Extreme boating

One of the websites I visit religiously is XKCD's What If? blog.  Each Tuesday, the author takes a subject from a reader and stretches it to the utmost.  This Tuesday's column dealt with Extreme Boating (giving me license to include it here)...

What would it be like to navigate a rowboat through a lake of mercury? What about bromine? Liquid gallium? Liquid tungsten? Liquid nitrogen? Liquid helium?
-Nicholas Aron

Let's take these one at a time.

Bromine and mercury are the only known pure elements that are liquid at room temperature.

'Michael row the boat ashore.'  'I'm TRYING!'

Rowing a boat on a sea of mercury just might be possible.

Mercury is so dense that steel ball bearings float on the surface. Your boat would be so buoyant ...

Just a hint... Read the full column here.  Be sure to hover the mouse over each drawing for an Easter egg...