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A final 24-hour stretch. Another day battling through the unforgiving ocean. A final stretch with aching hands gripping unforgiving oars.

Yet after traversing 8,000+ sea miles at sea – an epic five-and-a-half-month journey over the Pacific Ocean that included near brushes with cetaceans, defective signaling devices and cocoa supply emergencies – the ocean presented a final test.

A gusting 20-knot wind near Cairns repeatedly forced their small vessel, their rowing boat Velocity, away from solid ground that was now achingly close.

Friends and family waited ashore as a planned midday arrival became 2pm, followed by 4pm, then twilight hours. At last, at eighteen forty-two, they reached the Cairns sailing club.

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

"Gusts were driving us from the passage, and we genuinely believed we might fail. We ended up outside the channel and considered swimming the remaining distance. To ultimately arrive, following years of planning, proves truly extraordinary."

The Monumental Voyage Commences

The UK duo – 28-year-old Rowe and 25-year-old Payne – departed from Lima, Peru on 5 May (an earlier April effort was derailed by a rudder failure).

During 165 ocean days, they maintained 50 nautical miles daily, working as a team through daytime hours, one rowing alone at night while her teammate dozed just a few hours in a tight compartment.

Perseverance and Difficulties

Kept alive with 400kg of mostly freeze-dried food, a saltwater conversion device and an onboard growing unit for micro-greens, the women counted on a less-than-reliable solar system for limited energy demands.

For much of their journey through the expansive ocean, they've had no navigation equipment or location transmitters, creating a phantom vessel scenario, hardly noticeable to maritime traffic.

The women endured 30-foot swells, crossed commercial routes and endured raging storms that, at times, disabled all electrical systems.

Groundbreaking Success

And they've kept rowing, stroke by relentless stroke, during intensely warm periods, under star-filled night skies.

They established a fresh milestone as the pioneering women's team to cross the southern Pacific by rowing, without breaks or external assistance.

Furthermore they gathered in excess of £86k (179,000 Australian dollars) supporting Outward Bound.

Life Aboard

The duo made every effort to keep in contact with the world beyond their small boat.

On "day 140-something", they reported a "chocolate emergency" – diminished to merely two remaining pieces with still more than 1,600km to go – but granted themselves the pleasure of opening one bar to mark the English squad's triumph in global rugby competition.

Personal Insights

Payne, originating from Yorkshire's non-coastal region, had not been at sea prior to her independent Atlantic journey in 2022 achieving record pace.

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

"Our power was dropping, the water-maker pipes burst, yet after numerous mends, we accomplished a workaround and simply continued struggling with minimal electricity throughout the remaining journey. Each time problems occurred, we simply exchanged glances and went, 'naturally it happened!' Still we persevered."

"It was really great to have Jess as a teammate. What was great was that we worked hard together, we problem-solved together, and we consistently shared identical objectives," she stated.

Rowe is from Hampshire. Preceding her ocean conquest, she paddled the Atlantic, walked the southwestern English coastline, scaled the Kenyan peak and cycled across Spain. Additional challenges probably remain.

"We had such a good time together, and we're enthusiastically preparing additional journeys together as well. No other partner would have sufficed."