Defiant sailor Alan McKeand, of Skipton, today vowed to complete his voyage around the Scottish coastline despite being "rescued" from his yacht by a lifeboat crew.

Mr McKeand, pictured, attracted national headlines when he was stranded for nearly four days just 150 feet from the Teesside coastline. He was eventually "rescued" last Thursday and lifeboat crews claimed the 65-year-old father-of-two had been in danger from the seven-foot waves lapping his boat.

But today he said he planned to return to Martha III - now docked in Hartlepool Marina - and complete his journey around Scotland.

He is spending the summer around the northern coastline of Britain and hopes to end up in Cumbria or Lancashire.

Mr McKeand, of Moor Crescent, Skipton, had dropped anchor so he could have a spot of lunch within sight of a Teesside beach when weather conditions suddenly deteriorated and the yacht became fog-bound. "I just stayed and stayed and stayed, but the fog wouldn't lift," he said today. "I was still there on Thursday and I think the Coastguard had seen the boat stranded there and wondered if there was anyone on it."

But Mr McKeand denied he had been waiting for the rescue boat to arrive. He said he had been tucking into lunch when it drew up alongside him.

"I was a bit surprised because I wasn't in any immediate danger and if I had been then I would have just called the emergency services myself," he said. "I have always been taught not to call them out unless it is absolutely necessary."

Mr McKeand said the sea was just a few feet deep at the point where he was anchored and he could regularly see people on the nearby beach.

But he said he had no intention of crossing the busy North Sea shipping channel until the weather improved.

"I wasn't at all relieved when I was saved - why should I have been?" said Mr McKeand.

"I was perfectly OK and didn't really need any assistance. They said I was very tired and exhausted but it was quite the contrary. I had just spent all that time on the boat with nothing to do but read."

But he said he had no intention of turning the lifeboat away when it offered to help.

"I thought it was the nearest thing I'd ever get to a free lunch, so of course I accepted the lift to Hartlepool," he added.

Mr McKeand, who has been a sailor for 30 years, is now back at his Skipton home but is planning to return to Hartlepool within the next two weeks to resume his voyage.

"Why shouldn't I go back?" he said. "I can't see what all the fuss has been about and I'm not going to let something like this stop me."

Redcar lifeboat spokesman David Cammish said some of the national media reports of Mr McKeand's adventure had been "grossly unfair", and he wished him well on his next voyage.

"We don't sit in judgement on people. We like to see people out enjoying themselves and we have not criticised what he did at all," he said.

However, Mr Cammish added anyone intending to sail along the coastline should inform the local coastguard of their movements.