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SAINT-DENIS, Réunion, Jun 9, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A French veterinarian has become the first person to windsurf across the Indian Ocean.
After a lonely 3,900 miles at sea, Raphaela Le Gouvello was greeted by sailors in small boats who accompanied her during the final few miles to the French island of Reunion, the Times of London reported.
At 46, Le Gouvello has already done first crossings by board of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific. She said before she left Exmouth on Australia's northwest coast two months ago that this would be her last.
President Jacques Chirac sent a welcome to Reunion praising LeGouvello's "courage and exceptional mental force."
Le Gouvello's board, named Mahi-Mahi, was equipped with a small cabin and stocked with dehydrated food. She spent eight hours a day sailing and the rest of the time sleeping, reading, listening to music, chatting on the phone and, this being the 21st century, keeping up her Web log.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
