Victoria sailor attempting to set new world record one month behind schedule because of stormy weather

CHEK

WATCH: She’s been out at sea for more than 100 days and 76-year-old sailor Jeanne Socrates is determined to break the record for oldest person to sail solo around the globe. Last time we updated you she had passed the equator. Now she should be at the halfway point but she’s a month behind schedule. Luisa Alvarez caught up with Socrates today to find out why.  


She’s as tenacious as they come.

In 2013, Jeanne Socrates became the oldest woman to single-handedly circumnavigate the world on a solo journey, which earned her a Guinness World Record.

Now at 76, Socrates wants to break another record. It’s the same feat, but this time she will be the oldest person. It’s her third attempt at doing it.

She set sail from Victoria in early October aboard her 38-foot sailboat named Nereida.

“If I have something I want to do, I won’t give up until it’s done,” Socrates told CHEK News last September.

She’s well on her way and crossed the equator last November. But it hasn’t come without hurdles.

Throughout she has had issues with her gear and among other things has already needed to fix both her navigational systems, a solar panel, and a water pump.

“If I don’t fix them then I know I’ll have to do without the items so I try hard to fix them,” said Socrates.

It’s that can-do attitude that has gotten her this far, solo, unassisted and non-stop on her attempt to circle the globe.

But the hardships keep coming. Earlier this week her boat bilge filled up with water.

“I had to get rid of all the water and the pump wasn’t working, so I had to bucket it out manually,” said Socrates.

And to boot, several tropical storms out at sea have forced her to slow down and veer off course.

Socrates says by now she expected to be around the halfway point by now near the west end of Australia but instead, she is just south of Madagascar.

“I can’t quite get there now because there is a cyclone in the way,” said Socrates.

She expects the storm to hit this weekend and hopes to get back on course but now she says she’s about one month behind schedule.

Socrates was hoping to complete her planet bypass in eight months and be back in Victoria by the end of May 2019 but she now says the more realistic target date will be the end of June instead.

Follow along on Socrates’ journey by visiting her website. 

 

Luisa AlvarezLuisa Alvarez

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