Scottish brothers finish mammoth row across Pacific Ocean after 139 days | Hacker News Reader

Scottish brothers finish mammoth row across Pacific Ocean after 139 days

abc.net.au

80 pointse2e440 comments

So many practical questions about how this worked. Sleeping, food/water (cooking the fish, seasonings?, did they have stretches where they failed to catch anything), boredom - did they have a radio/podcast library, how much rowing per day, how are the bowels after five months of hardtack and fish, how does your skin handle constant saltwater exposure without showering, etc

Also - I want to see a before photo. They all look pretty slim, but I imagine anyone would after five months of rowing and eating nothing but vitamins and fish.

At the bottom of the article there are links to two related articles from before they started out and when they were halfway through. They answer many of your questions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-22/scottish-maclean-brot...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-08/scottish-maclean-brot...

Pretty interesting stuff. I'm a bit surprised with the food choices, although to be fair they didn't elaborate too much. But just freeze dried and store-bought foods? And they were talking about eating it cold! Someone needs to show them MREs and flameless ration heaters!

The version of MREs before the current tan bags, the brown bags (Desert Storm era), were freeze dried meals.

They also come with a lot of stuff you don't want to eat for an extended period of time, and a lot of trash waste.

It appears that space was at an extreme premium - and remember, if they rowed, weight matters as well. MREs work in an environment where you have trucks (or planes) dropping off pallets of them on the regular, not where you need to bring 6 months of them along on something you are moving under your own power.

Long distance ultra light hikers and expedition type folks tend to bring freeze dried food (either way they can’t carry enough water so need to figure that out). Vitamins to avoid any weird effects from missing nutrients from ‘found food’ was also a good idea.

I saw an interview with them on the news here. Im sure I heard one of them say one of somehow managed to gain weight during it!

I'll file that fact away for the next time I hear somebody here say "all you need is exercise to lose weight".

I have ~never heard anyone say this. All I've heard here is fighting about whether it's just a pure caloric deficit that helps you lose weight, or if it's other things as well.

Muscles weigh more than fat. Training doesn't make you lose weight, it makes you denser.

For talisker, most/all the rowers will have freeze dried food (store bought or self-made). The boats have a desalination plant (the boats have solar panels) so they do have fresh water, but only enough for drinking/eating, they would normally jump into the ocean to rinse themselves.

yes, they bring they own electronic devices, but you do have to be judicious in usage due to the aforementioned solar panels not being very big. Here's a picture (to be clear, this one used for the talisker, the ABC articles have a better image of the one specifically used by the brothers):

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmNq8z...

Two English women are close to accomplishing the same feat.

https://www.seasthedayoceanrowing.com/

That’s a strong pun: seas the day.

I’ve rowed a marathon ( several, actually) on a concept 2. I’d even say I’m pretty suited to long distance rowing, since I usually don’t drink or eat while doing a marathon.

That said, the idea of going much longer than that — like an eight hour shift, or even two four hour shifts in a day, day after day… that’s insane.

And that doesn’t even begin to account for the difference between the erg and ocean rowing. Double insane.

After about 45 minutes of rowing on the C2 I don't register that I am exerting myself anymore. I could probably go all day if the boredom wasn't so intense. The danger of the open sea would help a lot with this.

Can you not listen to an audiobook? It's done wonders for my driving boredom.

When I go longer I set up a laptop beside me and watch something. It does require wireless headphones, or a long cord, since you're going back and forth through 3-5 feet.

I usually watch cab ride videos of European trains on youtube while I am rowing.

This is a new one to me. Is there audio of the outdoors or the cabin car? Are these urban trains or more long distance rural vistas?

E.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92YJ6WipiY4

Alright, that was more relaxing than I expected.

Wow, and I thought I was suited to long distance :-) I definitely tend to row longer -- from 5Ks to an hour -- but I can't say I don't feel it.

Sanity-checking: what pace are you setting? Or: what distance are you covering in 45 minutes? The Concept2 has almost no floor, so it's possible you almost aren't exerting yourself.

I can do 10k in 45 minutes but I wouldn't be able to sustain this all day. If I reduce the intensity by 20~30%, I could go indefinitely.

Dang! 45 minutes is not slow for a 10K (depending on your age and overall fitness, obviously). My pace for a half marathon is slower than that.

"You can take all the boys and the girls in the world I wouldn't trade them this morning for my sweet Ocean Cloud I've seen too much of life So the sea is my wife and a sweet Ocean Cloud is a mistress I'm allowed"

Ocean Cloud by Marillion, written about a solo rower who crossed the Atlantic.

For a second I read "row" as in argument rather than boat/oars and my brain went straight to this:

https://spookyscotland.net/benandonner/

Absolutely incredible achievement.

"No u"

For 139 days

With probably a lot of drinking involved

They're Scottish, your script is missing the f word

"No, you first"? Now I'm imagining them being too polite to pass through a door for 139 days.

I envisioned one of those cartoon fight clouds with the occasional fist or foot sticking out of it on the deck of a ship.

OMG, they made it! My sister knows these guys! They became friends when she was working at an NGO in Madagascar. They also make whiskey.

Incredible achievement. I'd love to read a bit about their communications. I noticed their rowboat had a bunch of solar panels on it.

I get angry with my siblings too.

What a disconnected piece of writing. It's like every paragraph is it's own separate topic, with topics alternating between different paragraphs.

Super cool achievement, regardless.

> three Scottish brothers have set a new world record by completing the first and fastest unsupported row across the Pacific Ocean... > The previous record of 159 days had been set in 2014 by Russian rower Fedor Konyukhov.

Um, if they are the first to do it, how can there be a previous record? I guess the Konukhov trip was "supported"? Or not "full"?

I also found it confusing, the way I ended up interpreting it: they are the first unsupported team, and was also unsupported but did it solo.

Konyukhov did solo unsupported (so not a "team").

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/383779-fi...

https://konyukhov.ru/en/project/expedition/fyodor-konyuhov-n...

I am confused. How can they be the first when there is an existing record? So fastest time but not first? An absolutely awe inspiring accomplishment!

I think it’s the first unsupported team. Where someone else did an (unsupported?) solo trip.

First time they used a mammoth

Their voices must be very hoarse.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com