Worth their salt: All-Gurkha team takes on the challenge of the World's Toughest Row

It's a bright sunny day as I speed out from Thorney Island, on the Hampshire/Sussex border, into the bright blue of Chichester Harbour. 

In the distance, a small but well-engineered rowing boat, containing four Gurkhas. 

The team is the latest iteration of the 'Salty Sappers', who've taken part in the World's Toughest Row before. This time, though, they're all Gurkhas. 

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Lance Corporal Dilip Singh Pun Magar and Sappers Tek Bahadur Karki, Surya Pariyar and Sagar Hamar are all from the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, based in Maidstone.

They're all extremely sporty, I learn, but not into rowing – until now!

"When I first heard about rowing, I thought it's just for short days or short hours," Sapper Surya Pariyar explained to me. 

"And then I realised later it's for around 40 days and it's going to be 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. 

"So obviously, when I first heard about it, I was a little bit shocked. But later on, I knew that we would be the first Gurkhas or Nepalese citizen to compete across the Atlantic Ocean. So I felt really proud."

This challenge will test the crew physically and mentally and is widely regarded as one of the toughest feats of endurance in the world.

They'll leave San Sebastián de la Gomera in the Canary Islands on 12 December, before arriving in Antigua at some point down the line. 

In the process, the 'Salty Sappers' will raise money and awareness for the Sapper Charity, The Royal Engineers Association and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.