To call Reid Stowe's voyage "epic" barely seems to cover it. But as he arrived in New York after 1,152 days spent continuously at sea, there seemed to be no other way of describing it.

Stowe, 58, sailed his 70ft schooner, Anne, on the last short hop – from New Jersey to Manhattan – completing a trip that has taken him round the world, lasted more than three years, set a record for the longest continuous sea voyage, and presented him with the biggest surprise of all: the young son he had never seen.

"My little baby!" Stowe said, spotting 23-month-old Darshen being cradled by his former shipmate, Soanya Ahmad.

For although Stowe has been isolated for a very long time, he was not alone for the entire voyage. When he set sail in 2007, he was accompanied by Ahmad, a college graduate more than 30 years his junior, who had never been to sea and who had to be evacuated off the vessel after 300 days suffering from what she and Stowe assumed was an especially stubborn case of seasickness. Except that it wasn't. It was morning sickness.

Now, at the end of his voyage, Stowe yesterday saw Darshen for the first time as he stepped on to dry land after three years afloat. "I see a lot of people who I love," he declared, fighting back the tears. Then he kissed Ahmad and was hugged by his cheering parents and friends.

Ahmad and Stowe now plan to live together as a family and Stowe has even built a berth for Darshen on Anne. They might even spend a lengthy period of time not sailing around the world's oceans. "It's going to be a new experiment for all of us," Ahmad said.

It will certainly be different to what Stowe has been used to. For his entire voyage, he has lived off his supplies, never putting into port or setting foot on land. He had dried fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and rainwater.

Today, a mini-flotilla packed with family, friends and media followed him home in bright sunshine as he sailed up the Hudson River and docked in Manhattan.

"It is an epic of exploration, like Shackleton or Scott. But with a much happier ending," said his friend, Jeff Blumenfeld, who visited the schooner during her last full day at sea.

Blumenfeld said Stowe had been in a great mood. He had served visitors, including US customs, a meal of tea, crackers and cheese. "He was the perfect host, though the crackers were three years old. They still tasted delicious," Blumenfeld said.

Stowe has now been at sea for so long that many, including Stowe himself, have likened his experience of solitude to that which will be endured by astronauts on any future manned mission to Mars.

"It is an experiment in self-exile," said Blumenfeld, who showed Stowe an iPhone and asked: "Do you know what this is?" (Stowe did not. Nor, apparently, did he care.)

Stowe has triggered controversy in the sailing world. An artist and yoga enthusiast, he is not the usual image of the reserved, stoical, long-distance sailor. He is a great espouser of new age thinking and has the air of a mystic. He built Anne himself and has lived on her since 1978, becoming well known as a sculptor and painter.

Stowe's journeys by sea have never been straightforward. He once sailed in the Atlantic for 197 days, tracing a course in the shape of a turtle. His current journey included the rough outline of a whale off South America.

Such antics have drawn criticism. Several anti-Stowe websites have dismissed him as careless, or an exhibitionist, or a poor sailor. One blog, called 1,000 Days of Hell, depicted him as Don Quixote with his boat tilting for a windmill. "Reid is a hazard to navigation," wrote one commentator on the Sailing Anarchy website. "He dead yet?" asked another.

The abuse has shocked Charles Doane, a sailing writer who has followed Stowe's journey and was among those waiting to greet him in New York. "I can think of no other long-distance ocean sailor who has ever endured such relentless and venomous public abuse while actively engaged in a voyage," he wrote.

It has not been an easy trip. After just 15 days at sea, Anne was hit by a freighter in the Atlantic and damaged so badly she drifted for a month. His sails were torn rounding Cape Horn and he even capsized once. His computer died several months ago, leaving him with just a satellite phone for contact with the outside world.

Yet Stowe persevered, and whether he is a madman or a genius, his achievement has gone down in history.

"If you have a dream, if you want to do something unique, then he shows you can figure out a way," said Blumenfeld.