SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - After weeks of weather-related delays, a British woman set out on Sunday morning from northern California in a bid to become the first female to cross the Pacific solo in a rowboat.

Unfavorable weather forced Roz Savage, 38, to depart from Saint George, a small port near the Oregon border, rather than San Francisco as planned.

“She had a breakfast of cornflakes and plenty of coffee,” Nicole Bilodeau, her spokesperson told AFP. “She was very zen, not nervous at all.”

The tide was low at her early morning launch and she briefly ran aground, but pushed into deeper water and is doing fine, said Bilodeau.

In 2006, Savage successfully traversed the Atlantic in her 24-foot (seven meter) craft, The Brocade.

Her 6,700-mile (10,800 kilometer) journey begins with a two to three month paddle to Hawaii, followed by a stop on the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, and finally on to Australia.

Along the way, Savage will be documenting ocean borne debris and regularly posting video, photos, and personal dispatches to her blog. She hopes to raise awareness of the degraded oceanic environment.