Chef Colin McGurran on why he's taking a break to sail around the world with his family

But they could not have been more wrong. Instead McGurran announced to stunned family, staff and customers that he was leaving his stove behind for three years to take to the high seas and have an adventure with his wife Bex and their three children.

He planned to circumnavigate the world on a catamaran – despite having sailed only on family holidays. “I think everyone was really shocked,” says McGurran, who bought Winteringham Fields near Scunthorpe 15 years ago when it had two Michelin stars which it promptly lost.

“I had worked for so long and so hard to get a Michelin star back and I thought when I got it that would make me satisfied but somehow it didn’t. I was on this merry-go-round and just needed to get off. I felt I was losing my creativity and needed some new inspiration.

“We were running Winteringham Fields and the Hope and Anchor and my wife was running the village shop and post office and also employing more than 100 staff.

“I realised that what I really wanted was to spend more time with Bex and the girls before it was too late and swap materialistic wealth for experiences that will stay with us forever, and also learn new ways of cooking from countries around the world which I will then feed back to the team at Winteringham Fields.”

And so the couple started planning their adventure which would also mean homeschooling their three girls, Olivia, 16, Emily, 14, and Jess, 12, as well as buying a suitable boat.

They invested in a 66ft catamaran which would become their home for the next three years. And in May last year they packed up their home and set sail from Rome to Sardinia, then the Balearic islands and on to the Canaries.

Next they sailed to Cape Verde and then across the Atlantic to St Lucia. “We explored the whole chain of the Caribbean,” says McGurran, who entrusted the running of his Michelin-starred restaurant and pub to his team. “Most of the team have been with me for at least ten years and are more than capable of maintaining the high standards.”

But he didn’t bank on a pandemic hitting the world. “It was extremely difficult. We were in Antigua when lockdown happened in the UK. I had been in constant communication with the team via Skype but I did feel guilty that I wasn’t there personally to support them through such a difficult time. We were stuck on the boat unable to get off for a number of weeks which was tough on the kids. Not that we want people to feel sorry for us but it was still hard on them.”

McGurran decided to furlough most of his 100 plus workforce, although he ensured they were still supported and that his businesses were maintained. “I wanted to make sure that people were okay, particularly their mental wellbeing.”

Although both businesses are now reopened and fully booked until October – they are even recruiting more staff – McGurran is flying home at the end of the month for two weeks to check on them and to speak with bank managers and insurance companies. “We had all planned to come back at some point over the summer but with coronavirus and the impending hurricane season we decided that I would fly home on my own. I have been waiting on flights from Antigua.”

While he is away it will be up to Bex, a keen sailor herself, and the girls to keep an eye on the weather and set sail if a hurricane is pending. “It isn’t ideal but I need to get back for a short while to check on the businesses,” says McGurran.

Although it will be a challenge for Bex, McGurran says her main concern has been educating the children. “She is worried about letting them down. Neither of us are teachers but we subscribed to an online learning course for them and they are doing really well. But for me it’s not about academic success, it is everything else they will learn out here. I want them to become confident young women and they are learning so many things. We aren’t just sailing from port to port, we are exploring the countries we visit.”

As it happens, while they have been homeschooling on a boat their peers have been forced to homeschool due to coronavirus. Olivia should have been sitting her GCSEs this year but they were cancelled due to the pandemic. “We had arranged that she would fly home to sit them but then they were cancelled, although we are planning for her to take them in November,” says McGurran.

“The girls do homeschooling in the mornings and then they help out around the boat, including a weekly clean-out of their cabins. They relish the responsibility and it is really giving them a work ethic that will stay with them. Of course they were worried about missing home and their friends and so we try to keep them as busy as possible. We don’t want anything about this trip to be negative – it is about making memories for us all.”

And to ensure none of them forget any part of their three-year adventure, the McGurrans have been documenting it on a video entitled Sailing the Recipe and putting it on their YouTube channel. They are also in discussions with a production company about turning it into a television series. “We have been talking with the Discovery Channel about doing a ten-part series following our journey, me cooking in different places while also documenting our adventures and homeschooling our three girls on board,” adds McGurran.

He has faced his own challenges, having to learn about weather patterns and sailing a catamaran as well as overcoming seasickness. “I do get seasick,” he admits. “But so have the dogs which has been interesting.” The McGurrans have two pet pugs who have been joining them on their adventure.

When McGurran returns from the UK, the family plan to set sail for the Bahamas and then Cuba and spend Christmas in Panama before negotiating the Panama Canal and visiting the Galapagos Islands and then New Zealand and Australia. From there they plan to sail to places like Bali, Thailand and the Maldives, then back to the Med before returning home.

“We have met some people while travelling who have just returned to the UK and they are struggling to readjust. We are aware that it will be difficult for all of us but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime we will have had the adventure of a lifetime.”

To follow Colin and his adventures visit https://sailingtherecipe.com/

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James Mitchinson