• Say, Friends think we’re mad"
Sailing fanatics; Rachel and Paul Chandler are heading off to finish the round-the-world trip that was disrupted by pirates who held them hostage for a year.
Rachel said: “Some friends think we’re mad and our family are apprehensive, but sailing is our life.
"We feel guilty that people will worry, but they understand that if we weren’t able to sail we’d be defeated people.
• Say, Friends think we’re mad"
Sailing fanatics; Rachel and Paul Chandler are heading off to finish the round-the-world trip that was disrupted by pirates who held them hostage for a year.
Rachel said: “Some friends think we’re mad and our family are apprehensive, but sailing is our life.
"We feel guilty that people will worry, but they understand that if we weren’t able to sail we’d be defeated people.
“What happened to us was extraordinary and the chances of it happening again are very, very small.
“More than anything we just want to be able to get on with living. We don’t want to be defined as former hostages for the rest of our lives.”
They will set sail on their original yacht Lynn Rival in the next few weeks heading to Morocco, the Canaries and South America – but steering clear of pirate waters.
It was in October 2009 that Rachel, 58, and Paul, 61, were snatched as they cruised off the coast of Somalia.
They were held for 388 days until friends and family raised a half million pound ransom.
The Chandlers offered to repay the money, but were told there was no need.
Rachel said: “They flatly refused. To us they’re the unsung heroes. Their lives were turned upside down too, but all the focus has been on us.”
Rachel, of Dartmouth, Devon, said she did not feel bitter towards the pirates – seven are now on trial – but it was “hard” to accept their leader was still at large.
The desire to return to sea came after their boat, which had been ransacked by the pirates, was returned to them.
“Seeing her again was a tonic,” said Rachel. “Here was the third person in our relationship.
“As the summer draws closer, I can feel myself getting more excited every day.
"In a month’s time Paul and I will be heading back to the place where we belong – the sea.
“We’ll continue our round the world journey. For us nothing beats the freedom of sailing.
"And this trip will be all the more significant because it will mean we’ve recovered from the ordeal that left us broken.
“At times back then I thought the only way out was suicide.
"I couldn’t work out how I could get through the next hour, let alone the next day.”
Rachel told Good Housekeeping magazine she and Paul were not the kind of people who could stay at home.
She added: “Of course we’ll be cautious. We’ll do our homework thoroughly and avoid the areas where there’s known pirate activity.
“It’s still our dream to spend our retirement sailing and we won’t let that dream be taken away.”
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