They have conquered the Atlantic using nothing but their own rowing power, but now three intrepid brothers are calling on the wild waters of Scotland to prepare for their next adventure. Maclean brothers Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan broke three world records rowing across the Atlantic Ocean in January 2020 — and are now planning on taking on a Pacific crossing. But first they have to prepare, and the trio have based themselves in a ramshackle abandoned croft in the north of Scotland to use The Minch as their training base ahead of the Rare Whisky 101 Pacific Row, from Lima in Peru to Sydney, Australia.
The Edinburgh brothers have settled in the tiny hamlet of Nedd, just off the North Coast 500,where they spent childhood summers with their dad, Charles Maclean MBE — the world’s leading whisky writer — and mum, Sheila, an artist. Middle brother Jamie, who builds saunas for a living, said: “Nedd is a special place to us. We’ve been coming here since we were born.
It feels like our spiritual home. “It was always a place to escape and disconnect from life back in Edinburgh and completely throw yourself into the outdoors. “There was no phone reception or access to any technology, which allowed us to give in to the adventurous nature of life.
It gave us, from a very young age, an independence in nature. If it wasn’t for our love for the water developed by kayaking and dinghy sailing during family holidays here, we wouldn’t have taken up rowing. “We had a bashed-up f.