Podcast #18 – Neal Petersen’s Inspiring Journey From Apartheid to Solo Sailing Glory

Doug Dvorak (00:02.008)
Good day Mission Podcast community. I’m your host, Doug Dvorak, and I’m extremely excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their lives, but also make a lasting impact on the communities around them. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is Neil Peterson from the Dominican Republic. Hi, Neil, how are you today?

Neal Petersen (00:28.347)
Hey Doug, good to be on this podcast with you again.

Doug Dvorak (00:32.224)
Always great to see you, my dear friend. Welcome, Neil. Again, it’s a high honor and privilege to have you on the Mission Possible podcast. Neil is a South African solo racing yachtsman, author of Journey of a Hope Merchant and the subject of a PBS documentary. Neil completed a nine month single-handed yacht race around the world alone in a small yacht which he designed and built himself. He became the first black sailor

to race solo around the world. He has published two books, No Barriers was published in 1994. His second book, Journey of a Hope Merchant from Apartheid to the Elite World of Solo Yacht Racing was published in 2004. Both books describe his yachting career with no barriers concentrating on his first journey from South Africa to Europe. Journey of a Hope Merchant won the 2005 National Outdoor Book Award.

Neil was born physically disabled and impoverished in apartheid era South Africa and learned to sail in the waters around Cape Town. Today’s Mission Possible podcast is titled Navigating Life Storms from Yacht Races to Personal Triumphs. Neil, tell us about your origin and story. Your story began in apartheid era South Africa from facing both racial and physical adversity. Can you take us back to those early years? What lit the spark for you?

in sailing around the world and what determined you to embark on this incredible journey.

Neal Petersen (02:07.196)
Well, Doug, being born into Africa and being classified as color and having to deal with the injustice. So it was a totally segregated country. had one part of the bus was for whites only. The other part of the bus was for the rest who were not white. So this segregation was systemic throughout every aspect of the African society. And right down to

what kind of job you could have to two persons who doing exactly the same job, but one person is going to be paid more than the other person purely based on the color of their skin. And so my mother was a highly educated woman. She went to university, University of Cape Town, received a scholarship and she could choose any university in the United States. It is an American scholarship. And so she took a steamship.

from South Africa to England, changed steamships across the Atlantic, winter crossing to New York, then a train and went to Syracuse, New York. Now the reason I say a steamship is I’m sitting in the time frame, 1945, end of the Second World War, food rations. And he studied the United States, did a double masters and ended up graduating in 1948. And…

All the top universities, including the University of Syracuse, all the top universities offered her teaching posts. And she declined every one of them because it was very unusual, firstly, for a woman to be at university, even in United States in 1948. Very, very few women graduated and even fewer people of color. And so she chose to go back to South Africa. She chose to make a difference because she believed in equality.

She believed in lifting all people up, irrespective of race, creed, sex. There were, to her, were no limitations, there were no barriers. was all about, can you be a good human being? Can you perform at the highest levels of your potential? Can you reach the highest level of potential? And so her going back to South Africa, she could have had a very easy life in the United States. She could have had the red carpet laid out to her, but she did not take the easy way out.

Neal Petersen (04:34.551)
And so when I was born, when I grew up, I grew up in this political structure, in this world of expectation, where my mother allowed no excuses. She always expected a gift from me. She always said, isn’t fair, but that means you work harder. You work smarter. You go the extra distance because that was the take to be successful. So that’s the environment that I grew up in. And I saw all of this injustice.

And was always raised never to accept the status quo, never to be in a way apolitical or, it doesn’t matter if somebody else has a problem. But to understand it’s all of our problem. It is not just the problem of the oppressor or the oppressed. It is the collective problem because both sides are losing out. And then growing up with this physical disability,

to even further compound the circumstance when other boys could run and pick a ball. I was going through various surgeries. And again, my mother had that attitude. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. These are the cards you are dealt. You can’t change those cards, but you can change how you play them, what card, when you play. So that became a mindset. And then we were poor. My mother was a school teacher.

My father, an alcoholic, a former commercial diver who became a salesperson and failed miserably at sales. And then he ended up becoming a security guard in a factory earning minimum minimum wage that was unlivable. And because of this disease of alcoholism, he was in a way absent father. But he give me one big strong love and it was the love of the sea. And so in between each surgery,

I could not run and kick the ball. I had to rebuild the strength in my legs. And so that’s rebuilding that strength so I could in a swimming pool. But when I had my last operation, I was five years away and a doctor stopped at my bedside and I was not eating. I was totally depressed. I hated being in the hospital. I’m in a body cat from my ankle to my chest. Can’t move in pain alone because I’m in a hospital bed. I’m not at home.

Neal Petersen (06:59.548)
And the doctor said to me, son, what are you interested in? And I said, both, because I heard the stories of my father, of his time at sea. And then a few days later, the doctor showed up with a stack of spelling magazines. Now, I’m five years of age. I can’t read those words. Those words make no sense to me. But what those magazines had were pictures. And those pictures gave me hope. And then my mother saying there’s no excuses. My mother saying, dream.

dream big. My mother saying work hard. There are no limitations and everything just comes together. And I thought, why not dream of being on a sailboat? Why not dream of eventually crossing oceans, discovering distant islands, adventure? And so I became an avid reader because my mother again always said the only way to achieve freedom is through knowledge.

And when you have knowledge, nobody can take that away from you. It is yours to keep. And you build experiences, nobody can take that away from you. And so that hunger for information, that hunger for the, to understand the unknown, hunger to explore. Yes, I was young. I was limited by my physical challenges. was limited by economics. was limited by the position of a country, but I was not limited in imagination.

And that’s it.

Doug Dvorak (08:31.522)
That’s unbelievable. So your mother really embodied and set the tone early on, given all your hardships, using a quote from Kennedy, a rising tide lifts all boats, even though you were in poverty and slew of surgeries up until five physical pain. But really the stage was set with your mother and then in a different way with your dad.

Neal Petersen (08:43.386)
Except

Doug Dvorak (08:55.992)
given all his problems, but then this doctor that saw something in you and gave you some magazines that really sparked through those pictures your love, desire, and passion to become a sailor. Now, you designed and built your own yacht from scratch. How did that process challenge you, not only as a craftsman, but as a person? And what did that boat come to symbolize in your journey?

Neal Petersen (09:21.2)
Well, I had to fight my way into the world of yachting because it was a segregated sport and I was not welcome in the yacht club. was not welcome among the other sailors. And so again, that determination of showing up on race day, because I discovered that if I ride on a race day, invariably somebody was not going to show up. And to be competitive in a yacht race, you declare the number of crew you have.

And if you are one person short, you in a way disqualified from that day’s racing. So they had to pick somebody and I was that last person left standing. They’d take anybody else, but when there was nobody else there, that’s when I got my chance. But that meant I had to show up. And there was many a time I was not closing that day. was many a time the boat sailed away and I was left on that dock. And…

I wanted to have that independence of how many wasn’t going to determine my future for me. I wanted to go sailing when I wanted to go sailing. I wanted to go sailing on my terms. I wanted it to be about mother nature and the elements of the challenges that come from her, not from imposed limitations of somebody else saying, you’re not good enough. And that ownership dream grew stronger and stronger that if I owned a yacht,

I have control of my future, but I also know it’s not going to be easy. And so for a long time, I dreamt of how do I get to that place? And I remember I built a tree house and I used get these books from the library and it was always nautical book. And in Cape town where I grew up, we get this really powerful wind called the South Easter and it just shrieked through the region and

We’ll say it blows dogs off their trains and it capsizes buses. I mean, this is a wind that will get 60, 70, 80 miles an hour. It’s a hot wind and will blow for days upon days. The trees get uprooted, roofs get blown off. So I built this tree house and I would climb into that tree house to read my books and the wind would be shrieking and be shrieking through that tree.

Neal Petersen (11:44.261)
And that could be swing and I’m in the tree house and I’m expecting any minute that tree has to be blown out of the tree. But somehow I was good enough at building it deeper in the tree. But that imagination of I’m on a boat, I’m immersed in this book, I’m on a boat, I’m in a storm and I can feel this motion of the tree swing, the motion of this boat riding these big waves. The sound of that wind in the rigging as it’s whistling through the

the communities. So that further gave me a taste of what would it be like out there? What could it be like to own my destiny with this mother nature and I, and I have to be good enough to survive her wrath? I’ve got to be the boss of myself because if I’m not, I die. So that became the foundation of ownership. And then

Doug Dvorak (12:31.374)
Mmm.

Neal Petersen (12:42.537)
I thought that maybe some way I could get sponsorship, I could be a sponsor, a sponsor sailor to go to these big yacht races. And I read about these big yacht races, the old star. I went out 14, the very first solo race around the world was stopped. The BOC challenge was taking place and Cape Town was the first stopover. And when the third competitor arrived on the dock, which is Broadhead, Saturday morning, just around dawn, I ended up on the dock.

I showed up and when he looked up at the cloud and he said he needed help, needed to volunteer. I stepped forward, I jumped down onto that boat, onto that deck to do whatever was asked of me. And that is one of these spirits of you do whatever is asked of you. You give the best of yourself, you volunteer, you’re first in line when there’s something to be done no matter what it is. And when I finished helping him on the things and he

the priest had left him alone and it just at the end, just him and I. He could see something in me and I basically said, I want to race around the world. I read all these books. I want to race around the world. Instead of him killing the dream of saying, you’re just a fortunate old kid. Don’t be stupid. You’re just a colored kid. You’re just a poor kid. You’re just a disabled kid. He didn’t do any of that. But he said, well, if you want to do this, then here are the steps you have to go through. You’ve got to build this experience.

You’ve got to build the knowledge. You’ve got to know how to fix things. You’ve got to do certain yard races like the solar race from England to America, which is the stepping stone for so many of the amazing around the world sailors. And you’ve got to be in your own boat. So again, it was constantly these seeds being planted. And when you’re all these seeds, some are going to become saplings. Some of them are going to become trees. But really one or two is going to become

mighty oak. But if you don’t plant the acorns, you never have the chance of the mighty oak. And so all these people in a way were helping me sow these seeds and fertilize my field to give me that chance and then negativity still was fertilizer to fuel this.

Doug Dvorak (15:01.654)
And people were put into your life for a reason and you were there physically, mentally and by having that no barriers mentality that your mom and that gift of hard work, being positive, not being a victim really set the stage for your illustrious sailing solo career. Cause it takes physical, mental and emotional grit to sail solo around the world in a boat that you built. What does it take mentally and emotionally

Neal Petersen (15:28.261)
Ready, set.

Doug Dvorak (15:30.776)
to sail around the world alone? And how do you prepare for that kind of solitude when those moments of doubt, loneliness, when you’re in the middle of the ocean?

Neal Petersen (17:15.076)
So Doug, it’s all about that mental component. If you can overcome the mental challenge, you can overcome the physical challenge and the emotional challenge. And so you’ve got to really want something and want something really badly. I wanted that boat. I was willing to take the risks. I was willing to work hard. I took a high risk rather than commercial diver to earn the money. And when I realized that I could not buy the boat, when I realized that nobody would sponsor me,

I chose to begin building that boat. And a lot of people talk about, I’m going to create, I’m going to build something. But they say, when I have the money, versus when I began building that boat, I had enough to start, but not enough to finish. And that is where that self-belief comes in. You’ve got to start somewhere. And so you make that commitment. And every aspect of one’s life becomes about fulfilling those commitments, one step at a time.

So it was learn to sail, learn to become a good racing sailor. Then build that boat. And it was not easy. And my boat was nicknamed by the Cape crime, the major newspaper of the region. It was nicknamed the floating coffin because people didn’t believe.

Doug Dvorak (18:29.454)
The floating coffin?

Neal Petersen (18:31.841)
Yes, they call it the headline, front page headline, Peterson sales floating coffin. And the irony of it all today, one of my school friends now owns that newspaper. One of the same people who was also put under limitation of apartheid, of you’re not going to be good enough. He now owns the very newspaper. And someday he and I will do that front page story over of yes, that floating coffin that carried me, propelled me.

to the heights of where I am today. And so people will try to put you down. People will try to set a ceiling on their expectations or their disbelief in your ability or their fear of your success. But internally, you have to overcome these things. So you constantly, like an athlete, you’re constantly honing your muscle. You’re constantly training for that major event. And all of that training is mental.

And then the aspects of that becomes physical. And so because I had so much to overcome just to get to a start line, just to show up, that became in so many ways the mental fortitude, the mental strength. And looking backward, looking in the rear view mirror and say, hey, I overcame a physical disability. I only had one hip socket, but hey, I’m still standing. I overcame economic challenge.

I’m standing on the deck of my own yacht today. I have became apartheid. Today I’m respected in the world of sailing and other humanity. So when you look back and say, look what I’ve overcome. Now, it’s always gonna be a challenge. And so you take that attitude and say, well, if I could overcome these hard things, I can overcome equipment failure, I can overcome the loneliness, I can overcome the bad weather. You need to take everything in your stride.

with a sense of confidence, quiet confidence, not bravado, not ego, but knowing that we are small, are insignificant in the big scheme of the universe. And to be able to go to that next level, whatever the challenge of the moment is, you’ve got to overcome it. And that overcoming gives you the credibility, gives you the confidence, gives you the insight, gives you the foundation.

Neal Petersen (20:55.553)
And now you keep building, you keep building a foundation and keep putting up, okay, what’s going to be the walls and the windows and the doors? What’s going to be the roof? What’s going to be the next floor? And so it’s this incremental success. And so when I’m out here…

Doug Dvorak (21:10.584)
So Neil, can you describe a moment at sea when everything went wrong? And how did you find the strength or ingenuity to push through?

Neal Petersen (21:20.276)
Gee Doug, do we have two days worth of time on the air? Firstly, self doubt. There are so many people who will say, when my boat is perfect, I will leave. You are never going to have a perfect boat. And if you think about everything, if I could think about everything that could possibly go wrong out there, I would never leave the safety of the dock. So you have to develop a mindset.

Doug Dvorak (21:22.69)
Hahaha

Neal Petersen (21:47.935)
of understanding there are going to be challenges, there’s going to be issues, there’s going to be some form of a failure or another. So that’s the first thing is learning to accept that the reality may not be what you want. And so you try your best to prepare for as many of these eventualities, but you can’t prepare for every one of them because you can’t carry a spare yacht, you can’t carry a spare mast. There’s only a certain amount of spare things you can have.

And then the next component is your skills. You can try and develop as many skills as possible, but in the end, there’s always going to be something that’s going to be outside of your skill set. And so now it comes down to an attitude. So two particular incidents I want to make reference to. One was the OSTAR, the solar rate from England to America of 1998. mean, thick fog. This is my…

second time doing the transatlantic yacht race, my third transatlantic race and I’m in thick fog, I’m cold, it’s not nice conditions and I get hit by a freighter. A Russian freighter runs me down and I’m taking on water and it is freezing cold water and the freighter says abandon the burning clamber board. I get hold of US Coast Guard

just to inform them of the circumstance, they say, abandon the boat. But that boat is my home. That boat is everything I owned in the world. I could not just walk away because there was going to be no second chance. And I already had been through so much. I already had attempted once to race around the world and had been dismantled and had survived that. I was not going to give up this boat. So instead I fitted a pump and every 15 minutes,

Well, for 15 minutes every hour, I would go and pump. And every muscle was screaming, just out of sheer exhaustion and just sheer physical pain. But I had no choice. I had to stay pumping 15 minutes, 20 minutes every hour, 24 times a day. And I did that for 15 days. And I stayed racing because the real race was to get to land. But then I built confidence as it was, I can get to land now. How about…

Doug Dvorak (24:03.886)
Wow.

Neal Petersen (24:12.145)
getting to a port that is more convenient. And then as I’m approaching a port that is more convenient, I’m thinking, but hey, I’ve come so far, why not the finish line? And so I kept pushing those envelopes based again on their physical strength, that mental strength. And I ended up finishing third in my class, catching many competitors. And so that, again, that grit of, I cannot afford to be defeated because I’m going to lose everything.

The second story, March 11, 1999. I was in the East, my stick around the world yacht wreck. I fought tooth and nail to get that start line, all kinds of issues. I arrived in Cape Town, financially just bleeding, struggling, not enough sponsorship, made across the Indian Ocean to Auckland, New Zealand, exhausted, lost a lot of weight. In the previous round the world rate,

My hero, my mentor, my friend had been killed. So there’s a lot of mental pressure. I’m playing with deep, deep fire. And now I’ve got to cross the Pacific Ocean, sail past the place where Harry Mitchell had lost his life. And I hear miles from Cape Horn and the weather forecast is just absolutely horrendous. And the reality was worse. The forecasters had it wrong.

It was much more intense than they predicted. And I’m looking at a full blown version of a category one hurricane bearing down on me as I’m approaching Cape Horn. And I’ve pulled all the sails down, the boat is out of control. I’m in freezing cold water and I’m up on deck and the boat has been inverted. The mast has been shoved into the water. The keel is in the sky. I’m hanging on for dear life and I’m hypothermic. The body is shutting down.

the hypothermia, the fear has gripped me every aspect and I’m thinking of all these amazing factory-built yachts within a survivor storm like this. And just weeks earlier, the leader in the yacht place, she had lost her boat, she had abandoned her boat and take refuge on a fellow competitor’s yacht. And she had an incredible high-tech machine in the best of materials. Here I had a wooden boat, self-built, and I’m questioning

Neal Petersen (26:39.383)
Will this boat be my floating coffin tonight? But somehow I hung on and I managed to make it mentally through the storm, which enabled me to make it physically through the storm. And I looked right in the eye, but it was not my time. It was not my time to join Harry Mitchell. But if I gave up, I said, this is too hard, if I didn’t take the necessary preparation steps, I would be another statistic lost at sea. I’ve lost five friends.

Doug Dvorak (26:55.34)
Hmm

Neal Petersen (27:09.955)
But I fought. I fought in every way possible. And that’s how you get through these things. You count on your skills. And you count on skills that you don’t even know that you have. And you may lack certain skills, but what you lack in certain skills, you actually make up in fortitude, in the pure grip of, cannot give this up because I’m going to perish. I’m going to die. And I’m not ready to die.

Doug Dvorak (27:39.616)
I’m getting sweaty palms just hearing your story again. Neil, many people dream of adventure but few act on it. What separates the dreamers from the doers in your eyes?

Neal Petersen (27:49.848)
Well, many times I will hear somebody saying, I’m going to build a yacht. And I ask, well, have you laid up the keel bone? And they say, no, no, no, when I have the money, I’m going to build the yacht. And there’s the difference between the dreamer and the realist. The realist says, I have enough money to lay up the keel bone. I’ll find enough money to put in the ribs, to put in the bulkheads, and little by little, incrementally,

You can overcome each challenge. But if you think of every challenge you’re going to face, if you only focus on when you are ready, you’ll never be ready. The same thing as being a writer. As an author, many people say, oh, I’m going to write a book. And I said, well, have you written the first draft of the first chapter? Oh, not yet. I haven’t had time. You’ve got to make the time. You’ve got to make the commitment. You’ve got to make the sacrifices. You’ve got to sit in front of that computer and start

to transfer what’s up here into those fingers, into that technology, what’s there. And it’s boring, it’s hard work. You’ve got to be committed to that hard work. You’re going to be committed to the process. And this is the challenge. The dreamer loves the idea of doing something. The realist is not afraid of the process. And some people, for them, the dream is actually nicer than the reality. I have had many friends.

who dream of going cruising, who dream of racing around the world, who dream of these things, but they always find something or somebody to sabotage them. And that becomes the excuse of why they cannot do something. And so once you get this mentality of I’m committed and I’m invested and I’m not afraid of the hard work and I’ll solve the problems as they come and I will deal with all the critics.

in my own stride and I’ll find a way to do things on my terms. That’s where we build companies. That’s where we move countries forward. That’s where we lift up society and overcome major challenges like the challenge of apartheid. We don’t just sit back and say, poor me. We find those ways to fight.

Doug Dvorak (30:13.102)
Unbelievable and I’ve been to South Africa several times and I was there in 2004 as this Incredible societal change and it was just very very very inspiring Neil solo sailing requires both precision and flexibility How do you strike a balance between planning and adapting? Something that’s just as vital in business and personal life

Neal Petersen (30:37.843)
Well, firstly, you know the deadlines. A yacht race is starting on a specific date. So you make the commitment to be on that start line. So you go through all the planning and the preparation. And that is attention to a lot of detail. And that is building that team. The people who are going to support you, who’s going to encourage you, who’s going to help bring these skills, equipment. So there’s an amazing organization.

that you have to create. And people always think, but you were a solo sailor. I am a solo sailor in terms of representing this amazing group of people who helped me get to that start line. And when I get to that start line, I’m not there because of me. I’m there because of them, the us. So I come up with the vision and the idea, but I inspire people to work

towards and I helped them make it also their race. I am their sailor. I’m the person that they are rooting for. And they don’t care if you have the biggest boat, the fanciest boat, what they care about in can you actually get everybody to this point called the start line. And then you show up. A lot of people do a lot of planning and lot of preparation. But the day they have to show up, they freeze.

Doug Dvorak (32:05.59)
Execution, execution.

Neal Petersen (32:06.737)
We’re not in execution mode. There’s always something. And we’re never going to be fully prepared. I remember my first yacht race, my first around the world yacht race. We were just flat out, we didn’t have the resources, we didn’t have the tools. But I had an incredible team of people led by Gwen, my girlfriend, who spent my whole professional yacht racing career at my side. When I started with…

after my first O star and then threw my round the World Yacht Racers. She led that side of the team. And when I was getting ready to be towed out to the start, some of the guys who had been, the team that had been on board, said, hey, we didn’t get everything done, but we left you the part, we left you the tool, and here’s how you’re put it together on the first calm day you get. Good luck. And so I continued having to innovate and problem solve.

even before the gun went and after the gun went, continued to these things. And so the execution is built on the foundation of the planning and the preparation and that team. And then when that start gun goes, we put things down into incremental steps. I don’t think about the 27,000 miles around the world. I don’t think about the nine months before I’ll be back at the finish line. All I think about is

Get past the spectator boats. Once you pass the spectator boat, get through the first night. Then get through the first thousand miles. Get through the first seven days. Get through half of the leg. You set these various goals, these measurables. If I can get through all of these pieces individually, I can get to the finish line of that leg. And then when you get to that leg, you should start to regroup to reflect.

Okay, what did I miss? What did I not prepare? What were the things that I executed well? What were the things I didn’t execute so well? And now you redo it for the second leg. And you go through again those same mental, physical steps and challenges. And you do it leg after leg after leg. And then before you know it, 195 days at sea alone have passed. And thousands and thousands of people have volunteered and supported that 195 days to enable you to get

Neal Petersen (34:33.037)
that finish line and now that victory is that collective of everybody’s energies and efforts and when things go wrong it’s not about letting yourself down you have a team that you’re also going to let down you have a responsibility to this team and so I always had to think about them if oh this is so tough I would love to go home this is so tough but get out of the situation I’m not going to take any more

But you’re also out there being a showcase to others who they made you sacrifices for you to be out there. So you just don’t just walk away and say, is too hard for me. You again think of those people who will be disappointed, who will feel betrayed because you didn’t give you every little bit. And that’s how I’ve always been able to finish the art race.

Doug Dvorak (35:27.15)
So Neil, you were alone 195 days. I don’t know that I could be alone with myself with that level of stress, inclement weather, challenges, physical, mental, emotional depravity. What are a couple of things that you really learned about yourself from that experience 195 days by yourself? Couple of things.

Neal Petersen (35:50.444)
Well, for one, that you’re actually capable of more than you think. When that storm of March 11 happened, I really thought I was going to die. But somehow I found that strength to overcome the fear, to stay up on deck when it wasn’t prudent in a way to be on deck, but it needed to be on deck, to push through the hypothermia and still sustain the clarity of mind. That’s I discovered

that the mental grip is actually more powerful than the physical grip. Because that mental grip is what makes you do the impossible. So that is the one side that I really came to look at and say, I can overcome. And I think as a society, we always look and say, oh, something is too hard. We make excuses. We make excuses for others.

We don’t raise the standards and raise the bars, we lower them. And I think we need to come to the place of raising our expectations of people and give them the opportunity to live up to those expectations. Not let them fall and stink, but to really push them and push them hard because they are capable of so much more than they really know of themselves. you’re capable of more. And then that attitude. Having that attitude,

Doug Dvorak (37:12.546)
Yeah, you’re… Yeah, attitude it… I’m sorry, go ahead. Three, two…

Neal Petersen (37:15.433)
Having this attitude that no matter what, I have a responsibility, I have an obligation, not just to myself, but to my community, to my society, to my future generation, to my planet. I’m a part of something bigger than just myself. So it’s to separate your ego of, I’m so good or, I’m not good enough.

to I’m a part of an important chain of humanity. And I have something to do. I have something to be a part of. It may not be perfect, but together we can actually solve these things. And the irony is I’m a solo sailor, but I have a bigger team. I am more dependent on my team. I’m more dependent on that togetherness of environment and people and circumstance.

Doug Dvorak (37:51.406)
I love that.

Neal Petersen (38:15.131)
when we realize that we are not operating in total isolation but inside of this incredible nucleus of a society. It’s amazing how many people will come forward and support you in the deepest and darkest ways and places.

Doug Dvorak (38:34.158)
That’s amazing, Neil. You your story, I’ve heard it many times. We’ve spoken on the platform at Guantanamo Bay, in Chicago, in Canada, but I’m always inspired by hearing your story again. And it brings back a quote, you being the first black man to sail solo around the world in a yacht.

Neal Petersen (38:53.958)
to raise the law around the world.

Doug Dvorak (38:56.408)
to race solo around the world. brings back Arthur Ashe, the first African American to win a major title at Wimbledon. And what an incredible human being. And one of his go-to phrases in that moment, coolness under pressure. And you have certainly demonstrated coolness under pressure. Neil, what parallels do you draw between navigating a solo yacht race and navigating the unpredictable world we live in today? Personally,

professionally and socially.

Neal Petersen (39:28.198)
Well, I think one of the things we really have to understand is that change is inevitable. That’s sort of first, we can’t control everything. Eventually, we will change from living to dead and then what later beyond we don’t know. But change and learning to accept change and learning to know that you as an individual are changing, our society is changing, the people in our society are changing, the environment is changing. So with that acceptance of change comes that

thing called adaptability. It is, I know that somewhere on that ocean, I’m going to hit a major storm. I know something’s going to break on the boat or I’m going to lack a certain piece of equipment or a spare. So the ability to adapt to whatever the changes that come. And then when the stress has come, that belief in yourself that you’re able to solve this problem step by step by step. And so again, in business or relationships, is that willingness to say,

I’m not afraid to tackle the problem. I’m willing to commit to a solution. I’m willing to borrow the communication to find that solution, to work through whatever we have to work through to get to the other side and to respect our environment. Too many people do not go through life with enough respect. And so we come up with these ways of dividing people versus accepting.

Hey, everyone’s going to be different. Everyone’s going have a different way of trying to accomplish something. But what is it that we have in common? We are human beings. We breathe the same air. We drink from the same water on the same planet. And so we look for what do we have in common? And then we build upon these entities. And we don’t idolize demigods. We put them in their place. And we find people who similar values.

And we celebrate those values and then we work cooperatively together to what are these solutions that we need to have. And it’s not about building wealth for yourself. It’s about building resilience for your community. Because you can have all the wealth in the world, but if you have no community, you don’t have the wealth. Because at the end of the day, that community will eat you. But when you become an integral part of that community, with that community,

Neal Petersen (41:52.014)
cherishes you and values your contribution. Now you have a true contribution to make something beyond and bigger than yourself. And that is what protects you. That is what lifts you up. That is what gives you the strength. Because now you become that oneness again. And this is what I love about gardening. I’m here at our mountain estate. I’m very into permaculture and water management and soil management.

I look back at the similarities of the permaculture to sailing. And in sailing, we have a philosophy, protect the boat. If you protect the boat, the boat will protect you. If I protect the water, I protect the soil, then my land protects me, protects my community, provides our ability to cooperate, collaborate, and prosper. And when things go wrong,

Again, it is, yes, we can overcome these things. And I look at agroforestry, food forest production, where you have huge diversity. You have as many things, as many different species that are going to fruit and flower at different times and feed different types of organisms. It’s going to feed the soil, it’s going to feed the birds and the bees, it’s going to feed other plants. And eventually it’s going to feed me. But along comes a moreda.

somebody’s going to come and steal my food. Well, the only good thing was right at that moment, they’re not cutting down my entire food forest. So there’s a sense of abundance of that person needs it more than I am. Unfortunately, that person feels they have to take from me, but I can be of the spirit to give and say, well, if that means you’re going to move on, it’s going to enable you to move on and now leave us alone so that the next crop can come in, then so be it. And so we have to create these diverse

structures and in this diversity, who relied our abundance and our real real strength.

Doug Dvorak (43:59.115)
Interesting. Let’s morph now into legacy impact and motivation. Neil, you’ve become a powerful global motivational speaker and business consultant since your sailing days. What do you hope people take away most from your talks and your life story?

Neal Petersen (44:14.915)
It’s about hope that everybody’s going to face a challenge, including this audience. And my job is to hold up a mirror and for them to be able to look at themselves in that mirror. When I sat on that stage and I talk about my story, they’re thinking about their own challenges, the bills that they have to pay, the loved ones that they have lost, the career that they’re trying to forge. And they see this parallel road and they see this one person who’s overcome all these challenges and still stands.

still has dignity, still can smile and still has dreams. And they can say, well, if that person can do it, then I have no excuse because I don’t have this challenge, I don’t have that challenge. I have this opportunity. And so it’s to help people find the strength within themselves to be their best self, but not for themselves, but for the community. And so again, telling my mother’s of her sacrifices so that I can have a better life.

all the people she touched in the process, all her students that she touched in the process that ended up creating a civil society, a just society, an uplifting society that she became one member of as part of tens of thousands of people to a community of what, three or four million people who lived in Cape Town or live in Cape Town. So how do we, again, tell our story in a way that

lift people up and yes it’s really easy to point a finger and say you are wrong. We’re all going to be wrong at some point but we’re able to say hey maybe it’s a better way and maybe that particular solution isn’t the right solution because it doesn’t include everybody else. There are other stakeholders, there’s the environmental stakeholders and so how do we address the needs of the stakeholders and that’s how we individually also prosper.

Doug Dvorak (46:12.95)
Interesting. Neil, how has your definition of success evolved from competitive racing to inspiring others from the stage?

Neal Petersen (46:21.471)
Well, a lot of people think that to be a successful sailor you have to have sponsorship, you have to a big boat. And then at the end of the day, you have to have a medal to show that you won the race. But what I really learned, I don’t remember even some of the yacht races I participated in who really won it, or the yacht races that I followed. I don’t remember who first. What I do remember, who had the most challenges that they had to overcome, who had the grit, who had the determination.

Who had the story to tell of a dream that was lived? That’s what I remember. And that’s how I measure the success. It’s not about the things that we have. It’s the experiences that we create and the memories that we build and the lives that we touch. And so I always think about the end process of the other person.

that’s going to be there. The people who’s waiting in the finish line. They could not do the race for whatever reason, but they came to celebrate and came to cherish the success of this yacht race. I was one of many competitors. And so I think we will come back and stop worshipping the hero of who comes first or who is the biggest or who has the best. But to really recognize who makes those contributions. And again, my mother, a small woman,

an insignificant woman, a woman with a limited education, but yet could make such a vast impact on so many people and nobody knows her name. And at age 87, she was given an honorary doctorate for her contribution. She didn’t do these things because she wanted a doctorate. She did these things because it was the right thing to do. And I think we’ve got to really come back to the place of we know what is the right thing to do, not just for ourselves.

but for the future generation, for our society, for our planet. And we always come from the operating place of doing the right thing. Good things come about.

Doug Dvorak (48:31.95)
So what is your mother’s name? Let’s share it with the audience, please.

Neal Petersen (48:35.783)
Dr. Stella Peterson. And I even named the yacht the first time, Stella R. I named the yacht after my mom because she was such an important role. And I think we underestimate the contributions our families make, our mothers, our spouses, our wives, the sacrifices, the encouragement. Again, we are the sum collective.

of so many people. mean, Gwen, she wasn’t there to celebrate the final success of the race. She left me before the yacht race ended. But I will never forget her contributions and the role that she played in my success. Today, I’m to Darlene. 25 years. We’ve been married and we’ve been traveling this world. And again, the collective of our strengths that enable us to do the things that we do and the dreams that we build and the lives that we create and then the lives that we touch.

Again, it is recognizing the people who really, really matter and then discarding the noise. And when you come across people who don’t share your value, sometimes you just can’t change them. Sometimes you have to let them go and focus on the ones you can help. You can’t save everybody, but put the energy on the one, two, three that you can change, that you can save and want to be saved.

Doug Dvorak (50:04.152)
very prescient opinion there, Neil. Neil, you’ve been called a change agent and an icon of possibility. What message would you give to young people today who feel the odds are stacked against them socially, financially, or physically?

Neal Petersen (50:31.707)
Well, for one, is come back to curiosity. Today’s world, have so much information. Everything out there, everything can be given to people. We’ve got a podcast for every type of circumstance they can possibly imagine. But if you lack curiosity, then it becomes very hard to have motivation, to have a drive, to have a focus. And so when you’re curious about something,

then you won’t let something rip, you’ll keep digging. And then it’s to become very sort of a selective on who you surround yourself with. Are you around people who are apathetic, or are you around other people who are curious, are you around people who are problem solvers, are you around people who sort of are energizing and energized to do the right thing, to do better, to be a part of something versus just drifting through life. And so many people

are looking down. is their thumbs at the small screen. Lift your head up and look around because you can’t live in a dual reality. You’ve got to be present. There’s a time for technology, but that time of technology has to be divided into how’s it feed you curiosity versus entertain you. And there’s a big difference between going through life being entertained, being amused versus utilizing technology.

as a tool to improve yourself. And the majority of our young people are using technology as form of escape, as a form of, I’ve got to be amused, so as a result the attention span becomes very short. And parents feeding into this are, just give them what they want because it’s going to make them happy. No, you don’t achieve success through just being happy, you achieve success through the hard work, through the sacrifices, through the priorities.

of what you’ve got to do to be able to get there. And so I think we’re doing a huge disservice to young people by giving them a pass, by just accepting a sort of like, oh, well, I can’t change the world to the status quo. No, we can change the world. And we change the world one life at a time, one curious thought at a time, one engagement at a time by again, up our heads.

Neal Petersen (52:58.664)
and being able to see what needs possible and then being appreciative, being able to say, please, thank you. I really value that, that really matters. And that curiosity of asking the question, how does this work? Why does it work that way? Is there another way? Is there a better way? What are the consequences if you don’t get this right? We’ve got to look at this whole broad spectrum. This is this amusement.

Life isn’t about amusement. Life is quite joyous to live and serious in the process of enjoyment.

Doug Dvorak (53:37.108)
Excellent. What’s next for you Neil? Any new expeditions, initiatives or projects on the horizon?

Neal Petersen (53:43.128)
I’m very concerned about the way we’re going as a global society and the divide between the have and the have not. I’ve seen this play out in South Africa as a child of how apartheid impacted our entire society, not just one aspect of our society, but everybody in our society. And as I look at what’s happening in the world today and this move toward isolationism, this move toward extremism,

this move toward just pure greed and just pure consumption. I’m very concerned that I’m watching history rhyme once more and people aren’t paying attention that the very big challenge moving around and it is the challenge of poverty, the challenge of people having access to a dignified way of life. My mother always said, today’s

first world country is tomorrow’s third world country or today’s third world country is tomorrow’s first world country. So again, it’s accepting that there’s going to be huge changes. And if we look at empires and how empires have risen and fallen, every empire has fallen. And so we’re in a world of big shift, political and economic shift, but we’re also in a world of major climatic shift, climate change. I’m seeing these things

in my voyages, every voyage I’ve made, I’ve seen increasing pollution. I’m seeing a change in weather patterns. I’m seeing a change in the currents. And so I’m very aware of these things. And a of people I denial about these changes. I can’t make a difference. I can’t contribute to the solution. Yes, by being aware of these things, we are then able to start saying, what is my contribution towards this? What is my…

taking away and adding to the problem versus adding to the solution. So I look at these two components of climate impact and quality of life of humanity.

Doug Dvorak (55:49.422)
Neil, let’s now get into the rapid fire round of questions that I termed at full sail. I’m gonna ask you 10 rapid fire question, one word response. You ready? Favorite part of being alone at sea.

Neal Petersen (56:55.856)
Yeah, let’s go.

Neal Petersen (56:59.718)
making landfall.

Doug Dvorak (57:01.954)
book that’s always on your shelf.

Neal Petersen (57:04.486)
The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall.

Doug Dvorak (57:07.33)
most unexpected lesson the ocean taught you.

Neal Petersen (57:10.77)
Change.

Doug Dvorak (57:12.364)
Favorite piece of gear on your yacht.

Neal Petersen (57:14.588)
my autopilot.

Doug Dvorak (57:16.654)
Go to motivational quote.

Neal Petersen (57:21.104)
Maya Angelou, somebody will tell you who you are in the first 15 minutes if you care to listen.

Doug Dvorak (57:27.818)
Excellent. Who’s your personal hero?

Neal Petersen (57:30.682)
Nelson Mandela

Doug Dvorak (57:32.696)
Dream sailing destination you haven’t reached yet.

Neal Petersen (57:36.12)
many many oceans.

Doug Dvorak (57:38.914)
What do you miss most about life on land when you’re at sea?

Neal Petersen (57:42.96)
a dry bed, ice cream, a hot shower and most important hugs. I don’t get enough hugs when you’re sailing alone.

Doug Dvorak (57:49.176)
Hugs.

What’s on your playlist during long stretches alone?

Neal Petersen (57:55.698)
Queen, wrapped it in blue.

Doug Dvorak (57:58.85)
Mission possible means what to you in one bold sentence.

Neal Petersen (58:03.908)
Never give up. You can always do your best.

Doug Dvorak (58:08.842)
Excellent. Well, Neil, this this hour certainly has flown. I always enjoy hearing your message of hope, inspirations and embracing change with a positive attitude and mindset. But really what I love about you and Darlene for someone or a couple who has achieved so much is your level and spirit of humility, grace and giving. It’s been a high honor and privilege.

If people want to get a hold of you, check out your book, your website. How can they reach you, Neil?

Neal Petersen (58:41.101)
and just go to my website, nealpetersen.com and my email is right there. I’m easily findable.

Doug Dvorak (58:48.706)
And both of your books are available on your website and on Amazon.

Neal Petersen (58:52.305)
So Journey of a Hope Merchant is the book to go to. No Barriers is really the first 70 pages of Journey of a Hope Merchant. And so yes, I can find Journey of a Hope Merchant online.

Doug Dvorak (59:02.286)
Excellent. Well, thank you Neil and behind the scenes your producer Darlene. Hope she’s doing well from your lovely mountain estate in the Dominican Republic. Thank you Mission Possible podcast community. Check us out on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and missionpossible.biz. Carpe Diem.