Solo adventure: Shortly before the start of the Atlantic crossing by SUP - three questions for Michael Walther

On Monday, 15 September, it's all set to begin: Michael Walther starts his Atlantic crossing by SUP in Lagos, Portugal. The Kiel native will be travelling alone on the open ocean for around three months before reaching his destination in French Guiana. The background to the mission: to set an example for climate protection and collect donations.

• Find out more about Michael Walther and his Atlantic crossing here

The special SUP board, which looks more like a ship, was unveiled in Hamburg a few weeks ago. With minimal but state-of-the-art equipment, Michael Walther can sleep, cook and paddle on board. The journey will be accompanied by a livestream and there will also be regular updates from Michael. Shortly before the start, he answered a few questions for us:

Hello Michael, how intensively have you been able to test your board?

I did a test tour on the Baltic Sea, which was about 50 kilometres long!

What else did you test or practise?

I tested all the systems once, i.e. navigation, AIS, but also cooking on board - everything you can try out! I also practised getting on and off the boat because I have to clean the board under water once a week so that it doesn't get too overgrown with algae. So I went into the Baltic Sea once, cleaned it and climbed back up again. Then I also tested the daggerboard for function, the seawater desalinator and, last but not least, the drift anchor. It was all very successful!

How are you spending the last few days before the start?

I'm trying to keep as much normality as possible in my day, but I still have a lot of organisational things to do, such as customs formalities for the board's return journey, as well as planning the journey to Portugal. I also have a few sponsor appointments, plus a talk and a film screening of our Iceland film "Time To Act". At the weekend, I'll try to switch off a bit and get out and about before heading out on the water for around three months!

Thank you very much and good luck, Michael!

Under @zeroemissions you can follow Michael's journey on Instagram!