DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm David Greene. In 2013, a French adventurer named Charles Hedrich set off from Western Alaska in a rowboat. His goal was to become the first person to row through the Northwest passage alone. On Thursday, after 3,700 miles and three summers of rowing, he finally made it, reaching Canada's Baffin Island. His trek included evading a polar bear attack, getting sidelined by harsh arctic weather and eating lots of beef jerky. In the last 20 miles, his grill caught fire. Fortunately, he had plenty of water. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.