Former government minister Hannes Hanso will be joined by Mart Kuusk, brother of ETV news anchor Priit and Parempoolsed candidate at the Riigikogu elections in 2023, to finalize preparations in the Canary Islands, ahead of their planned departure on December 10.

With their sights set on conquering the open sea, they aim to navigate one of the world's most challenging routes.

In grasping the physical toll of a journey of this kind, Kuusk has spent the past year significantly increasing his body and muscle mass to prepare for the approximately 15-kilogram weight loss anticipated during the crossing.
"I realized that at 65 kilograms and 1.95 meters tall, my work capacity would simply vanish," Kuusk explained.

"This small, quick human experiment I conducted shows that this 15 kilograms consists of 13 kilograms of invaluable fat and 2 kilograms of muscle mass. I'm particularly glad that restoring muscle mass is still accessible to men over 50," he told "Vikerhommik."

Earlier in the summer, Kuusk and Hanso conducted a test row, just between the Estonian islands of Kihnu and Ruhnu.

The roughly 50-kilometer crossing itself was marked by significant challenges and served to concentrate minds on further preparation.

Despite these difficulties, they are optimistic about their upcoming odyssey.
"I sincerely hope we won't experience the agony of Ruhnu and Kihnu out on the ocean. That's because the boat we have at our disposal is exceptional. I trust it completely," Kuusk went on.

He stressed the importance of favorable conditions: "Crossing the ocean mainly depends on having at least 80 percent of the work done by the tailwinds: the trade winds, and the Gulf Stream."

This is so much so that: "No one in the world is capable of rowing the reverse route, from the Caribbean to the Canary Islands," Kuusk went on.

With food supplies calculated for 60 days, each person is allocated as much as 5,000 kilocalories daily.

"Three thousand kilocalories are planned as hot meals, where we pour hot water over freeze-dried backpacking food, while the rest consists of energy drinks and snacks," Kuusk explained.

To ensure access to fresh drinking water, an automated reverse-osmosis unit will convert ocean water, while two hand pumps will serve as a backup.

Kuusk is not concerned about potential conflicts with Hanso during the journey.
"It seems to me that we're both sufficiently emancipated guys. Hannes even said we're like an old married couple. In this situation, we have no other options anyway; we'll have to make it work, and we will," Kuusk added.

The pair are committed to sharing their experiences with supporters.
"We want to share this story, and we have many supporters too. Each day we'll try to provide an exciting update via a 1,000-character up-sum. Hopefully, we'll even manage to send a few snaps of the adventure," Kuusk said.

Their progress can be followed on the Uhhuduur Facebook page here.
A documentary series is planned to chronicle the crossing as well.
"Our role is to tell the story of what we see. Since there is not much experience when it comes to.

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