Pacific Ocean

Pfendler, 32, guides river rafts through the Grand Canyon for a living. Her boat carried two sealed cabins, bow and stern, for sleeping and food, and nothing else: 21 feet long, 730 pounds, no engine, no way to call the trip short once she left in May.

A Hacker News reader caught what the article's headline missed: by the numbers, Pfendler didn't just break the women's record for this crossing. She rowed it faster than any man ever has, too.