Jeanne Socrates

Jeanne's solo sail around the globe - nonstop & unassisted - from 3rd October 2018 to 7th September 2019 STILL TAKING DONATIONS - Many thanks!

Fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution
£4,171
raised of £4,000 target
by 91 supporters
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RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

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We are a 24 hour search & rescue service to save lives at sea

Story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

( I'm delighted that I managed to complete successfully in September 2019, despite many the challenges I had to face and overcome in order to keep going (leading to 11months at sea, not the 7-8 I had hoped for!).  Please donate to the RNLI - their volunteers continue to save lives 24/7 all year around and need ongoing financing to stay well trained & well equipped.)

The RNLI is independent of government funding and the crews of the RNLI lifeboats are all volunteers.  They need our support to keep them well-trained and their equipment up to date if they're to be able to launch safely and succeed in their lifesaving efforts night and day.   

Please donate what you can in recognition of my efforts to complete a circuit around the globe single-handed, via Cape Horn, under sail alone and without setting foot on land until I finish.

I expected to be at sea for around 7-8 months, hoping to get safely around the Five Great Capes of the Southern Ocean and back to my starting point without any outside help and without any use of my motor (which was sealed).

 My daily blogs are all on my website (www.svnereida.com) and I talked each day to people on land around the world on my HF radio - so I wasn't quite alone!  

If any problems arose (and there were many!), I had to deal with them using tools & spares I carried onboard.  All food for my time at sea had to be with me from the start of my journey - fresh eggs turned daily lasted several months, onions and potatoes most of the way, and I also had canned and dried foods. 

Drinking water was mainly from a water-maker (desalinator) working off my batteries and I also had some long-life milk and fruit juices!  My batteries were mainly powered by the sun and the wind, with a small backup generator to help on windless, overcast days.

I  do my own weather routing using my radio to get the information - 'grib' weather files come as email attachments and weather faxes come direct from onshore transmitters located beside whichever sea area I happened to be in.  Sometimes, I’ll get weather info via my VHF radio if I’m close enough to land and additional info is sometimes provided by HF radio friends.

It's useful to know when a storm is expected - they're very frequent over a good part of my route - and in planning my route I tried to stay out of both calms and storms and in favourable wind as far as possible.

I hoped to use my sextant to practise navigation skills made rusty from frequent use of GPS.  The Southern Ocean is often overcast, so taking regular sights isn't always possible - but when well offshore, with a compass, in the middle of an ocean, that's not a problem!

This was my fourth solo circumnavigation and my second successful nonstop one - your support means a lot to me and helped me to succeed.  On finishing, I became the oldest person to have sailed around nonstop, solo, unassisted, south of all of the Southern Ocean's Five Great Capes.  (I already hold the Guinness World Record as the oldest woman to have done so.)

Fate intervened in my attempt planned for 2017 - on 28th Sept, as I was preparing Nereida to leave on 5th October, I fell off a ladder - 10ft/3m to hard ground.  Miraculously, I survived with intact spinal cord, head, arms & legs but with many broken bones - neck, a lot of ribs, nose - and several other injuries.  Good care by Victoria hospitals & then by kind friends has lead to a good recovery but it has taken me many months to recuperate, with plenty of exercising needed to regain mobility - my neck especially was very stiff after three months in a neck brace.

Nereida left Victoria on 3rd October 2018 and I had been kept very busy getting her ready over the summer months.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the RNLI. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Many thanks to several supporters who donated in anticipation of my attempts in 2016 & 2017 - they raised £505.09 for the RNLI -  very much appreciated!

William Gannon  1 year ago - Spoke to you early this morning Jeanne, glad to help. My name is Bill WA2OOO. It was on 7.163 ....03-06 11:50:00 UTC. Congrats and best of luck to you , may god bless   $50.00

Lincoln Grove  2 years ago- Good wishes for your epic voyage  £30.00+ £7.50 Gift Aid

Caroline and Felix Scott  2 years ago - Good luck on your epic seafaring adventure again. I'm really enjoying your blog. Keep safe.  £20.00

Rebecca Wilkinson  2 years ago - Good luck Jeanne, what an inspiration you are!!! Wishing you fair winds and a safe passage ⛵️  $50.00

Konrad Panzer, Germany  2 years ago - Good luck for your round the world sailing tour. Wait for practical weather and go ahead!  €100.00

 Kathryn MacDonald - 2 years ago  Best wishes on your journey. May you have good wind and safe passage! $30.00

Ruth Simkin - 2 years ago  Much success (and fun) with circumnavigation.

Anonymous - 2 years ago  Fantastic achievement - every little helps I hope!  £10.00+ £2.50 Gift Aid

BARBARA MAYNE -  2 years ago  The very best of luck, Jeanne. I am going to tell my friends at our Book Club at Royal Ulster Yacht Club about you and hopefully get you some more support. I followed your last circumnavigation.  £50.00

Peter Corrigan - 2 years ago  Fair winds Jeanne! Please keep those blog posts a-coming. There's huge appetite for vicarious adventure out here in the land of the 9.00-5.00. We love to learn about your adventures aboard S/V Nereida  €30.00

Gerry Kelly - 2 years ago   Jeanne. Your bravery is so inspiring...we are honoured that you choose to embark and return from Victoria, Canada. Thank you for sharing your thrilling story with our Harbourside Rotary Club. $50.00

Charlie & Cathy Simon - 2 years ago   Thanks for what you are doing. Fair Winds on your upcoming voyage. $50.00

Anonymous - 2 years ago  As a guy of 76 YOA you give us all hope that we can dare to have large dreams and to achieve these dreams. I will be following your progress and wish you well. God speed, Dick Burkhard MD, USA   $20.00

Homero Levy de Barros - 2 years ago   I wish the world had more people like you, Brave, Altruistic and an example for so many people. Cheers  $30.00





About the charity

RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Verified by JustGiving

RCN Eng/Wal 20609,SC037736,ROI20003326,IOM1308,Jer14
RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour search and rescue service all around the UK and Ireland, while lifeguards keep a careful watch on the UK’s busiest beaches. RNLI lifesaving and drowning prevention depend on supporter fundraising and the generous donations that you and others give.

Donation summary

Total raised
£4,171.00
+ £307.75 Gift Aid
Online donations
£3,338.78
Offline donations
£832.22

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