If you think exploration and adventure travel is a young man’s game, think again.

Anthony Smith, 84, an adventurer and author of 30 books who resides in London, embarked Jan. 30 on his An-Tiki Project, an Atlantic crossing on a raft made of polyethylene pipes. They traveled from Portugal’s Canary Islands to Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, arriving in early April.

Smith and his three-man crew of “mature and intrepid gentlemen,” ages 56 to 84 years, used only the ocean currents and a sail to complete the 2,800-mile voyage.

The former BBC Tomorrow’s World presenter and science correspondent found his crew by placing an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph. It read: “Fancy rafting across the Atlantic? Famous traveller requires 3 crew. Must be OAP (ed. note: Old Age Pensioner). Serious adventurers only.”

Why pipes? Smith tells us, “The gas and water industries use them everywhere, and know they must be strong because a pipe layer has no idea what will happen to them in the future, whether 40-ton trucks will roll over them, or the sub-soil will be washed away. And of course, sealed pipes containing air give far better buoyancy than any kind of wood.”

The project hopes to raise £50,000 (US$81,365) for WaterAid, the U.K.-based non-profit whose mission is to improve access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities. Sponsors include – no surprise here – a pipe company called GPS PE Pipe Systems.

The main point is that the OAPs are out there, and they’re serious about conquering land, air and sea. How is your brand reaching out to this audience?