Recently researched meaning of the word Viking has been suspected to be indicating in its semantic root a reference to rowing mode. "Old Norse vika, f. ‘sea mile’, originally ‘the distance between two shifts of rowers’ ". For majority of the route we applied the Viking rowing mode on the Pacific Ocean, just the average distance was 4 vika (4 nautical miles). The advantage of the system was that rowers could complete their shift sooner if they were performing better and it's a win-win as the progress of the expedition increases when the shifts are completed at better pace.