PERSISTENCE STRIKES AGAIN
I admire persistence, and I am impressed by those who persist.
Jeanne Socrates is persistence personified.
She started serious ocean sailing at age 48, and at age 77, she completed a solo non-stop circumnavigation spending 339 days at sea.
She sailed in a 39 foot sailboat south of all the great southern capes.
She didn’t start out as a solo sailor.
She was a school teacher who retired early, and at age 48 she and her husband set out from Europe on a 37 foot sailboat crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.
The first voyage ended five years later when her husband passed away from cancer.
Most women would swallow the anchor and resume life ashore after loss of their shipmate and spouse, but not Jeanne Socrates. She became a solo sailor.
Not only did she sail solo, she sailed solo in the high latitudes. She sailed in Alaska as well as in the challenging southern oceans.
In 2007, she set out on a solo circumnavigation from Mexico, and in 2008 she finished the circumnavigation in Mexico losing her sailboat on a beach just a few miles from where she began the circumnavigation.
She remained undaunted, and got another yacht, and she continued to sail.
She circumnavigated a second time from 2010 to 2012.
Her third circumnavigation happened in 2012 to 2013.
She planned to start a fourth circumnavigation in 2017, but she fell off her sailboat in the boatyard sustaining neck, rib, and internal injuries. Recovering from the injuries was expensive and took time, but a year later she was ready to once again set sail.
Her fourth circumnavigation was from 2018 to 2019, and at age 77, she became the oldest person to sail solo non-stop around the world south of the five great capes.
Surviving four circumnavigations in the southern oceans is an extraordinary accomplishment, and doing it when you are 77 years old is beyond amazing.
Although the envelope of possibility is large, she definitely expanded the envelope.
Visit her website svnereida.com and read about her amazing adventures.
Captain Dave
Awesome music video that captures the essence of what it's like to sail offshore in a catamaran around the world when conditions are less than perfect. David Abbott from Too Many Drummers sings the vocals, and he also edited the footage from our Red Sea adventures. This is the theme song from the Red Sea Chronicles.
Sailing up the Red Sea is not for the faint of heart. From the Bab al Mandeb to the Suez Canal, adventures and adversity are in abundance. If you take things too seriously, you just might get the Red Sea Blues.
If you like drum beats, and you like adventure, then have a listen to the Red Sea Chronicles Trailer.
Flying fish assault Exit Only in the middle of the night as we sail through the Arabian Gulf from the Maldives to Oman. And so begins our Red Sea adventures.
Sailing through Pirate Alley between Yemen and Somalia involves calculated risk. It may not be Russian Roulette, but it is a bit of a worry. Follow Team Maxing Out as they navigate through Pirate Alley.
Stopping in Yemen was just what the doctor ordered. We refueled, repaired our alternator, and we made friends with our gracious Yemeni hosts. We also went to Baskins Robbins as a reward for surviving Pirate Alley.
After you survive Pirate Alley, you must sail through the Gate of Sorrows (Bab Al Mandab) at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The Gate of Sorrows lived up to its name with fifty knots of wind and a sandstorm that pummeled Exit Only for two days. Life is good.
Although I like the feel of a paper book in my hand, I love trees even more. When people purchase an eBook, they actually save trees and save money as well. Ebooks are less expensive and have no negative impact on the environment. All of Dr. Dave's books are available at Save A Tree Bookstore. Visit the bookstore today and start putting good things into your mind. It's easy to fill your mind with positive things using eBooks. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you can pull out your smart phone or tablet and start reading. You can even use electronic highlighters and make annotations in your eBooks just like paper books.
