Sailor arrives back in South Africa from P.E.I. before world race

Kirsten Neuschäfer, the South African sailor who spent nearly all of 2021 on P.E.I., has returned home safely.

Neuschäfer left Souris on Dec. 1 and arrived in Cape Town, South Africa 56 days later holding out against extreme weather conditions through the North Atlantic.

But throughout her journey, the Island's impression on her never waned.

"I spent these 56 days just staring at every corner of the boat and using things that [local tradespeople and I] had made for the boat on Prince Edward Island," Neuschäfer said.

"Every little thing had a memory to me … of a discussion we had over how we are going to do it, and fixing the thing, and the actual labour that went into it."

The sailor counted on the Island's boat-building expertise to help refit her 36-foot keel boat, named Minnehaha, in preparation for the Golden Globe Race 2022 starting in France on Sept. 4. 

Now Neuschäfer is sprucing up her boat once again before taking off to Europe in April, bringing P.E.I.'s skill, technology and craftsmanship with her on the race.

Strong winds of up to 45 knots in Souris, or about 85 km/h, left Neuschäfer in a bit of a waiting game, standing by for a decent opening to leave.

Shortly after setting sail, she sought shelter in Fishermans Harbour, N.S., and met Paul Keith, a fisherman who caught a line for her when she arrived and offered his phone number to her if she needed any assistance.

The next day, Neuschäfer said Keith was reluctant to help cast her off because of the harsh conditions that hadn't let up.

But Neuschäfer was determined and said it seemed like travelling through the wind was the only way out.

She phoned him a couple days later to let him know she was safe and thanked him for his help.

Neuschäfer spent the holidays in the middle of the Atlantic, already experiencing tropical conditions.

"[Arriving in the Gulf Stream] not many days after I left, you suddenly feel the increase in temperature because the water's warm and you start seeing flying fish," said Neuschäfer.