Jan 7, 2021
It’s been called one of the most treacherous seas in the world but this didn't stop Jamie Douglas-Hamilton and team rowing through The Drake Passage from South America to Antarctica, breaking 9 world records and resulting in the incredible documentary The Impossible Row for Discovery+. Inspired by his grandfather, the first man to fly over Everest, Jamie previously rowed from Australia to Africa. He’s endured towering waves, cuts down to the bone, sea sickness, land sickness, sleep deprivation and vivid hallucinations that could drive you absolutely mad.
On this episode we cover:
The Impossible Row on Discovery+
The Drake Passage
Rowing through icy unchartered territories
Huge waves that go on for thousands of miles
The ultimate challenge in rowing
Dropping down a 60ft wave with the boat full of water
Not having time to get scared in storms
But getting scared afterwards
Time getting distorted as you tire
Cutting his ankle to the bone
Not sleeping for two days and nights due to pain
From the Southern tip of South American to Antarctica
Sir Francis Drake’s perilous journey through the Strait of Magellan
Thousands of people having died doing the journey
Shallow water meaning steep, high waves
Ernest Shackleton being hit by hurricanes
The exhilarating cliff faces rising from the water
Being circled by killer whales
The adrenaline and endorphin rush of seeing land
Landing on Christmas Day and calling his family
Taking a long time to regain feeling in his feet and hands
Rowing from Australia to Africa
Losing three stone going across the Indian Ocean
Drinking 13 litres of water a day
Vivid hallucinations due to low sodium
How drinking sea water helped them break speed records
Creating his ownb brand ActiPh Water
Hallucinating his rowing mate in a laboratory
Seeing a massive hand coming out the water
Constantly hearing the Nokia ringtone
Huge orange moons on the horizon
Millions of bright stars
Moments he wished would never end
Bad storms meaning missing Durban but ending up in the Seychelles
Being unable to stand on land and getting land sickness
People thinking they were drunk
The incredible journeys of his grandfather The Duke of Hamilton
The first man to fly over Everest
Clearing the peak by only 40 ft
Edmund Hillary using the footage from this to navigate a new route
Nazi Rudolph Hess parachuting to see Douglas-Hamilton during the war
Sleep deprivation training (this is crazy!)
The songs that keep them going on the open sea