Extreme weather and encounters with sharks and whales did not stop the intrepid explorers in their tracks.

Chris and Pat Richardson, who live in Fryupdale, have successfully completed their challenge in their yacht Pelagia travelling 12,000 miles in just 14 months.

The Pelagia is a Swedish build Hallberg-Rassy and is 36 ft.

The trip was a long-held ambition of Chris (63) and Pat (60) who are both retired and have been keen sailors for 30 years.

Chris was a chemical engineer and Pat was a teacher at Castleton school

Chris said: “It is every sailor’s ambition to cross an ocean.

“It was a great challenge and was a long time in the planning – it took us about a year to organise.

The couple did the voyage alone, although they were assisted by a rota of people to help them crew at various stages.

They sailed down the Canary Islands via Portugal and Madeira and spent 21 days at sea with no sight of dry land.

They then sailed across to the Caribbean and up through the Bahamas, across Bermuda and the Azores and back to Falmouth.

They were welcomed back to Whitby by a party of family and friends, with champagne at the ready.

The couple’s round Britain trip featured in the Gazette in 2001.

Their trip featured a number of highs and lows, including gearbox failure in the Virgin Islands which could have scuppered the entire trip and they were lucky to acquire a spare.

Pat said other low points included having to wash her hair, dishes and utensils in sea water.

Highs included encountering a playful whale and Pat also got more than she bargained for one day when she ventured out of the boat and saw what she thought was a large fish – it turned out to be a four foot long shark.

“The locals called him Barry the barracuda and he was well known for lurking in the bay but I was quite unprepared when I met him.”

In the Atlantic they got caught up in the edge of a tropical depression.

“There were very strong winds and storms, we had to keep constant watch even throughout the night,” said Chris.

On the way back from Bermuda they were again caught in storms and had to navigate the Pelagia through a very narrow entrance where coral could have smashed the boat up.

“It was a very stressful experience.