Pete Goss and the crew of Spirit of Mystery – comprising of Pete’s younger brother Andy and Pete’s 14 year-old son Eliot – have arrived in Melbourne, Australia after an epic five month and 11,800 mile journey.

A flotilla of small boats and hundreds of onlookers welcomed the 37-foot wooden lugger into Williamstown, Melbourne at 13:30 Australian Eastern Standard Time (02:30 GMT) today – Monday 9 March.

The crew had an emotional reunion with Mark Maidment, the 44 year-old crew member who had to be taken to hospital with a broken leg after the vessel was knocked down by a freak wave in the Southern Ocean last week ( read previous story here ).

The crew, with Mark in a wheelchair after his operation to insert pins in his leg to hold together his shattered tibia and fibula, stood together on the deck of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria 155 years after the original crew of the fishing vessel Mystery set foot in Williamstown.

Pete said: “It is just fantastic to be here and meet descendents of the original crew of Mystery. After what we have been through, I am even more in awe of what those seven brave Cornishmen achieved. We have had such a great reception here at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and there are just so many people to thank. You can’t do these projects alone and there are a huge number of people who have supported us.”

14 year old Eliot said that the highlight had been seeing a pod of whales around the boat. When asked if it was difficult to sail so far with his father he just replied: “We actually got on ok.”