IT is a seafaring voyage worthy of any pirate tale.

Two young brothers are celebrating victory on an international scale after their toy pirate ship made it hundreds of miles from the Scottish coast to Scandinavia.

Ollie and Harry Ferguson sent their plastic Playmobil ship to sea from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, earlier this year.

Since the end of May the miniature vessel has travelled hundreds of miles, visiting Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

It has been intercepted by locals at every stage on its journey, with the finders sending back pictures and messages to the Turriff youngsters, aged eight and five.

Their dad MacNeill Ferguson, 44, said: “Everyone that has picked it up has been really kind and sent us photos and looked after it.

“People are really getting into the spirit of it.

“The boys have enjoyed it and every time we get a message telling us where it has landed we get on the computer and work out where it went, so they are tracking its progress on the map and it gives them an understanding of how big the world is.”

The ship, named Adventure, needed some adaptations before it was ready to tackle the North Sea.

With the help of their father, the boys added a counterweight to help it stay upright before filling it with polystyrene to help it stay afloat.

Following trials in a swimming pool, they took it to the coast and launched it into the waves. It carries a message asking anyone who finds the boat to send them a picture and launch Adventure back into the sea.

The family had believed it would be a relatively short journey, with the currents taking the pint-sized pirate ship down the north-east coast.

MacNeill said: “I was over the moon when it made a beeline for Scandinavia.

“It reached Denmark and then Sweden, where it was picked up by a lady who was sailing her own boat and found it in a tree. She was really kind and remade its sails.

“Then it was picked up by a Norwegian conservation vessel – they got in touch with some beautiful photos.”

The toy story has attracted interest in the Norwegian press and Adventure is now being taken aboard the Christian Radich, a Norwegian full-rigged ship which moored in Greenock for the Tall Ships Races in 2011.

It will now carry the toy vessel down to Cape Verde before launching it, giving it the chance to sail thousands of miles across the Atlantic.

The mini adventure is part of a 500-strong list of experiences the family is working its way through, with their exploits charted on the Facebook page “The days are just packed”.

So far they have made it through 207 of the activities, which include bouldering, making tea from snow and sending Lego figures “into space” with a high-altitude weather balloon that took the characters 20 miles above the Moray Firth.

Other items on the list include building an igloo, going troll hunting and creating a waterslide.

MacNeill and the boys’ mum Vicki Ferguson came up with the idea to provide the children with real-life excitement and interesting alternatives to TV and digital games.

The couple has also set up The Marvellous Adventure Club, which provides outdoor learning experiences for adults and children.

Playmobil was invented by its German creator Hans Beck in the early 1970s and about three billion of the plastic figures have been produced across 30 “play themes” for sale in 100 countries.