Firefighter Matt Knight will soon be battling shark-infested waters, hurricanes and 20-foot waves as he rows 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
But the 38-year-old, of Heddington Gardens, Arnold, is only worried about getting seasick on the epic journey from California to Hawaii.
He said: "I'm not concerned about huge waves, sharks and any other sea creatures.
"But I'm nervous about getting seasick. I've had it a few times and it's horrible – you just want to jump off the boat."
Matt, who has worked at the Stockhill Fire Station, Basford, for five years, will be rowing with three other men as part of the Great Pacific Race.
The impressive distance, which is the same as 11,593 Eiffel Towers, will expose the four-man amateur team to a number of dangers including deafening winds of 25 knots and waves the size of houses.
The team, also consisting of Darren Clawson, 38, of Luton, Dong Jin Lee, 27, of Korea, and Raf Schildermans, 37, of Belgium, hope to break the world record set by team Uniting Nations – who completed the route in 43 days as part of the competition's first race.
During the first annual race, which took place in June 2014, 13 teams took part and only seven successfully made it to the finish line.
One team retired after 10 miles due to seasickness and another was rescued by a US Coastguard helicopter after their boat started to take on water after a few days at sea.
Matt said: "We don't just want to race, we want to win. We're serious about it."
The team are currently training daily on rowing machines and will be progressing to the sea as soon as they have purchased an ocean row boat.
They will also have to take part in six training courses in the run up to the race, on June 4, 2016, including sea survival, boat safety and navigation.
Matt said: "This sort of race requires a lot of mental ability. It isn't just fitness – we'll be spending a long time on a boat, so we'll have to forget the bad times and get on with it."
And the fireman is no stranger to danger – last year he took part in the Jungle Ultra Marathon, a challenge that involved him running 155 miles over six days in the Amazon jungle and mountains of Peru.
Tim Marston, Matt's watch manager at the fire station, said: "Sometimes I wonder if he's more machine than human. I think his only issue will be the fact he has to sit down for over a month."
Team NOMAN set out on the rowing adventure last year and said they relied on painkillers to ease the aching in their backsides.
Chris Blacketer, of the team, said: "Spending pretty much 24 hours a day sitting on our backsides, meant we were on a constant stream of painkillers just to get through the days."
The men will be racing as part of Endurance Limit – a not for profit organisation who has raised over £250,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/endurancelimits. To sponsor the team call Matt on 07814031652.
