Reg McGlashan reacted to this greeting outside a cafe on Monday with a roaring laugh and a handshake. 

Incredulity and warmth were common between pedestrians and the Port Macquarie man, who was dramatically rescued in the North Atlantic Ocean along with son Jason last month.

The crew of two were attempting to sail 43-footer Sedona from Newport, Rhode Island, to their Mid-North Coast hometown. 

But just 36 hours into the trip things started to go wrong. They lost power inexplicably and their sails ripped roughly 400 nautical miles from first stop-over Bermuda.

The footage of the US Coast Guard plucking the McGlashans from the storming sea went viral around the world.  The father and son are hugely grateful for the help they received, with the older man saying they had complete faith in the professionals.

“We never even thought about saying a word to ‘Huey’ (gestures to the sky) up there.”

It looks likely Sedona will not be recoverable, with the insurer telling the McGlashans it “will probably end up in Europe” because of the power of the Gulf Stream. 

Mr McGlashan nearly gave a papal greeting as he stepped off the plane - he felt like kissing the ground on arrival.

“But it was pouring down rain so I kissed the wife instead. Then I went home and just sat down and thought ‘I’m home - thank god’.”

He will continue his work on boats as a member of Port Macquarie’s Marine Rescue, and has been enjoying regular swims in the comparably warm ocean waters at home.

The duo plan to sail in the Sydney to Hobart in the future, drawing on their experiences of sailing from Melbourne to Lake Macquarie four years ago.

Jason McGlashan has returned to work in Western Australia, but is still keen to buy a yacht from America, sail it to Australia and then set the record for the solo circumnavigation of the country.

But the older McGlashan has some fatherly advice, perhaps fearing another unplanned dip. 

“I might suggest he gets it from the west coast rather than the east coast, and maybe somewhere a bit further down where it’s a bit warmer.”

ben.cooper@fairfaxmedia.com.au

The Hastings father-and-son duo sailing 16,000km from America to Port Macquarie have Australian Marine Search and Rescue to thank for their dramatic rescue off the coast of Nantucket, just over two hundred nautical miles  from the US coast.