A Halifax-based sailor is back on home soil after circumnavigating the globe on a 35-foot sailboat.

Friends and family greeted Sergei Morozov on Wednesday, after he spent more than two years at sea.

The 49-year-old left Halifax in December 2011 and embarked on his lifelong dream – to sail around the world in a sailboat by himself.

“It was the biggest adventure of my life,” he says.

From Halifax to the Bahamas to French Polynesia and the Indian Ocean, few have completed Morozov’s journey. His faithful cats, Miama and Tsila, remained by his side through it all.

“Animals, they have amazing intuition. Every stop my cats can go outside, but always, they come back.”

Morozov’s boat is a fixer-upper he purchased for $100,000.

His friends admit they were skeptical about whether he would make it back alive, but his daughter never had a doubt.

“Of course I was very worried, but I know Dad, and I trusted, I had faith in his skills and I knew he was going to make it,” says Sasha Morozova.

Morozov says the expedition almost didn’t happen as the conditions at sea were nearly impossible for his small sailboat during the first leg of the trip. He says he even considered turning back at one point.

Despite the rough start, Morozov made the decision to fight through the grueling physical demands of sailing in dangerous conditions and high winds.

“I thought, if I die, I’ll die here,” he says. “When I woke up in the morning, I was so happy because I thought ‘thank you, thank you, thank you, one more chance please.’”

He says the experience has changed his life but being home is bittersweet.

“I did it, but it’s finished.”

Morozov says the expedition has made him stronger and better prepared for his next adventure; he is currently fundraising in the hopes of becoming the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a rowboat.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand