Jeanne Socrates is a 76-year-old grandmother of three, originally from Ealing, West London. She didn’t start sailing until she was 50 but nevertheless has circumnavigated the globe under sail three times in S/V Nereida, a Najad 380. She currently holds the record as the oldest female to have circumnavigated the world single-handed, and she is the only woman to have circumnavigated solo nonstop from N. America. She was awarded the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal in 2013.

And now, at 76, she is almost 100 days into her fourth solo circumnavigation. She left Victoria, British Columbia last October and successfully rounded Cape Horn just before Christmas. If all goes well, she will become the oldest person of either gender to sail alone, nonstop and unassisted around the world. The current record is held by Minoru Saito who sailed solo nonstop around the world at age 71.

Her current voyage was originally planned for 2016, but after two attempts to start off down the Pacific from Victoria, B.C., she was turned back by bad weather, delaying the voyage for a season. Then in 2017, she suffered a serious injury after falling off a ladder in which she broke several bones. Nevertheless, she is now over 9,000 nautical miles from her point of departure in British Columbia. She hopes to return to Victoria, B.C.  sometime around May of 2019 after completing her 4th circumnavigation.

Thanks to Willie for contributing to this post.