Craig and Rose Arnel have entered in the Atlantic Challenge - a 3000-mile, 5556-kilometre, back-breaking journey across the Atlantic Ocean - taking more than 50 days to complete.

What started as a pipe dream for Mr Arnel after watching the documentary "Losing Sight of Shore" on four women who rowed from the US to Australia, soon became a reality.

"It was actually Rose's idea," Mr Arnel said.

"I had endeavoured a sail around the world with the family at some stage going forward.

"Rose sort of questioned my experience in sailing because we have done some sailing, but not that level.

"You can actually do it in a sailing boat, so sailing is probably not as difficult, which convinced her a bit more to take on the idea.

"That back-flipped and turned into her thinking 'this is a fantastic idea and idea and let's go and attempt ocean rowing' (laughs).

"She found the challenge we're on now which is the Atlantic Challenge."

In early December 2020, the couple will leave San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain, across to Antigua in the Caribbean.

By no means do they think it will be easy.

To put it in perspective, more people have climbed Mount Everest than rowed this stretch of ocean.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"The waves can be up to 20 feet depending on the weather conditions," Mr Arnel said.

"We can get really nice weather and calm seas, but they reckon the dead flat seas are sometimes the worst because there's no current or wind pushing you along. You've got to do all the hard yards by physically rowing.

"At the start of September, we went over to the UK for a week and it was a very truncated week. We flew in, did a course, spent three or four days on the boat and jumped on the plane and came home."

The couple have invested around $100,000 on their boat, which is around eight metres in length and is currently sitting in the UK.

But it's certainly not built for luxury.

"The toilet is a bucket," Mr Arnel laughed.

"It looks like a canoe, but it has a small cabin on the front where you stow all your gear.

"At the rear of the boat there's a sleeping quarters and your legs go underneath the deck, so it's quite snug.

"It's not like there's a bed in there as such, there's a mattress on the floor and you're tucked right in there.

"Then you've got all your communications gear like your radio and your AIS (automatic identification system), which is a ship collision warning system because you do come across other vessels, especially in the middle of the night.

"It's fully unsupported. You have to carry your own food. The boat has a water maker on board and the food is generally dehydrated.

"There's two safety yachts that go with the fleet, but they're between two and seven days behind, so if you get into trouble, you're on your own really."

Mr and Mrs Arnel will row for two hours while the other sleeps, then switch for two hours - 24 hours a day.

"You've got to have someone on the oars the entire time," he said.

"It's just us on the team. You can go solo, pairs, trios, fours and fives.

"There's 40 teams in our year from all over the world. You're actually competing against not only the teams there for outright victory, but all the historic timings as well.

"Most people do it just to complete it, it's not necessarily a race. We've started out with that approach, but with competitiveness we'll see what happens.

"There's mandatory courses we have to undertake in the UK. We're going back in May to do those and there's a minimum amount of hours you have to spend on our actual boat.

"We can do as many rowing hours as we like everywhere else, but we have to have a minimum 120 hours on our boat itself. We're up to 35 at the moment."

Their team name "But A Dream" was taken from the nursery rhyme "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat", but has a deeper meaning for the Arnels.

"That comes from row, row, row your boat... life is a but a dream, so it's a bit of a take on that," Mr Arnel added.

"It also stems around the fact this was not something we ever thought was achievable without having serious experience."

After seeing the documentary, Mrs Arnel said she listened to a couple of podcasts and thought the challenge was something they could achieve.

The mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer during her second pregnancy, but believes she's stronger as a result and has come to appreciate the capabilities of mind and body.

"I think the biggest thing for me is the kids. We've got two kids and leaving them at home for such a long time is difficult," Mrs Arnel said.

"In terms of being out in the open water, I'm really excited.

"I'm looking forward to the night skies, the wildlife and the experience of it all.

"One team (in a previous year) had a whale and its calf follow them for two weeks just cruising along next to them, which was impressive.

"Turtles come up to the boat and flying fish land in the boat or whack you in the head (laughs).

"Everyone has been extremely supportive and are very excited for us, which is really nice."

The end goal for Mr and Mrs Arnel is to raise awareness around Soldier On and its ongoing service to the men and women currently serving or transitioning out of the defence force.

"I served with the Army Reserves and I've done about 20 years over a few different generations of army," Mr Arnel said.

"It was very different back in the 90s to what it is now.

"I've had a bit to do with Solider On when I was working for Thales Group (defence electronics and systems) and fundraising for them there.

"I had a bit of an understanding of what they were when they first started out. To me, it was a pretty good opportunity to advertise a charity.

"It relates to me more closely, but the work they do is really positive.

"It directly gives back to those guys who have put in and to their families and they do a lot of transitional work from the military back to civilian life.

"Whilst the defence force does a good job doing that, it's always good to have an extra body outside of that to help."

The couple will return to England in May next year to ramp up their final preparations for the Atlantic Challenge by rowing the southern coast of the UK.

"It's often more challenging rowing the rivers and canals than it is the ocean because you've got submerged objects, there's boats everywhere and it can be a bit of a nightmare," Mr Arnel said.

For more information on the challenge ahead for Mr and Mrs Arnel, visit butadream.net.