A CHRISTCHURCH couple have temporarily put their sea legs to rest after three years’ sailing around the world.

Adventurers Conor and Marion Wall are the first couple from Christchurch Sailing Club to circumnavigate the world and received a rapturous welcome from crowds of fellow club members when they docked on Saturday.

Christchurch Sailing Club’s cruiser fleet met the Wall’s 44ft yacht Toucan in Christchurch Bay on Saturday morning, with the club’s yachts adorned in signal flags ready for a mammoth celebration with the couple’s sons James and Christopher.

The couple left Christchurch in 2010, exploring the north and west coasts of Spain and Portugal before taking part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers to the Caribbean.

They then took a passage through the Panama Canal and visited the tropical islands of Tahiti and Bora Bora as well as New Zealand, Fiji and northern Australia.

To avoid the risk of Somali pirates, the intrepid sailors took the challenging passage across the Indian Ocean to Mauritius and round the southern coast of Africa before the final 2,000 miles from Brazil to the Caribbean and back across the Atlantic.

Marion, 59, said one of their highlights was meeting up with the man who taught them to sail in South Africa 38 years ago.

“We’d lost touch with him when we returned from Cape Town in the 1970s but we managed to find someone who knew him. It was very emotional. One of those special moments you can never recreate.

“We’ve lived here for 37 years, and we’ve travelled the world and I still think Christchurch is one of the most beautiful places.”

Conor, 63, added: “I want to thank everyone who came out for this amazing reception.

“We did not expect anything like this – it’s incredible.

“We’ve met some wonderful people.

“It’s really been a dream for us.”