'I accepted I might die' says round-world sailor

Barry Perrins said he is not done yet with the ocean

After nearly a decade at sea, former lifeboatman Barry Perrins has finally set foot on Devon soil again.

The 68-year-old Plymouth adventurer has returned from a nine-year solo circumnavigation of the globe aboard his 36ft (11m) yacht, one he describes as "ideal" for a single-handed voyage.

His journey began with a moment of reckoning.

"I'd reached that point in life where you realise you haven't really done anything except exist," he told BBC Radio Devon.

Shadow of Poole is going to be refitted for new adventures

Following the loss of his parents, he faced a choice: "I could buy a flashy car and live it up, or I could do something meaningful. So I bought a boat."

Mr Perrins sailed south along Europe's coast, through the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, before committing to the Atlantic crossing.

"Once you reach Cape Verde, there's no turning back, the trade winds push you west," he said.

From there, his route took him to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and onward across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The voyage was not without risk.

"I had to accept that I might die out there," he admitted.

"But if I did, at least I'd have had a go. That clarity, knowing every decision could mean life or death, was strangely liberating."

Barry Perrins had a welcome from the RNLI as he returned to Plymouth

Life on board was stripped back to the basics.

"I live a very, very basic life," he said. "A couple of little things that mean a lot to me, a few books, that's about it."

However, technology transformed the experience.

"When I set off, GPS was already there, but I still worked on paper charts, and now of course, everything's electronic," he said.

His years as a lifeboat volunteer "taught me self-rescue", he added.

"You have to plan for the worst. Before I do anything, I think, 'What if this goes wrong?' That's not pessimism, it's survival."

There were moments where Mr Perrins had to make split-second decisions to survive.

"There were times when I thought, if I don't make the right decision now, I could be dead in 10 minutes," he said.

"And sometimes it wasn't minutes, it was a day-long battle with bad weather and things going wrong."

But there were highs too.

"Crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Barbados, that was huge," he said.

"Going through the Panama Canal. And New Zealand, gobsmackingly beautiful. I spent a year and a half there during Covid. The people were amazing."

After 30,000 miles at sea, Mr Perrins' steel yacht Shadow of Poole now rests in a Plymouth marina.

"She needs a lot of work," he said.

"I'll take her out of the water and give her the care she deserves. She saved my life many times."

As for what is next, Mr Perrins is not done with the ocean.

"I belong there," he said.

"Once the boat's ready, I'd like to sail around the UK and Ireland, and spend next summer exploring the West Country coast."

For now, he is adjusting to life ashore. "I've only been back a week. People keep telling me I've done this incredible thing, but it hasn't sunk in yet," he admitted.

"Coming up the coast, seeing all the boats come out to greet me, I remembered how much I love the West Country. It's a gorgeous place. I'm so glad to be back."

Mr Perrins has documented his journey on his YouTube channel, Adventures of an Old Sea Dog, one of the UK's biggest sailing channels.

"I'm still in South Africa on the videos," he laughed, "but I'll get to Devon eventually."