Spirit of Mystery, the 37-foot Mounts Bay lugger sailed by Pete Goss and his family crew to Australia last year in a re-enactment of a historic voyage 155 years ago, is to return home to Cornwall.

Currently lying in Port Kembla, Australia, she will be loaded aboard a container ship bound for Holland. There she will be unloaded and finish the journey under sail to her spiritual home in Cornwall.

Having survived storms and a knockdown in the Southern Ocean on the voyage to Australia last year, Round-the-world racer and ocean adventurer, Goss, commented: “I have wrestled with the decision as to whether I should sail her home or ship her ever since we arrived in Melbourne. My heart wanted to sail her but looking at life, commitments and other projects I have in the pipeline, it was readily apparent that I didn’t have the time slot. I am now really excited about getting her home, we have missed her.”

An added bonus for Pete is that the ship is returning complete with her dinghy Tacker, which was feared lost forever in the Southern Ocean after Spirit of Mystery suffered a knockdown.

This incident turned out to be the start of Tacker’s own adventure. The intrepid little boat drifted over a thousand miles and turned up in King Island between Tasmania and Australia, where she was spotted by local boys and after much detective work and some restoration reunited with Spirit of Mystery.

Spirit of Mystery will arrive in Holland towards the end of April thanks to Seven Star Yacht Transport, where she will be prepared for the final push home. Pete hopes that he can be on board to sail Spirit up the Tamar and complete an amazing global voyage for the little wooden boat with a big heart.