US woman attempting to row across Pacific rescued

TOKYO, Japan -- A U.S. 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 on Saturday after sending out a distress signal, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

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 on Saturday around 2:20 p.m. about 250 kilometers (155 miles) off the coast of Japan.

A freighter traveling nearby rescued her at around 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday and passed her on to a coast guard ship around 8:55 p.m. (1155 GMT), the Japanese coast guard said.

Baumstein was hoping to finish the 6,000-mile (9,600-kilometer) journey by late September.