A MARRIED dad of two from Farnham is set to row 3,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean this December in aid of the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Charity.

Rookie oarsman Shaun Tubb, 49, will tackle 40-feet waves, cramped sleeping quarters and two months at sea as he takes part in the gruelling Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Setting off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on Tuesday, December 12, Shaun and his more experienced rowing partner Andy Styles, 53, hope to arrive in Nelson’s Dockyard English Harbour, Antigua by mid-February.

A builder born-and-bred in Farnham before relocating to the south of France and building his own home eight years ago, Shaun said: “I’ve known Andy for nearly 20 years and we’ve done some crazy stuff together, but nothing like this!

“Andy asked me to do it last year, but it just wasn’t the right time for me family-wise so he did it with his crew from his 2013 North Pole adventure, Andy Sacker and Andy Cameron, and finished in 52 days.

“When he asked me to do it again this year, I bit his arm off, and then thought I’m going to have to find out how to do it! It snowballed from there and I’m just hanging on.”

As well as last year’s Atlantic Challenge, Andy has also conquered the Arctic and Antarctic in recent years, and is already planning his next challenge to row the length of the Amazon river.

The pair are able to use much of the equipment from Andy’s 2016 expedition, including his £50,000 boat ‘Carry Them Home’, saving considerable expense.

However, Shaun still wanted to raise funds for a good cause and so, inspired by the story of a friend’s sick child, opted to support The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

“I was looking for a challenge, and how many chances to you get to do something like this?”, he asked.

“I often get to a stage where life is just a bit too comfortable and have to make it totally uncomfortable for some reason. That’s why we moved to France and started life all over again. And now we’re at that comfortable stage again - rather than move again, I’m rowing across the Atlantic.

“It’s the hardest row in the world apparently. But that’s the reason I’m doing it, for the challenge, to see if I’ve still got it. I’m sure I have, but we’ll see. I can’t wait.”

Shaun has only had six months to prepare for the challenge after Andy’s proposition in June. But he hopes his career as a builder should stand him in good stead, giving him the upper body strength required to row a two-tonne boat 3,000 miles across the high seas.

Although a newcomer to rowing, he has trained rigorously for the challenge - including a five-day expedition around Ibiza in the Mediterranean.

The trip will also see Shaun spend Christmas in the mid-Atlantic, with his wife Sue and two sons, Ethan and Charlie, aged 10 and seven, checking on his progress from home in France.

Shaun will be the second Farnham man to tackle the Atlantic Challenge in just four years, following Rowledge dad-of-two Nick Rees’ aborted attempt in 2013.

Nick, and his rowing partner Ed Curtis, were forced to cancel their 3,000-mile row just a fortnight into their crossing after monster waves capsized their boat twice. They were picked up by a passing container ship and delivered home safely.

Nick and Ed raised more than £170,000 for charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, inspired by Nick’s wife Ellen who survived breast cancer aged 33.

To check on Shaun and Andy’s progress visit the website www.a-adventures.co.uk or to donate to the Farnham man’s cause www.justgiving.com/fundraising/a-adventures .