On an overcast, rather autumnal day in central London, amid drizzle and showers, I am introduced to two people I instantly recognise, but from a situation which seems a million miles away.

Amid the plush surrounds of one of London’s top members club, off Soho Square, I am introduced to Paul and Rachel Chandler, the “ordinary couple from Tunbridge Wells”, who survived an extraordinary ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates.

Their faces more familiar with grainy images, shot by their kidnappers, of them look gaunt and flanked by gun-wielding outlaws. Here they sip drinks and enjoy the luxury.

But after suffering a 13 month ordeal which started when pirates stormed their beloved boat as they travelled from the Seychelles to Tanzania in October 2009, and ended 388 days later with their release, they have found themselves once again under attack.

Attacked for taking the risk; attacked for not heeding advice; attacked for trying to cash-in on their agony.

Thrust back into the spotlight this month as they look to promote a new book which, in diary form, charts the traumatic events, they talk about their return to the UK, of regaining control of their bank accounts, being able to use their own mobile phones at will and the strangeness of mundane tasks such as supermarket shopping.

Explains Mr Chandler, 60, said: “It took four or five weeks for the mind to accept we had been kidnapped that this was reality and not a nightmare, that we were not going to wake up.

“It took the same time to accept we were not dreaming about having been released and come to terms with the reality of freedom.”

Upon their release Tunbridge Wells Borough Council invited them to a special reception to welcome them home. When nothing else was publicly announced, it was assumed they had turned their back on the town – prefering instead, and understandably – to take refuge with friends and family elsewhere.

The truth, however, is quite different. They took up then mayor David Jukes and his offer – but shunning the publicity, they did so quietly, enjoying a private lunch with the councillor and his deputy Elizabeth Thomas. They have visited friends in the town too. What’s more, they still consider it home, and still intend to come back and live here once again. But first, they are desperate to hit the open water once more. But this time with a jaunt to the Caribbean rather than the pirate-ridden Indian Ocean. Once their wanderlust is satisfied, they plan to return to their Mount Ephraim flat, which they currently rent out.

For now though, the focus is setting the record straight about their ordeal.

So what of the warnings they received before setting sail on that fateful journey?

“The official advice is now to avoid sailing in that part,” explains Mrs Chandler, 57, “but when we were there, there was not that sort of advice.

“The problem is that it was changing dramatically at the time. Increased policing in the Gulf of Aden had forced the pirates further afield. Information was difficult to get, but that has improved a lot partly now, because of the profile we’ve given it.”

Mrs Chandler, a former government economist, said: “That a small yacht was subject to not just an attack, but kidnap was something most people had not appreciated was a risk.”

Their desire to get back to the sea may surprise many, but having sailed for 30 years, and maintained their yacht, the 38-ft Lynn Rival, for 23, they say it is more a calling than a past-time.

Mr Chandler, a Cambridge-educated civil engineer, explained: “Sailing was not something we did just occasionally. It is like if your house was burgled, would you not live in a house again?”

Ironically, it was the cramped conditions which come with spending so much time on a small boat which would put them in good stead for their ordeal.

“Being used to living with limited power and water supplies and very little room of course was something we got very used to. Undoubtedly that helped,” said Mrs Chandler.

Their book, Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters, is certainly a harrowing read, especially their heartbreaking three months of separation during which Mrs Chandler contemplated suicide. But there are also elements of humour.

Early on in the capture, while aboard Lynn Rival heading towards Somalia, the gang leader, Buggas, wants a shower and demands shampoo. After he refuses the offer of soap, Mrs Chandler hands him Cif, the abrasive household cleaner.

“I’m blowed if I’m going to be helpful,” the book states. “Soon a naked Buggas appears, covered in Cif, apparently complaining that it isn’t lathering. His men laugh at him and I have to restrain myself.”

“It was really important to me to be able to see the black homour,” she said. “I just had to lighten up sometimes; there is only so long you can be desperate and anxious. Laughter is such a good way of relieving stress.”

The book also reveals that the hostage video in which they beg the British government to help them while surrounded by gunmen was more farsical than it seemed with the couple being told to say their lines again because they did not look scared enough.

Asked how they feel towards their captors now, Mr Chandler said: “I would like to see the leader brought to justice and, given the opportunity, I would certainly give evidence against him.

“As far as the rest are concerned I do not feel any animosity or hatred. They were put in a position where they were ignorant and had no knowledge of right and wrong.”

Mrs Chandler said: “They are criminals and as long as they get away with it they will continue to do what they are doing.

“Somalia is a lawless country and there is little prospect for the time being of it being stopped, which is very worrying not just for Somalia but the whole region. What happened to us did bring the piracy problem to the forefront of people’s minds. Now that we are free people forget it is still going on.”

Mr Chandler said: “It is not usually westerners that is why it is allowed to sink into a low profile, why the human cost is not a concern to Western governments.”

With the pirates preferring to seize big tankers and demand equally big ransoms from their corporate owners, Mrs Chandler says the fact firms pick up the bill mean it is often considered a “victimless crime”. However, she points to the human suffering and separation they know only too well.

Their book is dedicated to the hundreds of seafarers being held hostage and their families.

There has, needless to say, been much speculation about the ransom paid to the pirates for the Chandlers’ safe release. Their family paid $440,000 in June 2010, but it appeared the kidnappers got greedy and demanded even more.

hey were not freed until November and two days before gang leader Buggas mentioned $200,000 came ‘from my family’, which they presumed meant his clan and was put forward by elders.

Amazingly, their eventual freedom was gained thanks to the actions of a Somali businessman from east London called Dahir Kadiye. His son, Yusuf, asked him to help after the Chandlers case left him too ashamed of his countrymen to play football with his friends. Mr Kadiye travelled to Nairobi and used his contacts to intevene.

Mr Chandler said: “We consider Dahir one of the family.” Mrs Chandler added: “He worked very hard to get our release and we will always be very, very grateful. He was a refugee and came to Britain in 1997.”

“He is one of the most amazing people,” Mr Chandler said. “He put his life at risk for us.”

They said their time shortly after their release was spent in Dartmouth, with Mrs Chandler saying they “needed to become ordinary people again” away from the glare of the media.

When they had the energy, the couple decided to turn their experience into a book, which they had long envisaged.

Mr Chandler said: “Partly it was to set the facts straight.” Mrs Chandler said: “For me, sharing our experience is an important part – being able to explain to people how an ordinary couple from Tunbridge Wells could cope with that situation.”

One of their friends described the book as “part love story and part survival epic”. Their close partnership, knowing what each other are thinking, and mutual respect and concern are a huge part of their story.

Mrs Chandler added: “Wherever you go there are risks. We love to meet people, see different places and different scenery. Life’s too short not to. We cannot stay at home and dwell on what’s happened and what might have happened.”

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