US Rower Rescued a Week Into Pacific Voyage

A US woman attempting to cross the Pacific by rowboat has ended her solo attempt because of expected bad weather. Sonya Baumstein was rescued off the Japanese coast yesterday after sending out a distress signal, Kyodo news agency reported today. The 30-year-old Baumstein departed from Choshi, Japan, one week ago, hoping to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific.

She was headed for San Francisco but sent out the signal yesterday around 2:20pm about 155 miles off the coast of Japan. A freighter traveling nearby rescued her at around 5pm yesterday and passed her on to a coast guard ship around 8:55pm, the Japanese coast guard said. Baumstein was hoping to finish the 6,000-mile journey by late September. (Meanwhile, an author sailing the Atlantic lost his boat, but saved his marriage.)