TEACHER Brian Minchin arrived home in Luxborough last Thursday morning - after sailing single-handed across the Atlantic.
The voyage from Rhode Island, New Jersey, took him six weeks, including a scheduled stop on the Azores, aboard his 35ft yacht SS Rags.
But there was no fanfare when he sailed in to Plymouth Harbour.
"He didn't want a fuss - he just wanted to get home and said he couldn't stand another night aboard the boat," said his wife, Joy.
"Sailing the Atlantic is a challenge Brian has wanted to take on for a long time and I think it's a tremendous achievement.
"The worst part of it was crossing the shipping lanes because he had to stay awake for long periods, and it was the same when he was coming in to Plymouth.
"But there were some memorable moments, too - like having to try and frighten a whale away because he was afraid it would damage the yacht."
Brian, who learned to sail in the Army, used to teach CDT at West Somerset Community College and recently returned as a supply teacher.
At one time he had a boat, the Gannet, which he built in his back yard in Woolston and then kept in Watchet Harbour.
Joy said Brian planned to take it easy for a short while: "He arrived home exhausted and he's lost two stone, but he's done what he set out to do."