All-Female Rowing Team Completes Pacific Crossing

On Monday of this week, a team of women rowers completed an epic crossing of the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Cairns, Australia after spending more than nine months at sea. The Coxless Crew, as they are known, set out from San Francisco back in April of 2015, and although they took longer than expected to complete their journey, they did manage to set a couple of records along the way.

The team's boat – named Doris – was designed for a four-person crew, and three of the members of the team stayed aboard for the entire crossing, while three others rotated in and out three different legs. The permanent members of the crew included Laura Penhaul, Natalia Cohen and Emma Mitchell, with Isabel Burnham, Kizanne van Vuuren, and Meg Dyos, each taking a turn at the oars. Burnham rowed from San Francisco to Hawaii before giving way to van Vuuren, who was part of the team from Hawaii to Samoa. Dyos took over from there, and was with the Coxless Crew when they arrived in Australia this week.

As is typical with a four-person crew, two members were at the oars at all times. In this case, they would row in two-hour shifts, and sleep 90 minutes at a time. In this way, they were able to cover the 14,800 km (9200 mile) journey, although it did take about three months longer than they had anticipated.

I first wrote about the Coxless Crew back in 2012 when they were planning to depart the following year. Obviously they hit a few road bumps along the way, delaying their start and changing their plans a bit. But they stuck with their goals and pushed forward with the challenge they had set for themselves despite adversity. Pernahul in particular was keen to take on the Pacific, and she seems to be the only member of the original crew who made the crossing.

By arriving in Australia on Monday – 257 days after the set out – the ladies became the first all female crew to cross the Pacific, and the first four-person team to do so. Along the way they faced massive storms, crushing waves, encounters with whales, and extreme heat in the South Pacific. Their adventure wasn't just for the challenge however, as they also raised funds for the Walking with the Wounded and Breast Cancer Care charities.

Congratulations to the six ladies who worked together on this fantastic achievement.

British Explorer to Attempt Solo, Non-Stop Row Across Pacific Ocean

We haven't even reached 2017 yet, and we already have news about a major endurance challenge set to take place in 2018. That's when British adventurer and endurance athlete Ness Knight plans to set out on a solo row across the Pacific Ocean, where she hopes to become the first woman to make that crossing non-stop.

The current plan is to depart from the San Francisco in May and begin the 7000 mile (11,265 km) journey across the Pacific with the goal of finishing in Sydney, Australia. Knight says she expects the entire crossing to take between 180 and 270 days to complete, which means she could be looking at upwards of six months, completely alone out on the water.

Some of the challenges she expects to face along the way include large waves – possibly 40 feet (12 meters) tall or higher – and massive storms. She'll also face the same problem that nearly ever ocean rower has – malfunctioning water makers. Every rower carries more than one of these devices that helps convert salt water to something that is drinkable, but it is a known issue that they break down often. Ness will also have to carry all of her supplies with her on the boat, so she'll have to ration her food to make through the entire journey as well.

Of course, Knight isn't the first woman to cross the Pacific Ocean solo. Roz Savage did that by completing her Pacific Row back in 2010. But, when Roz made the trip she did it in stages over successive years beginning in 2008. Ness plans to push on through in one go, which will indeed be a first for a female rower.

But before this daunting expedition can ever get off the ground – or leave the harbor if you will – Ness first needs to raise funds to help get her out on the water. With that in mind, she has recently launched a campaign to find sponsors to help lend a hand. If anyone out there is interested in assisting her efforts you can find out more about the possibilities by downloading and reading this sponsorship document which is in a .pdf format.

While May of 2018 seems like an awfully long way off at this point, it will likely be here before we know it. At that point, we'll of course be following Ness' Pacific Row closely. But before she ever gets underway, I'm sure we'll have some more updates to report.

Good luck Ness!