The first thing he did when he got back on land, after devouring two hot pies, was to have a shave for the first time in over two months.
"The beard came off in the hospital, I couldn't stand it. I would have got rid of it ages ago if I had the opportunity. I don't know how guys do it, I really don't."
The disappointment of not completing his journey was yet to sink in, but he remained philosophical.
"It will probably grind me a bit later but at the end of the day there's nothing I could have done to get here. If I couldn't do it then I couldn't do it."
He was yet to consider making another attempt at the journey, which no-one has completed.
"The paddle I'd probably do again quite quickly, but the five years preparation I certainly wouldn't," he said.
"The more funding you have the easier it is. It'd take a bloody good deal to make me do it again."