13-year journey reaches Channel

Jason Lewis' pedal-powered boat Moksha cost £26,000 to build

An adventurer has set sail on the English Channel to complete a 13-year human-powered journey around the world.

Jason Lewis, from Askerswell, Dorset, set off from Cape Grisnez, near Calais, on Sunday in his wooden 26ft (8m) pedal boat Moksha on the final leg.

The 40-year-old set out despite warnings from the French Coastguard that he could be breaking regulations for unorthodox Channel crossings.

He aims to finish his expedition by pedalling his way up the Thames.

He will then push the boat to the Meridian Line at Greenwich on 6 October - where he started the expedition in July, 1994, aged 26.

Lewis said: "We had a weather window so we set off from Cape Grisnez which is the closest point of France.

"We had a mad scramble to get the pedal boat together and pushing off the beach against the waves coming in.

"I'm now just hoping to get out of French territorial waters so the authorities can't drag me back to France."

During his epic global journey, Lewis had both legs broken by a car in the USA, was chased by a crocodile in Australia, capsized in the Atlantic and was arrested as a potential spy in Egypt.

He hoped his trip would encourage world citizenship between cultures and promote environmental responsibility.