In December, Mart Kuusk and Hannes Hanso set off from Gran Canaria in a rowing boat to cross the Atlantic. The Estonian pair reached their destination in Barbados at the beginning of February and are now back in Estonia.

"Having lived through this journey, I have to admit that there is an image you create for yourself with very limited preparation, because we are a maritime people, we live by the sea and we trained in the Baltic, but the ocean is still the ocean," said Mart Kuusk. "Every day on the ocean was still a learning day for us."

In reality, everything they encountered was much bigger, stronger and more powerful than they had been used to, and their ability to steer the boat, especially at night, was still not enough at first, according to Kuusk. "That's why we got stuck in the ocean, but now I can say that these boats have capsized and as long as you are attached to the boat you have every possibility to find solutions. There was no real danger to our lives," added Kuusk.

The men started out their journey with three autopilot systems, but by the tenth day, two of those had already stopped working.  

"The role of the autopilot in this process is most important because it was all about getting some rest. Without the autopilot, we would have had to work all the time. Thank God for that the last autopilot, which we basically already scrapped two weeks before we arrived because it was rusting and making a lot of loud noises, still held up until the end. So, all's well that ends well."

Kuusk added that at one point, Hannes Hanso also broke a fishing line with over 40 kilos of fish on the end.

Serious disagreements between the men did happen on a couple of occasions. "It's characteristic for me, that when there's a quarrel, I just shut myself off and don't talk. When you're tired and exhausted and have to deal with some kind of incomprehensible issue, a fight is inevitable and that's all very human. But luckily I have a kind of yin and yang combination with Hannes," Kuusk said. "When I kept quiet, Hannes started talking to the birds."

Kuusk also said that he envied Hanso, who was able to fall asleep straight away whenever he needed to. "The whole environment is very unstable, you wobble, you get knocked about and you're in your sleeping bag like it's an eggshell. For me, sleeping was one of the biggest challenges," said Kuusk, adding that during the 59 days at sea, the pair also had an hour-long experience where they had to adjust to the idea that they did not know their exact location and had no way of discerning it.

At the moment, Kuusk is not thinking about taking on any new major challenges. "I just want to move on with my life," he said.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!