A SAILOR stranded in thick fog for four days just yards from the coastline has told of his ordeal - and revealed plans to resume his voyage.

Chirpy Alan McKeand said he was happy enough reading a book.

The married father-of-two admitted he had not really been bothered by his four days of isolation, largely spent reading a copy of The Bold Man of the Sea by Jim Shekhdar, who single-handedly rowed across the Pacific.

The 65-year-old yachtsman from North Yorkshire was on a trip of a lifetime navigating the coastline of the North of England and Scotland when he dropped anchor planning to sit out a spell of thick fog off the coast near Redcar.

But the fog failed to lift from his refuge - just 150 yards from shore - so last Thursday afternoon, as the weather began to worsen dramatically, the Redcar Lifeboat was sent out to tow Mr McKeand's 22ft yacht, Martha III, to shore.

The retired textile technologist from Skipton said, contrary to early reports, his battery supply had not run out, he 'simply didn't want to bother anyone.'

He said: "They always say don't bother the coastguard unless you really have an emergency and I thought, 'well I've got a food, I've got water, I'll be all right.'

"But when I saw this lifeboat chug into view I wasn't going to argue and I want to thank the crew.

"I'm going to go down to Hull Marina, where I set off, get my car, go home to Skipton for a few days and then set off again round Scotland. I'll dock somewhere in Cumbria and Lancashire to end it."

The inspiration behind Mr McKeand's 1,800-mile trip, he said, was to find new moorings on the Lancashire or Cumbrian coast nearer to his home in Skipton - his plans had been dependent on the weather.