlando, Fla. April 27 for Japan, where she begins her attempt to become the first female to row solo from Japan to San Francisco. Baumstein will depart from Japan for the 6,000-mile, 4 to 6 month voyage, rowing 14 to 18 hours per day in a custom carbon boat weighing less than 775 lbs. without a motor or sail. Baumstein’s boat was built and outfitted in Port Townsend, Wash., by SpinDrift Rowing.
During the expedition, Baumstein will:
Drink olive oil to retain weight
Use an electric water maker that produces 30 liters of water per hour
Sleep in a small berth with straps to hold her secure during rough weather
Collect thousands of data points to help calibrate and validate current oceanographic research tools
Communicate using a satellite phone for emergency and data collection
Communicate with schools in the U.S. about her journey through the Expedition Pacific Ocean Ambassadors program.
This mission will be the first collection of shallow surface data, as the rowboat sits just one foot below the water, and will gain additional knowledge about ocean salinity, fresh water and temperature.
Depending on wind, waves and weather, Baumstrein is expected to row 40 to 60 miles a day. She will use her previous experiences from stand-up paddle boarding across the Bering Strait in 2013 and rowing across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Barbados in 2011, and will apply survival skills based on what she learned.
For more information about Baumstein’s journey, visit expeditionpacific.com.
