Atlantic rowers from Shrewsbury ready to set off on 3,000-mile journey
Two intrepid rowers from Shropshire are due to set off on a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic tonight.
Harry Martin-Dreyer and Alex Bland, both 27 and from Shrewsbury, were due to set off on December 1 but poor weather forced them to postpone departure for almost two weeks.
The trip, from the Canary Islands to Barbados, is one of the world's greatest tests of physical and mental endurance.
Now, 12 days after they were due to cast off, they are making final preparations for their scheduled 10pm departure.
The pair will be rowing alternately on two-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, for up to three months and will have to contend with tropical storms, 50ft waves, colossal super tankers and sharks. They have already raised £127,153 for two charities – Cure Leukaemia and JDRF, the world's leading type 1 diabetes research charity – and are hoping more money will come in as they undertake their adventure.
Their boat, which is seven metres long and made of plywood, has already crossed the Atlantic three times – most recently from Morocco to Barbados in 2011/12.
The pair will experience acute physical pain, sleep deprivation and psychological exhaustion along the way, all of which will require them to draw on months of intense training.
Speaking from Gran Canaria early this morning, Harry said: "We are all set to leave at 10pm tonight.
"Sneaking out under the cover of darkness is not what we originally intended but we have been waiting for so long for the weather to turn so we aren't rowing into the wind that we just want to get going now!
"Tonight is the first opportunity for that. It will also mean that we go into our first night of the row fresh and hopefully won't start getting seasick until daylight hours tomorrow."
The men, who met at Shrewsbury School, have had celebrity backing for their trip from TV presenter Ben Fogle and former England cricket captain Alec Stewart OBE.
