Comic Rob Coleman's 3,000-mile challenge

Comic Rob Coleman is to attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a pedalo.

He and pedalling partner James Mouland are tackling the 3,000-mile journey from the Canaries to Barbados in a converted ocean-going rowing boat

If they succeed, they’ll be only the fourth duo to pedal an ocean, and at 46, Coleman will be the oldest person ever to have achieved the feat.

They are aiming to raise ￡50,000 for the Alzheimer's Society from the adventure, which will start in December and take about nine weeks. 'There's only so much time you can spend in a 26ft x 6ft boat with one other person, after all,' said Coleman

The duo will be entirely self sufficient, taking with them freeze-dried meals and a desalinator to convert sea water to drinking water. And their crossing will require a punishing schedule of four-hour pedalling stints, 24 hours a day, with 90 minutes of sleep in their downtime.

Coleman, who lives near Leicester, told Chortle: 'I've always wanted to do one really extreme thing in my life, and this seems like a pretty good one to choose. More people have climbed Everest than pedalled or rowed an ocean. It's going to be an incredible adventure and it's for a great cause.'

'There's only about 100 days until we leave, and preparations are going well, although the training is killing me. It seems that I'm not 30 any more. '

He added that there was 'some unfinished business between me and the Atlantic'. Coleman – whose real first name is Justin –tried to row the ocean in 2005, but had to give up the challenge about a third of the way across.

Coleman said: 'That time, I got almost every aspect of the crossing wrong, from incorrect training to going with someone I wasn't compatible with. Apparently, however, I haven't learnt my lesson, so here I go again.

'If nothing else, it should make a cracking Edinburgh show. '

For more information including sponsorship details, visit www.atlantic2012.co.uk.

Published: 5 Sep 2012