🔗 Share this article

A final 24-hour stretch. One more session navigating merciless swells. One more day of blistered hands clutching relentless paddles.

Yet after traversing 8,000+ sea miles on the water – an extraordinary 165-day expedition across the Pacific that included close encounters with whales, defective signaling devices and chocolate shortages – the waters delivered a last obstacle.

Powerful 20-knot gusts near Cairns continuously drove their compact craft, their rowing boat Velocity, away from solid ground that was now painfully near.

Loved ones gathered on land as a scheduled lunchtime finish shifted to 2pm, then 4pm, then early evening. Ultimately, at 6:42 PM, they came alongside the Cairns sailing club.

"The concluding hours proved absolutely punishing," Rowe said, eventually on solid ground.

"The wind was pushing us off the channel, and we truly doubted we would succeed. We drifted outside the navigational path and contemplated a final swim to land. To ultimately arrive, after talking about it for so long, seems absolutely amazing."

The Extraordinary Expedition Starts

The UK duo – 28-year-old Rowe and 25-year-old Payne – departed from Lima, Peru in early May (an earlier April effort was halted by steering issues).

Across nearly half a year on water, they covered approximately 50 sea miles each day, working as a team through daytime hours, single rower overnight while her partner rested a bare handful of hours in a confined sleeping area.

Endurance and Obstacles

Sustained by 400 kilograms of dehydrated meals, a water desalinator and an integrated greens production unit, the duo depended upon an inconsistent solar power setup for only partial electrical requirements.

During most of their voyage through the expansive ocean, they operated without navigation tools or location transmitters, making them essentially invisible, nearly undetectable to passing ships.

The pair have borne 9-metre waves, crossed commercial routes and endured raging storms that, periodically, disabled all electrical systems.

Record-Breaking Achievement

Still they maintained progress, stroke by relentless stroke, across blazing hot days, below stellar evening heavens.

They have set a new record as the pioneering women's team to row across the South Pacific Ocean, non-stop and unsupported.

Additionally they collected over eighty-six thousand pounds (Australian $179,000) for the Outward Bound Trust.

Life Aboard

The pair did their best to stay connected with society outside their tiny vessel.

On "day 140-something", they declared a "cocoa crisis" – diminished to merely two remaining pieces with another 1,600 kilometers ahead – but granted themselves the pleasure of breaking one open to celebrate England's Red Roses victory in the World Cup.

Personal Reflections

Payne, from a landlocked part of Yorkshire, lacked ocean experience prior to her independent Atlantic journey in 2022 in a record time.

Another ocean now falls to her accomplishments. Yet there were periods, she admitted, when failure seemed possible. Starting within the first week, a path over the planet's biggest sea seemed unachievable.

"Our energy was failing, the desalination tubes ruptured, yet after numerous mends, we accomplished a workaround and just limped along with minimal electricity throughout the remaining journey. Each time problems occurred, we just looked at each other and went, 'naturally it happened!' But we kept going."

"Having Jess as a partner proved invaluable. What was great was that we worked hard together, we resolved issues as a team, and we consistently shared identical objectives," she said.

Rowe originates from Hampshire. Preceding her ocean conquest, she crossed the Atlantic by rowing, hiked England's South West Coast Path, climbed Mount Kenya and cycled across Spain. Further adventures likely await.

"We shared such wonderful experiences, and we're eagerly anticipating future expeditions collectively once more. I wouldn't have done it with anybody else."