Australian Michelle Lee has become the first woman to row solo, unassisted, and non-stop across the Pacific Ocean.  On her epic 237-day, 14,000-kilometre journey from Ensenada, Mexico to  Port Douglas in Far North Queensland, Australia, she dodged five hurricanes and four cyclones and survived a shark leaping into her boat. Lee set off from Mexico on August 8, 2022 in her 8-meter by 2-meter carbon fiber boat, the Australian Maid. 

“The last bit was a bit of a battle,” she told waiting press. “But it’s the story of my life: winds, currents, tides, everything against me, often I had all of them doing different things. So, adversity, I guess, you got used to it out there.”

Lee, though, did not just have to face up to the challenge of extreme physical exertion. She faced stretches of up to nine days confined to a cabin “no bigger than being under your kitchen table” as winds and waves raged around her.

In her confinement, Lee learned “the art of patience”. She played a ukulele, made a pudding, cut herself a mullet and listened to audiobooks – her library ranging from self-help author Joe Dispenza to meditation guru Jose Silva and romance novelist Maddison Michaels, the Guardian reports.

In 2019, the 50-year-old masseuse rowed 5,000 kilometers to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 68 days, despite having no professional rowing experience.