On 29 January, 22 men and one woman will set out from Dakar, Senegal, on specially designed rowboats to cross the Atlantic to Cayenne, French Guyana, following in the sinister tracks of thousands of boats carrying enslaved Africans to the Americas for a life of hardship. The organisers of the third edition of the Bouvet Guyane event hope this sporting feat will reconcile Africans with the ocean that has claimed so many lives. RFI talked to participants on the eve of departure.