Paul and Rachel Chandler are returning to the sea almost three years after they were abducted at gunpoint by Somali pirates in a harrowing ordeal that lasted 388 days.
Not only are the Chandlers setting sail again, but they are going on the same yacht they were abducted from before, the Lynn Rival, reports NBC News .
The British couple was taken prisoner while sailing in the Indian Ocean in October of 2009, and their captors demanded a $7 million ransom — a number the Chandlers knew their family and friends would never come up with.
With their torment now a memory, Paul and Rachel will set off later this week on a six-month journey to Brazil. Paul stated of the cruise that:
“It’s our life. Our yacht … enabled us to get our sanity back. We won’t be beaten by these guys.”
In the time since their release, the couple has not received counseling, instead choosing to rely on each other as well as writing a book titled Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters . The most cathartic healing, however, could be when they set sail again on the Lynn Rival.
The Huffington Post notes that Rachel stated:
“I never stopped wanting to go out to sea. What happened to us was an extremely unlucky experience. It hasn’t changed my love of sailing, cruising or traveling.”
Despite their unwillingness to help in the ordeal, the British government helped the couple restore their vessel. After Paul and Rachel Chandler tidy up the Lynn Rival and winnow down their spare electrical parts, the two will set sail, almost three years after their fated Indian Ocean journey.
