Solo sailor and circumnavigator Jeanne Socrates ....
Welcome to my Journey
My second solo circumnavigation: 9th March 2010 - 11th May 2011
Nereida under sail
Click to enlarge
........... I actually succeeded in completing a single-handed circumnavigation via Cape Horn on 6th May 2011 when I 'closed the circle' (as I approached Cape Town) by crossing my 2009 path S to Cape Town from the Canaries - having left Cape Town in March 2010 to sail eastabout.
This was almost a 'circumnavigation by default' since my main aim, since 2009, had been to circumnavigate single-handed nonstop..... In fact, I've made two nonstop attempts so far...
My first attempt started on 10th October 2009 when I sailed off the dock at Puerto Calero in Lanzarote (Canaries) to head to the S. Atlantic. I had expected it to be totally different from my first circumnavigation since it was to be in the new "Nereida" (Najad 380 ) (See ‘Boat Details’ page) going the opposite way around the globe, leaving the Canaries as the Southern winter was finishing. I expected to be sailing non-stop for about 7 months, my journey taking me around the Five Great Capes - which, of course, included Cape Horn!
It was expected to be quite a challenge - but with so many unexpected repairs needed as I approached S. Africa, over and above those I'd already dealt with while underway, I had to make the difficult decision to stop (after 61 days under sail alone) in Cape Town to get repairs done, before continuing on further in the Southern Ocean. The hoped-for 2-3 day stop became three months when a replacement engine became necessary - and that put paid to my hopes of continuing on to Cape Horn since it would have been mid-winter as I was rounding the Cape, so the 'season' had closed.
Finally getting away on 9th March 2010, I continued on nonstop to Nelson in S. Island, New Zealand (62 days), with some stormy weather S of Australia on the approach to the Bass Strait and then more stormy weather when I left New Zealand early in June (winter!) to head north nonstop (36 days) for Hawaii (which I only just made, due to the strong west-flowing Equatorial Current and finding myself not as far enough to the east as I would have liked so as to be ready for meeting the NE Trades south of Hawaii). I paused on Kauai, before heading on north (with difficulty since the N. Pacific High was very extensive and moved north with me as I tried to sail north…)
I finally made Port Townsend in the 'Pacific North West' (of the U.S.) and British Columbia (Canada) where my plan was to deal with all outstanding repairs and make final preparations before re-starting my RTW nonstop attempt from Victoria, B.C. - which I did on 25th October 2010.
I headed out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to find myself a day later struggling with little wind, strong tides and plenty of shipping.... with no motoring permitted! When I eventually got offshore from Cape Flattery, I was met by strong winds - for several days, we had headwinds from the SW, making for a slow, rough passage south. I was lucky when negotiating the ITCZ, managing to avoid the worst of the bad convection and on heading south from there, the sailing was often very pleasant, with the main problem being a lack of wind at times and the S. Pacific High being west of its usual position, requiring my route to be less direct towards the Horn than expected.
The challenge of sailing in the Southern Ocean to S. Africa, and on to Tasmania and New Zealand, turned out to be a useful preparation for my second RTW nonstop attempt - it's so very much tougher, and the weather patterns are so totally different, from downwind sailing in the Tropics with just the occasional squall as the main challenge there. I had hoped to achieve my goal the second time around, but I was knocked down on 5th January 2011, while lying hove-to well west of Cape Horn, waiting for some bad weather to pass before reaching the continental shelf on which the Cape lies - so that put paid to my 2nd nonstop attempt.
I felt quite devastated but, by a stroke of luck, was personally uninjured although the boat suffered major damage: broken boom, sprayhood torn away, windscreen windows smashed, seawater ingress & general chaos down below, washboard broken in half, carbon pole broken, staysail furler broken (I had to lower the sail to the deck and tie it down in the stormy conditions to avoid losing the rig, the sail was flogging so badly in the strong wind...) The good news was that most of my instruments, HF radio, laptop and motor were still working and the genoa was intact, so I was eventually able to sail around Cape Horn and motor on to Ushuaia.
After a bit of a nightmare time in Ushuaia, trying to figure out how to repair/replace things in a cold, very windy place, totally lacking in yachting facilities, I was finally ready to sail away on 13th March with a new boom, sprayhood, staysail furler etc, all of which had to be sent in from Sweden with great difficulty. But the weather was deteriorating further, so I headed NE to the Falklands (very British!), where my departure was delayed several days due to strong winds, and then on NE, trying to avoid the frequent deep depressions coming off the S. American coast. These gave strong weather which made me heave to a couple of times and lie to the Jordan series drogue for several days. After that I was able to head east towards Cape Town but was headed by SE winds as I got close, causing further delay - just as had happened on my approach just over a year earlier!
Landfall on Wednesday 11th May was duly celebrated...!!!
(Sailing from 2004 to 2008 was on board my first "Nereida", a Najad 361, which I was incredibly unlucky to lose on 19th June '08 - full details are to be found in the 'Latitude 38' and 'Yachting Monthly' stories in the 'Articles and Interviews ' section)
(See Travels for links showing both where "Nereida" is now and also my path since leaving England in June '09)
My Previous Solo Circumnavigation, 26 March 2007 – 19 June 2008
On 15th August 2006, I completed a 'NE Pacific Loop' by sailing to Sitka from Hanalei Bay in Kauai after the finish of the Single-Handed Transpac Race to Hawaii from San Francisco (which I started on 24th June 2006).
I'd left Sitka the previous year (2005) as part of a cruise of SE Alaska, sailed down the Inside Passage to British Columbia and on to Puget Sound, where I was forced to stop for the winter months, and then on to San Francisco offshore in May 2006.
As a result of these ocean passages, and having to overcome the varied problems that cropped up en route, I gained in confidence tremendously and set my sights on sailing around the world.
I sailed down from Sitka in September '06 to San Diego, via the Inside Passage & the West coast of Vancouver Island, making the journey from Neah Bay singlehanded offshore to San Francisco for my third time in October '06. After some necessary work there, it was on to San Diego for a lot more work on the boat with my circumnavigation in mind. Then came a fast journey offshore down the Baja (Mexico) in February, ending eventually in Zihuatanejo (Mexico) from where my solo journey around the world finally started on Monday 26th March '07.
I reached Cairns (Australia) on 11th July '07, Richards Bay (South Africa) on 16th November '07 and left Trinidad for Panama on 1st May '08. After reaching the west coast of Mexico from Guatemala, I was making for San Francisco for the start of the 2008 Single-Handed TransPac Race but was then incredibly unlucky to lose "Nereida" on a steep surf beach north of Acapulco, less than twelve hours and about sixty miles short of completing my circumnavigation, on 19th June '08. (See 'Travels' page for more details of my route and for maps showing my position as I sailed around.)
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