SYDNEY — A British environmentalist has become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific Ocean, receiving a rock star welcome in Papua New Guinea after finishing a nearly 8,000-mile journey that nearly claimed her life.
Thousands turned out to welcome Roz Savage, 42, as she rowed her 23-foot boat named Brocade toward Madang on Friday. Several people paddled canoes alongside her as she cruised into the harbor, where well-wishers adorned her with colorful leis.
“I’m already starting to think about the next one!” Savage said Saturday from Papua New Guinea, where she will rest for the next month.
Savage, rozsavage.com, previously crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 103 days and uses her trips to promote environmental causes. The Pacific row was meant to raise awareness about climate change and plastic debris polluting the ocean.
She estimates she made 2.5 million oar strokes during her 250-day trip, which was broken up into three different legs. She set off from San Francisco on May 25, 2008, and rowed 2,900 miles over 99 days to Hawaii. On May 22, 2009, she left Hawaii and rowed 3,158 miles — or an estimated one million oar strokes — before reaching the tiny South Pacific nation of Kiribati in September. She left Kiribati on April 19.
During the journey she briefly became separated from her boat and feared she might drown.
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