【Indonesia】

If you're going to row a boat across the Atlantic Ocean,Indonesia you should probably do it naked.

At least so goes the thinking of John and Kurt Schwartz, who are doing just that -- rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, naked.

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No, hear them out. The two brothers (John is 33 years old, Kurt is 29) figure it will take more than a million oar strokes apiece to complete the voyage. Conditions will be wet, and often cold. You want to reduce friction as much as possible, to cut back on blisters and sores and such.

So, naturally, you row au naturel.

"It's not atypical," John said. "Certainly other folks have done it in the past. It's kind of a running joke in the rowing community that, if you're going to do this, you'd better be prepared to row naked."

John and Kurt spoke to Mashableby phone Tuesday night from the Canary Islands. The next morning the two brothers were scheduled to depart on their voyage, which was planned to span more than 3,000 nautical miles and last about 50 days before they finally hit land again at the West Indies island of Antigua. They're part of a small field competing in what's called the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a rowing race that tests the bounds of human endurance.

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The race touts itself by claiming that more people have summited Mount Everest than rowed across the Atlantic. Suffice to say, it's not a simple undertaking.

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Both John and Kurt were members of their college crew teams, but rowing across an ocean is a different beast in many ways. Every day of the journey, they'll burn more calories than they can consume, so they spent some nine months packing on about 20 extra pounds apiece before shoving off.

All their food -- wet, dry and freeze-dried alike -- is packed onboard, as is a solar-powered desalination machine they'll use to convert ocean water into drinking water. A phone is stashed on board in case of emergencies, and the brothers will have some internet communication with support staff back on dry land.

Then there's the boat itself, which Kurt described as looking "more like a rocket ship with the middle cut out than a classic row boat." The vessel is about 24 feet long and features a cabin at each end; one will be used to store supplies, the other for sleeping in shifts.

The Schwartz brothers plan to alternate rowing in two-hour shifts. The idea, Kurt explained, is "you always want to have the boat moving in the direction you want to go." It also helps to have someone awake and on look-out -- the brothers' 24-foot rowboat will pass through several Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes.

But it's not colliding with a massive cargo ship that has John and Kurt most worried about their voyage.

Kurt said he's most wary of maintaining vessel cleanliness and personal hygiene on a trip during which each brother will be rowing -- and sweating -- for 12 hours per day. John said the psychological challenge -- "you're not going that fast and you're looking at nothing but blue ocean for 45 days or so" -- is daunting.

The Schwartz brothers aim to win the race, but they also hope to leverage attention and support to raise money for thesamfund.org, an organization that provides financial aid to young adults with cancer. About four years ago, a friend of theirs named Jeremy Hill died of melanoma. So far, John and Kurt have managed to raise more than $9,000 toward a goal of $25,000.

The first people to row across the Atlantic Ocean were two Norwegians named George Harbo and Gabriel Samuelsen, who took 55 days to complete a trip from Manhattan to the Isles of Scilly in 1896, according to the site Oceanrowing.com. The Schwartz brothers' voyage comes with a 21st century twist, though -- they'll be providing periodic updates on their adventure via Instagram.

Just don't expect any nude rowing shots -- some things are best kept in the family.

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