Paul and Rachel Chandler are determined that nothing will come between them and their dream of a life sailing the oceans of the world – not even the horror of a year held captive by Somali pirates who threatened their lives on an almost daily basis.

Only this time the couple say they will be a bit more careful where they set sail to.

Two years ago the couple's story sent shock waves around the world after they were snatched from their 38ft yacht by pirates before undergoing a year-long nightmare as their captors tried to bargain for their lives.

Since their release at the end of November last year the couple have been living in Dartmouth in the home Paul's parents John and Susan retired to 35 years ago.

Their yacht Lynn Rival – which they were sailing near the Seychelles when they were boarded and kidnapped – is now in store at the Noss Marina boatyard just up the River Dart.

The couple are busy getting her ready for another stab at their ocean going dream.

They reckon it will be another year before Lynn Rival is ready for the high seas again – but despite their ordeal they have no second thoughts about setting out to live their dream.

Said Rachel: 'Everyone wanted us to try and get back to normal after what happened – and for us that means getting back to the cruising lifestyle.

'We are not going to be put off by what happened. If you get run over by a car it does not mean that you are never going to go walking again – although you may think about where you are going to walk.'

Paul added: 'We don't plan on going back to the Somali coast or even the western part of the Indian Ocean very soon.'

Paul, a retired civil servant and Rachel, a government economist, were living in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, when they set out on the sailing journey of a lifetime in 2009 with the aim of returning regularly to visit family and friends.

Their ordeal at the hands of the pirates only ended in November last year after a ransom of some £300,000 was paid by the couple's family to finally get them free.

'The Government did not pay anything,' said Paul as the couple revealed that even they still don't know just how their family raised the cash.

Said Rachel: 'Our family have told us to get on with our lives. They said don't worry about the money there is no expectation of you paying it back. They told us not to ask where it came from because we want you to get on with your lives.'

The couple have just published a book called Hostage – A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters.

It took them nine weeks to write with the help of a co-writer and the diaries they both managed to keep during their year's ordeal – written on pads of paper they managed to take with them as they were kidnapped from their yacht.

The couple's 30-year-old yacht is now sitting in the yard at Noss on Dart under a tarpaulin where the couple plan to work on her for the next year getting her shipshape.

The engine is being rebuilt and a huge amount of work still has to be done before the couple can take her back out to sea.

The stricken yacht was in the care of the Royal Navy after the couple were kidnapped and it was 'hidden' away at Portland and then at Bucklers Hard in Hampshire while the battle to free the couple went on, said Paul.

After the couple were freed they came to live in Churchfields, Dartmouth, and brought the boat to the River Dart just before the royal wedding.

Said Paul: 'She was brought down by low loader and put into he water at Dart Haven and towed up to Noss – so we know she floats okay.'

Paul's 98-year-old frail widowered father John, a retired company director, was in ill health when he found out about the abduction. He died while the couple were still being held in captivity and they only found out on their release

'It was deliberately kept from us in case it was used as another means of putting pressure on us. We would have been devastated if we had heard. It was better that we did not know until we were released. They wanted us to beg and plead with our families. They are ruthless people and they just don't care.'

The couple have made it clear that Dartmouth is not their home.

They are here marking time while their real home is repaired and they can take her out to sea.

Said Rachel: 'When we were first released we came to Dartmouth because we needed to recover. We did not need the rat race of southern England, we needed the calm and beautiful countryside and to be able to walk along the coast to regain our strength both physically and mentally.

She added: 'As much as we like Dartmouth and we know it quite well, Lynn Rival is our home.'

She said that as soon as the yacht is repaired the couple will be back on the water again.

'We plan to do a little bit of sailing around the Westcountry if we can while we get our sea legs back.

'Then, if time allows, we plan to sail down the coast of France and Portugal, heading for the Canaries which is the starting point for crossing the Atlantic.