She made it!

Maud Fontenoy comes to the end of her 72-day adventure

Frenchwoman Maud Fontenoy arrived in the French Polynesian island of Hiva Oa on Saturday 26 March, after a 72-day journey across the Pacific Ocean. She is the first female rower to row solo across the Pacific.

Fontenoy, 27, left Lima, Peru, on 12 January and has since rowed 6,900 km of open water to her destination. She undertook the journey in a quest to follow the same route as the one followed by anthropologist and archeologist Thor Heyerdahl on the famous Kon-Tiki expedition back in 1947.

On her journey, Fontenoy ? who has been nicknamed the ?Rowing Princess? by her Polynesian supporters ? had to deal with many dangerous situations, including close encounters with sharks, whales and giant tankers crossing her way. She also took considerable risks when, in order to re-establish the speed of her boat Océor, she spent over half an hour swimming underneath the boat to free it from parasite which were slowing her down.

This is Fontenoy’s second long distance rowing voyage: in 2003 she crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to Spain in 117 days, becoming the first woman to row the Atlantic from west to east.

For more information, and a detailed account of Maud’s journey through her diary, visit the official website www.pacifiqueamainsnues.com

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