WL2K User Jeanne Socrates Embarks On a Second Solo Circumnavigation -- Non-Stop This Time!
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, October 11, 2009 -- The intrepid Jeanne. She just pushed off for the long ride. She recently reported, "I'll head down to South Africa and around again.... but this time I'll be sailing east-about nonstop .... via Cape Horn.... We'll see how it goes, but this time I hope to get all the way around!! It'll be totally different from my previous circumnavigation.... starting from the Atlantic, heading east in higher latitudes, passing south of the Five Great Capes.... I expect the journey to take 6-7 months. It'll be a definite challenge but [the new] “Nereida” sails beautifully, is a good sturdy boat and I'm looking forward to it."
Jeanne Socrates is no stranger to sailing, she started her first solo round-the-world voyage in March 2007 for it all to end in disaster June 2008 with the loss of Nereida at Playa Michigan, Mexico, just 60 miles from her destination. Yachting Monthly featured the details of the shipwreck in an article in their August 2009 edition, "Shipwrecked 60 Miles Short of Triumph".
Jeanne retired as a teacher in 1997 and bought Nereida with her husband George. Together they sailed Nereida, a Najad 361, from Sweden to the Mediterranean, over the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the east coast of America. Sadly, George was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2003. For most this would have been an end to cruising, but not for Jeanne. From 2004 – 2006 she sailed solo around British Columbia, Mexico, California and then in 2006 took part the Single-Handed TransPac from San Francisco to Hawaii, getting to know Nereida and gaining confidence.
Cancer pushed her to the next level. Besides George, she’d lost other good friends to the disease. She decided that she wasn’t getting any younger, and began to plan her solo sail around the world. From March 2007 until June 2008 she did just that. She sails today supporting the charity Marie Curie Cancer Care.
The longest passage that Jeanne has sailed previously is three and a half weeks. This time, she will be at sea non-stop for 6-7 months. She will be relying on Winlink for weather and e-mail, and satphone and SSB for her only connections to the outside world. Her website is http://www.svnereida.com and you can follow her progress while at sea with both of her regular reports on the home page and her daily noon positions from her travels page. We will be posting news here from time-to-time as well.
And, oh yes, Jeanne is now 67 years old. That will make her the oldest woman to sail solo--not to mention non-stop--around the world! Intrepid Jeanne!