14 year boy has spend more of his life at sea than on land

The family sold almost everything to pursue their dream of circumnavigating the globe, educating their children aboard their yacht as they crossed oceans and visited countries from Panama and Australia to Indonesia and Sudan.

While the voyage provided unforgettable experiences, including encounters with sharks, coral reef projects and a tense confrontation with armed men off the coast of Sudan, a huge challenge awaited them when they returned home.

Darry (left) and Yewan (right) with a fresh catch off the Egyptian coast. (Image: Alan "Woody" Wood)

The family's youngest son was just five when they left and was 14 when they came back.

His father, Alan "Woody" Wood said the boy had "spent longer at sea than he did on land", which made the transition back into traditional schooling particularly difficult.

Used to constantly changing communities of travelling families, Woody said his son struggled with established friendship groups at school.

The 57 year old said that when at sea his son made friends easily.

Woody said: "He was used to kind of just turning up to a group of kids and then just being accepted in."

The now-teenager also experienced a culture shock after returning to Sussex, taking his skateboard to a local skatepark, he expected to find groups of children but instead found it empty.

S/V Mothership crew at anchor in the Maldives. (Image: Alan "Woody" Wood)

Woody said: "There was no kids there, they were all home on the screens."

According to Woody, growing up at sea also affected how he interacted with adults.

Having been educated in an informal environment where children mixed freely with adults, he now challenges teachers and question decisions in a way that is sometimes misunderstood.

Before returning, the youngster believed life ashore would offer more freedom, more friends and what he described as "proper schooling", but the reality proved more complicated.

The family's eldest daughter also found life on the move challenging as at 16 she chose to leave the voyage early and return to the UK to complete her GCSEs and build more stable friendships.

Woody's wife, Irenka, adapted quickly.

The now 55-year-old returned to Rottingdean around two months before her husband and resumed work teaching sailing and launching her own gardening business.

The sailor said she had largely reintegrated by the time he arrived home: "She hit the ground running really."

For Woody, the process was harder - after years running a sailing school and then spending eight years at sea, he found it difficult to return to conventional working life.

Woody holding his book (Image: NQ staff)

Instead, he has focused on writing, journalism and promoting a new book inspired by the journey titled "If you want to do it, do it!" which is being premiered at the Southampton International Boat Show along with some talks Woody is doing about the trip.

Looking back, he says the family's adventure was worth every challenge.

He said: "It was probably a catastrophic midlife crisis, but we brought our kids up on a boat and they've got this unique childhood now which nobody can ever take away from them."