Most people go through December looking forward to putting their feet up and enjoying a beer or two.

But for a Sussex travel boss, who is aiming to become one of only a handful of people to both sail and fly across the Atlantic single-handedly, the festive season is being put on hold.

Tristan Gooley, 34, has spent almost all of December and all of Christmas away from his family, braving the high seas.

The intrepid adventurer, from Eartham, near Chichester, has already completed a solo flight from Goose Bay in Canada to Oxford earlier this year.

The flight took two days, with Mr Gooley climbing to 18,000ft.

To complete the second part of the journey, he set off from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands on December 7, in a bid to reach St Lucia in a Contessa 32 yacht by the start of January.

Mr Gooley, a serial adventurer, said: "Having worked in the travel industry for much of my life, adventure is second nature to me.

"However, this challenge was as much about my love of navigation as adventure.

"Navigation is probably one of the most underestimated disciplines you can find.

"Every journey becomes fascinating if you understand it."

When asked about what he thought made him so adventurous, he replied: "I don't know.

"If I understood myself that well I probably wouldn't feel the need to do it.

"Maybe it is because golf seems a bit silly to me."

Mr Gooley's wife Sophie and sons Ben, three, and Vincent, 11 months, will spend the Christmas period without him but he is hoping to keep in contact with them throughout the trip via a satellite phone.

On the expedition Mr Gooley aims to raise thousands of pounds for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is estimated to kill one man in Britain every hour.

Mr Gooley will also pay tribute to fellow adventurer Steve Fossett, who remains missing, presumed dead, after taking off from an airbase in the US in September.

He said: "Having always admired Steve Fossett greatly, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the great man.

"I'm ashamed to admit I knew a little about breast cancer but I had never even heard of prostate cancer before, despite it being the most common cancer affecting men.

"The more I find out about the disease, the more I realise it is a cause that desperately needs our support.

"If I can make one more man find out a little more about it, then my efforts will be worthwhile."

miles.godfrey @theargus.co.uk