🔗 Share this article

A final 24-hour stretch. One more day up and down the pitiless slide. A final stretch with aching hands clutching relentless paddles.

However following over 15,000 kilometers at sea – an extraordinary 165-day expedition through Pacific waters that included intimate meetings with marine giants, failing beacons and sweet treat crises – the ocean presented a final test.

Powerful 20-knot gusts near Cairns repeatedly forced their tiny rowboat, the Velocity, off course from land that was now achingly close.

Loved ones gathered on land as a scheduled lunchtime finish became 2pm, then 4pm, then twilight hours. At last, at eighteen forty-two, they arrived at the Cairns marina.

"Those final few hours were brutal," Rowe expressed, finally standing on land.

"The wind was pushing us off the channel, and we honestly thought we weren't going to make it. We found ourselves beyond the marked route and considered swimming the remaining distance. To ultimately arrive, after extensive preparation, just feels incredible."

The Extraordinary Expedition Starts

The British pair – aged 28 and 25 respectively – pushed off from Lima, Peru on 5 May (an initial attempt in April was derailed by a rudder failure).

Over 165 days at sea, they averaged 50 nautical miles a day, rowing in tandem during the day, individual night shifts while her partner rested a bare handful of hours in a cramped cabin.

Perseverance and Difficulties

Kept alive with 400kg of mostly freeze-dried food, a seawater purification system and an onboard growing unit for micro-greens, the women counted on an unpredictable photovoltaic arrangement for only partial electrical requirements.

During most of their voyage over the enormous Pacific, they've had no navigation equipment or beacon, making them essentially invisible, nearly undetectable to passing ships.

The duo faced nine-meter waves, crossed commercial routes and weathered furious gales that, at times, disabled all electrical systems.

Groundbreaking Success

Yet they continued paddling, each pull following the last, across blazing hot days, beneath celestial nightscapes.

They achieved an unprecedented feat as the initial female duo to cross the southern Pacific by rowing, continuously and independently.

Additionally they collected in excess of £86k (Australian $179,000) supporting Outward Bound.

Daily Reality at Sea

The women attempted to stay connected with society outside their tiny vessel.

Around day one-forty, they announced a "sweet treat shortage" – reduced to their final two portions with another 1,600 kilometers ahead – but permitted themselves the luxury of breaking one open to honor England's rugby team triumph in global rugby competition.

Personal Reflections

Payne, hailing from inland Yorkshire, lacked ocean experience before her solo Atlantic crossing in 2022 achieving record pace.

She has now mastered another ocean. But there were moments, she conceded, when they feared they wouldn't make it. As early as day six, a route across the globe's vastest waters appeared insurmountable.

"Our electrical systems were diminishing, the water-maker pipes burst, yet after numerous mends, we managed a bypass and barely maintained progress with minimal electricity for the rest of the crossing. Whenever issues arose, we simply exchanged glances and went, 'naturally it happened!' But we kept going."

"It was really great to have Jess as a teammate. The remarkable aspect was our collaborative effort, we problem-solved together, and we consistently shared identical objectives," she stated.

Rowe hails from Hampshire. Before her Pacific triumph, she rowed the Atlantic, walked the southwestern English coastline, ascended Mount Kenya and biked through Spain. There might still be more.

"Our collaboration proved incredibly rewarding, and we're already excited to plan new adventures together as well. Another teammate wouldn't have worked."