Jeanne Socrates has completed her goal of a solo, non-stop circumnavigation on the third try. Jeanne and NEREIDA have spent time in Port Townsend and she has a number of friends (and many more admirers of her courage, seamanship and dedication to her goal) in the area.
VICTORIA – The oldest female sailor to make a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe has finally reached her goal.
Seventy-year-old Jeanne Socrates set out from Victoria’s Inner Harbour in her 11-metre cruiser Nereida on October 2012, and a note on her website says she returned to the harbour just before 3 a.m. Monday morning.
The pre-dawn arrival ended several days of anticipation as light winds along the west coast of British Columbia stalled her return, which was expected on July 5th.
Socrates, from London, Eng., has made two previous attempts to sail solo, non-stop, around the world.
The first ended in Cape Town, South Africa in 2009 and the second journey ended with damage to the boat in a storm off Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America in January 2011.
The grandmother and retired teacher is raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, a British program that provides free home nursing for terminally ill cancer patients.
(CFAX, The Canadian Press, picked up from the Huffington Post)