Soledad: the 'man overboard' cat that found her way home to the Canary Islands

Soledad is a black and white (tuxedo) cat, missing an eye and is three and a half years old. An age that, for a cat, marks the beginning of adulthood, although her short life has been marked by numerous adventures and escapades.

The latest was spending seven months on a Caribbean island after falling into the sea off the coast of the island of Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles, an island discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502 and which today belongs to France.

Her owner - although, in the case of cats, some say that felines have no owner as they choose their human companion - is Héctor Valdeón, a well-known lifeguard at the Grandes Playas de Fuerteventura, a series of extensive golden sands within the Dunas Natural Park, famous for its turquoise waters.

This expert in aquatic rescues and coastal safety crossed paths with Soledad when the cat was just six weeks old. He had travelled to the island of El Hierro on a journey of self-discovery and found the kitten half-dead and riddled with parasites next to a rubbish bin in the area of La Restinga. "She was missing an eye. I named her Soledad because I was alone and she gave me answers to my life," explains Héctor.

In March last year he decided to embark on what he calls "the trip of a lifetime". Together with a work colleague, he set off on his ten-metre sailboat bound for the Caribbean. After restocking on supplies in La Gomera, they covered the 2,613 nautical miles - 4,840 kilometres - that separate Fuerteventura from Martinique in 28 days. His coworker had to return to Spain for work reasons, but Héctor remained on the island with Soledad.

Tragedy struck on 11 April. The sailboat was anchored near the island when the cat fell into the water because her litterbox was improperly placed. It happened in the early hours of the morning and Hector realised what had happened at dawn. Soledad had to swim some 60 metres to reach the harbour. "I searched for her like crazy for a week but I had to return. Before leaving, I asked for help from people in the area and left my contact info in case they found her," he recalls.

Then it was time to return to Fuerteventura on the sailboat, but without Soledad. "I felt regret for having made this trip and I blamed myself for losing her," he says.

The 25-day return trip was also tough because he lost his internet connection and had to face several storms in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He used a barometer to predict the weather: a rapidly falling pressure indicates bad weather, stable pressure indicates unchanging weather and rising pressure means good weather. His encounter with one merchant ship confirmed he was on course, although another nearly ran him down. "It was an incredibly tough journey and I was terrified. There were days when I didn't see the sun and, in the end, I thought it a miracle that I had survived," says Héctor.

Months passed with no news of Soledad until November when he received a call from an animal welfare association in Martinique that is dedicated to capturing wild animals to protect native wildlife. "They told me they had found a one-eyed cat and that they would send me a photo the next day. When it arrived, I saw it was her and I was overcome with emotion. It felt like another miracle."

Tiffany, a young woman from the association, offered to take the cat to Paris in mid-December in the cabin of an aeroplane after passing the required health checks and Héctor travelled to the French capital to meet her. "It was the best Christmas present ever and like a second miracle," he admits. Soledad arrived in Paris "very thin and emaciated" but now she is "as fat as a ball and doesn't want to go on the boat deck".

What was Soledad's life like on a Caribbean island for seven months? "That's for her to tell," says Hector, who imagines the cat was "roaming the island" while protecting herself from potential predators and feeding herself by hunting or scavenging for scraps.

So, Hector and Soledad are back together again. He describes her as "affectionate and friendly" and she's very popular in Corralejo. "I believe that the cats you rescue from the street have an unconditional love for you for life. That's what I'm experiencing with Soledad," says this lifeguard, who recorded his entire adventure in an extensive logbook which he now wants to turn into a book to tell the story of his double miracle.