It was the glittering prize that Skelmorlie’s round-the-world sailor Stuart MacDonald had hoped for upon completing his incredible mission.

As he sailed up past Ailsa Craig, heading towards the Cumbraes, the 68 year old was reminded of the world class views that the Firth of Clyde has to offer as he arrived at Largs on Sunday 31 August in glorious sunshine.

Stuart should know, as he is a great survivor, having made his dream come true and sailed single-handedly around the world in his trusty sailing yacht ‘Beyond’, beginning the epic journey in May 2010.

The intrepid traveller has seen some awe-inspiring sights from around the planet from stars setting along the equator and changing colours, to unique crabs climbing palm trees and cracking open coconuts in Vanuatu.

Stuart was accompanied by flying fish, and even sailed through some dangerous waters where the sea had ‘as many sharks as seagulls on Largs seafront’, while the sight as he arrived at Darwin in Australia was certainly snappy - as a host of crocodiles were watching with stealth from the shore!

Not for the faint hearted, Stuart also had to endure some extremely testing waters, where his sailing skills were pushed to the very limits, although amazingly, he claims anyone with a decent sailing pedigree can take to the world’s oceans and do what he did.

The retired merchant navy captain pointed out that the most important thing was to have absolute determination in order to overcome some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges which he faced. He laughed now when he admits that a traffic jam or when something goes wrong, it used to be upsetting, but when you are trapped in a force nine gale on the treacherous Indian Ocean, it provides an important perspective on life!

Stuart said: “I didn’t really intend to go round the world, I was just heading to the Caribbean, but I had just turned 64, and I thought if I go back, I will never get the same opportunity again as I would never come back.

So I decided to carry on, and even managed to get to Auckland to see Scotland play England in the Rugby World Cup!” His motivation, since he navigated the Panama Canal in 2010, was to get to Auckland in time for the Scotland v England Rugby World Cup match in October 2011 after his friend managed to secure a ticket.

Stuart duly arrived in Auckland and was congratulated on his voyage in person by Scotland captain Alastair Kellock.

He told the ‘News’: “It was amazing to meet rugby heroes such as Alastair Kellock, and legends like Gavin Hastings, and they thought that it was incredible to meet me because of my sailing adventure. That takes some getting used to!” Asked about his most challenging situation during his worldwide adventure, he cited the Indian Ocean, and said: “There were two wave patterns, one coming from the south west, and one from the south east, and that plus the very high winds makes it very wet and uncomfortable and it puts a huge amount of stress on the boat - and me! I had to hang on all the time. I got into Rodrigues and then on to Mauritius. It was fifteen days. I was only able to sleep in little spells, but you can get to just about anything but it did strike me at that stage of the voyage, if I was a criminal, I wouldn’t be allowed to live in these conditions but of course, I volunteered, but it was worth it to see Mauritius where I stayed for a month, then I sailed to Madagascar and then on to the south of South Africa in November 2013, and when I got there, I was absolutely exhausted. But it is a very good place to rest in as the food is fantastic, and because of the strength of the pound against the Rand, it was the first time in my trip as if I had felt that I had money in my pocket. I stayed in South Africa until February of this year, and I re-fitted the boat there as well for the next leg. And I went round the Cape of Good Hope and then back on the Atlantic again which was a great relief, compared to the Indian Ocean, as it was a lot less brutal and the weather was much more predictable. I sailed from Cape Town up to St Helena and stayed there for a week.” Stuart then sailed back across to the Caribbean to Brazil, for the second time, during his trip, and then on to Grenada in the Caribbean, and his course past the point of the initial outward bound course, and arrived in Grenada three years, three months, three days, exactly after he left it. Stuart said: “It was a bit spooky as it wasn’t planned that way but that was exactly as to how it panned out. You can’t sail directly from Cape Town to Europe, because of the weather and the currents, you have to go across to Brazil and then head to the Caribbean and then head across to the UK, or you could do but it would have been pretty tough going.

“Then I sailed to the Azores to the north of Spain, and then on to Brittany, and on to Falmouth, and back on to Largs on Sunday 31 August.” Both Stuart’s grown-up children came to Falmouth, and family and friends greeted him in Largs. He also has a two year old grandchild in Woking.

“I have had quite a lot of difficulty moving from one lifestyle to another and I haven’t made the transition by a long shot,” he admitted, but with many a juicy story to tell, he is looking forward to telling his story to many more people. Stuart is 68 years of age and went to sea with Lyle Shipping Company when he was 17, and became captain in the merchant navy when he was 30, and started his own consultancy company in the 90s, and retired in 2010. Originally from Glasgow, Stuart lived near Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh when growing up where his passion for rugby grew strong. And travelling appears to be in his blood, as his consultancy work took him as far as South Korea.

The globetrotter said: “I have been sailing yachts for 40 years before I set off,” said Stuart, “and had already raced single handedly to America in 2000. The 38ft sloop ‘Beyond’ was built in Sweden in 1991, and was marvellous throughout.” “In the end, it was very emotional sailing up the Clyde on such a beautiful day - and when you see Arran and Ailsa Craig first, and the beautiful colours, it was wonderful, and it was great to see a few close friends back in Largs when I arrived at 2pm.” Stuart is planning to launch a website about his big adventure with blogs and anecdotes from his travels, and will also be giving a lecture at Largs Sailing Club over the coming months.

It was a fascinating experience from the crocodiles to the coconut crabs, and Stuart loved the range of different wildlife on our world’s oceans, saying: “Flying fish are a daily occurrence in some parts of the journey, and in the Azores and off the coast of South Africa, you see a tremendous amount of whales, and in many of the Pacific Islands, sharks are just the way seagulls are in Largs - they are just everywhere as fisherman land their catch, gut them and fling the offal into the water - so you don’t go swimming there!”