Happy to have his feet back on solid ground, lone sailor Sergei Morozov is down but not out today, and still determined to live out his childhood dream of sailing around the world alone.The 47-year-old Canadian, who resides in Halifax, admits he got off to a late start but despite winter storms he set out on December 5 bound for Bermuda the first stop before moving on to the Bahamas.His 10.6-metre C&C sailboat Hikari is now docked alongside Captain Smoke's Marina in St George's badly damaged and in need of repairs that will take up to two weeks to complete and an estimated $5,000 to become seaworthy again.The Hikari became the focal point of a major air and sea rescue operation when Mr Morozov's daughter raised the alarm after her father failed to arrive in Bermuda on schedule. The search was eventually called off by the US Coast Guard after several days.Mr Morozov, still looking a bit tired and worn spoke with The Royal Gazette yesterday and stated point blank that: “If you want to save your own money for your own funeral service, if you want to die like a brave man buy an automatic, self-steering system and go across the Atlantic Ocean, you will never come back, trust me it doesn't work.”That system which he had installed just three weeks before his departure failed after he ran into rough seas, just hours after he left port in Halifax.“A company representative installed the system,” he said “with assurances that it would hold up in rough weather.”The problems started as soon as he hit the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean with not only the steering system but with his tiller pilot system as well. From thereon in he described the ill-fated journey as a “living hell”.He said the self-steering system “completely damaged my boat and almost killed me when it broke, a system that cost me $5,000 that didn't work”. And it wasn't long before his rudder broke as well.“I had to make adjustments a hundred times a day for six days straight,” he said, “steering and adjusting at the same time. And I had to sew ripped sails at least ten times at night.”After that he said a pain struck him on the left side of his chest that was so painful he couldn't breathe. “I couldn't move, I was like almost dead, and it was then that I decided to make my last note on camera for my loved ones. I tied the camera to my right hand and fell asleep because this situation made me feel like I would never wake up again. I think the pain was caused by muscle cramps because I had to put my body in awkward positions to maintain control of the boat for six days straight. I also had to keep my eyes open to keep my boat on course.“Can you imagine that?” he asked. “It seems simple now but not then.”When asked if there was ever a time when he felt he would just give up, Mr Morozov replied: “When my body started to give out on me, maybe a little, I steered for six days by hand with little or no sleep.”When asked what kept him going, he replied: “My idea was to keep moving my boat as much as possible. I'm no stranger to the sea, I am a navigator, that's my speciality, I've spent almost my whole life on the sea.“I kept thinking this is the North Atlantic in the winter time, I can't stay here because opposite winds would have pushed me back to Newfoundland, that's why for six days I steered by hand like an idiot, to keep moving forward. After one or two days I felt if I went to sleep the storm would push me back, so I just kept going for 500 miles.”By the time he was 150 miles south of Bermuda he had completely lost power but not before sounding his emergency E-Perb signal. “I don't know why after two days, no batteries, no radio, no nothing, everything went dead.”Mr Morozov admits that he set out on this journey a bit late. “I should've started out from Halifax by the end of October,” he said, “but I bought this boat six months ago for just $1,000. It cost me another $30,000 to get it ready, now after this I'll be here for at least two weeks. I'm glad I made radio contact with larger ships in the area while en route to Bermuda. I asked them to contact my daughter to let her know I was still alive and was still trying to make it to Bermuda before I eventually got towed in. I just needed help to make it to Bermuda,” he said.Last night he had yet to speak with his 21-year-old daughter directly. When asked if he had one thing to say to her what would it be, he replied: “That I still love her, and that I'm not giving up, I'm still hoping to make this lone voyage around the world, my next stop is the Grand Bahama.”Asked why he was not scared after all this, he said: “I'm too old to be scared.”As for those who might think he's crazy for doing this he said: “I am crazy for doing this but navigation is my speciality, and this is my childhood dream finally I'm on my way, and I've passed the first 750 miles of my journey which was the hardest part. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be smooth sailing from here, and I'm still determined to make it.”Repairs will cost an estimated $5,000 by the time he pays for the marina, food and supplies. “I'm working on that now.” As for the solo voyage that still lies ahead he said, “I'm a fighter and I will never give up, for me to give up on the sea means I'll die. It was really, really rough weather, how can I give up? I still have plans for at least the next 20 years I'm not ready to just give up.”