Jeanne Socrates Becomes the Oldest Person to Sail Around the World Unassisted

The last post we published on Jeanne Socrates was back in June when Jeanne was in the midst of her mission to become the oldest person of any gender to complete a single-handed, nonstop circumnavigation at 76 years old. We spoke to Jeanne shortly after she rounded Stewart Island, the Fifth Great Cape of the Southern Ocean, signalling the start of the final leg of Jeanne’s adventure as Nereida sailed towards warmer waters, making her way up the east coast of New Zealand and back to British Columbia.

© Jeanne Socrates

The Propspeed team kept a watchful eye on Jeanne’s journey, tracking Nereida via GPS tracking on Jeanne’s website, https://www.svnereida.com/, and cheered her on towards the finished line. Finally, on Saturday 7^th September, after 339 long days at sea, Nereida arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, to an incredible welcome, with fleets of boats coming out to follow Nereida in. After 339 days and celebrating her 77^th birthday at sea, Jeanne now holds the world record for the oldest person to complete a single-handed, nonstop circumnavigation, beating the previous record set by Minoru Saito, who completed the journey in 2005 at 71 years old.

© Jeanne Socrates

Naturally, we were curious to see what condition Nereida would be in when she was hauled out. Before departing British Columbia 11 months ago, Jeanne applied Propspeed to Nereida’s prop and shaft. Although Jeanne was not allowed to use Nereida’s engine during the circumnavigation and the prop shaft would be clamped, Jeanne had the comfort of knowing that there would be no added drag due to growth on the prop and shaft, therefore allowing her to maximise Nereida’s speed. Even after 11 months, with the prop shaft unable to be turned to release any growth, Nereida’s prop and shaft still looked spotless, particularly in comparison to the heavily fouled hull and transducer. It’s safe to say Jeanne was more than happy with the results!

© Jeanne Socrates

© Jeanne Socrates

You can read about Jeanne's adventures on her website: https://www.svnereida.com/