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A final 24-hour stretch. One more session navigating the pitiless slide. Another round of raw palms clutching relentless paddles.

Yet after traversing 8,000+ sea miles at sea – an epic five-and-a-half-month journey through Pacific waters that included near brushes with cetaceans, malfunctioning navigation equipment and chocolate shortages – the sea had one more challenge.

Strong 20-knot breezes approaching Cairns kept pushing their small vessel, their rowing boat Velocity, away from solid ground that was now painfully near.

Friends and family waited ashore as an expected noon touchdown evolved into afternoon, subsequently 4pm, then twilight hours. At last, at eighteen forty-two, they came alongside the Cairns sailing club.

"Those last hours tested every fiber," Rowe said, eventually on solid ground.

"Gusts were driving us from the passage, and we truly doubted we would succeed. We drifted outside the navigational path and thought we might have to swim to shore. To ultimately arrive, after talking about it for so long, just feels incredible."

The Extraordinary Expedition Starts

The UK duo – Rowe is 28 and Payne 25 – set out from Peruvian shores in early May (a first try in April was stopped by equipment malfunction).

Over 165 days at sea, they maintained 50 nautical miles daily, working as a team through daytime hours, single rower overnight while her teammate dozed a bare handful of hours in a cramped cabin.

Endurance and Obstacles

Nourished by 400kg of preserved provisions, a seawater purification system and a vessel-based sprout cultivation system, the duo depended upon an inconsistent solar power setup for limited energy demands.

During most of their voyage over the enormous Pacific, they've had no navigation equipment or signaling devices, making them essentially invisible, hardly noticeable to maritime traffic.

The women endured 30-foot swells, traversed marine highways and endured raging storms that, on occasion, disabled all electrical systems.

Record-Breaking Achievement

And they've kept rowing, each pull following the last, through scorching daylight hours, below stellar evening heavens.

They have set a new record as the first all-female pair to paddle over the South Pacific, without breaks or external assistance.

Furthermore they gathered over eighty-six thousand pounds (A$179,000) for the Outward Bound Trust.

Existence Onboard

The duo made every effort to maintain communication with civilization beyond their small boat.

During the 140s of their journey, they announced a "sweet treat shortage" – reduced to their final two portions with over 1,000 miles remaining – but allowed themselves the indulgence of opening one bar to celebrate England's Red Roses winning the Rugby World Cup.

Personal Reflections

Payne, from a landlocked part of Yorkshire, was unacquainted with maritime life until she rowed the Atlantic solo during 2022 establishing a record.

Another ocean now falls to her accomplishments. Yet there were periods, she admitted, when they doubted their success. As early as day six, a path over the planet's biggest sea seemed unachievable.

"Our energy was failing, the water-maker pipes burst, yet after numerous mends, we achieved an alternative solution and simply continued struggling with reduced energy for the rest of the crossing. Whenever issues arose, we simply exchanged glances and went, 'typically it occurred!' Still we persevered."

"Having Jess as a partner proved invaluable. The remarkable aspect was our collaborative effort, we addressed challenges collectively, and we were always working towards the same goals," she remarked.

Rowe is from Hampshire. Before her Pacific triumph, she rowed the Atlantic, hiked England's South West Coast Path, scaled the Kenyan peak and biked through Spain. There might still be more.

"We had such a good time together, and we're enthusiastically preparing additional journeys as a team again. Another teammate wouldn't have worked."