"CHALLENGING THE PACIFIC: THE FIRST WOMAN TO ROW THE KON-TIKI ROUTE" BY MAUD FONTENOY, TRANSLATED BY ANTHONY ROBERTS; ARCADE, $24

Even in the 21st century, it's not uncommon to hear antiquated statements such as "no woman could do that." Lucky for girls everywhere, Maud Fontenoy is again proving naysayers wrong, and in her new memoir, "Challenging the Pacific," illustrating exactly what one woman can accomplish. The book brings to life her second successful open-sea adventure — a solo rowing trip on Thor Heyerdahl's Pacific Kon-Tiki route, from Peru to French Polynesia — undertaken when she was just 28.

The feat is compelling — 73 days spent crossing 4,300 nautical miles with her body power alone — but Fontenoy's immediate prose also pleases. From Page 1 she takes her audience with her into the fiberglass rowboat, smartly beginning with the fear of sharks, a drama about which anyone would be curious.

"The question kept resonating, like a bell tinkling to the rhythm of my body," Fontenoy writes of the moment she decided, against her former judgments, to enter the deep, clean the boat bottom and get the rudder functioning. Though it had to be done, and she survived dangling like bait in the water, she suffered a cracked rib when she lifted herself back into the boat, an injury that would haunt her throughout the journey.

In January 2005, Fontenoy left Lima in her renamed boat, the Oceor — 25 feet long, 5 1/2 feet wide, 1,320 pounds (loaded) — which had taken her across the Atlantic in 2003. Though most of the journey was spent battling sun and fatigue, eating dehydrated meals and enduring constant physical labor, she also had her share of dangers. There were close meetings with large ships, the lingering fear of pirates, waiting out 30-foot troughs and pelting storms in the boat's coffin-sized hull, and a few capsizes, until arriving safely in Hiva Oa in March. Thoughts of her family, past voices of encouragement, and memories of her former ocean crossing accompanied her and punctuate the account.

The most vivid moments, however, are her encounters with nature's travelers.

Not long after leaving port, she was greeted by a group of sea lions. "The ocean had generously revealed a tiny portion of the life within her," Fontenoy recalls, "and in so doing had broken my gloomy sense of isolation."

This communion and others, with dolphins, fish, birds and the changing beauty of the sea, bolster her motivation and enrich the narrative. They also allow for the inclusion of other mini lessons, on albatross, flying fish and the effects of global warming, illustrating her passion for education. Her daily log was transcribed onto her Web site, where it was followed by schoolchildren she'd visited before her trip. This aim to not only foster instruction about voyaging, but to encourage youths to follow their dreams, lifts her adventure out of ego and into service.

Though the timing of events is not always clear, and the book's similes — frequently related to food and boiling — sometimes falter, her reflections on and affection for the sea's stunning performances elevate the writing when most needed. Fontenoy's independent, disciplined and observant character, formed during her early years living on her parents' schooner, is matched by a gentle awareness of the broader significance of her experiences, personally and for others nurturing ambition. This tale of one woman's indomitable reach for new horizons can't fail to challenge others to do as Fontenoy does and perpetually "yearn for something more, something different."

Christine Thomas blogs about literature at http://literarylotus.blogspot.com.