Interview with Guinness World Record Holder Jacob Adoram Hendrickson on Planning, Perseverance and Grit in Rowing Solo Across the Pacific Ocean for 336 Days

Guinness World Record Holder for the longest solo row across the Pacific Ocean Jacob Adoram Hendrickson is an inspiring individual. He planned and completed an eleven month journey from Washington state across the Pacific Ocean to Australia in his custom designed rowboat Emerson. In this interview, he shares his story about how he accomplished such a remarkable goal.

He is an Eagle Scout who spent his high school years running track and cross-country, and playing the saxophone in both marching and symphonic band. 

He attended the United States Air Force Academy and spent more than a decade as a military aviator, flying fighter jets extensively throughout the Northern Hemisphere, to include over 170 combat missions.  As part of military training, he became very familiar with land and water survival, and enjoyed the challenges associated with overcoming adversity. 

An avid traveler, Jacob has explored over 40 countries. He holds the world record for the longest non-stop time spent rowing solo across an ocean of nearly 336 days. He spent eleven months traveling from Washington state to Australia in a custom made boat he called Emerson. He started on July 7, 2018 and arrived in Queensland, Australia the following June (June 8, 2019).

He packed a year worth of food into the boat and spent a lot of time thinking and rowing. He rowed 12 to 16 hours every day and traveled 7,145 miles across the open Pacific Ocean.

He encountered waves that were the size of buildings, the monotony of rowing day after day for months, the pain and exhaustion of rowing to get back on track when the wind, storms, and rain drove him off course.

He spent 11 months at sea without stopping, without assistance, with no other person with him at all, as far from land as it is possible to be on this planet.

It’s an incredible story and I’m glad that he has taken a few minutes to share his experience and the lessons he learned from it. I’ve been inspired by his story and I hope you enjoy our conversation as you think about accomplishing your own goals.