Jeanne Socrates' "Nereida" Damaged in Record Attempt

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, many people feel that a really tough, pure challenge like this, gives extra meaning to life. So people do it for glory, but many do it just to find and push their own limits. I think I understand it very well. Good for Jean. How persistent and dogged she is. It makes her feel alive; I can imagine very well.



I would love to do the Five Capes, actually, but I'm not interested in glory, and not interested in the particular extreme challenge of doing it single handed. I like long distance sailing with a good crew of crack sailors, working together. If the boat is big enough, six or seven is a good number, so you have three watches of two people each, and give people time off when watches don't need to be doubled. So that everyone is strong and fresh even in challenging conditions, and you have plenty of strength and plenty of different skill sets to use to deal with whatever might come up.



I understand the appeal of doing it all yourself, but it's not appealing to me personally. It's just that much more dangerous and more exhausting. If I were to sail a trip like that, I would be looking not for having somehow survived it all by myself, but for having done it in a superbly organized way with an excellent crew, arriving fresh and happy and without any drama -- successfully planning and executing it so that there is no drama, is a different kind of a achievement, and I say no less significant, than surviving it somehow all by yourself, even if it won't get you into the Guinness Book or get your a gold medal from the WCC. But to each his own, and I greatly admire Ms. Jean.

It's interesting, I don't have the urge to prove anything to myself (that in no way is a dig at others), for me the cost (discomfort) far out weighs the achievement, I don't feel anymore alive for it.

I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle, the over comfort of normal life (creeping death of sameness) is the other end of the spectrum, and it's really not something I'm interested in, the cost is the missing out of extra ordinary experiences (cruising remote places).

If I had to choose then I'd be a Jeanne rather than a Homer! Good on her!

(then again I'm reading the RV thread with interest.. Lol)

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by daletournier

. . . If I had to choose then I'd be a Jeanne rather than a Homer! Good on her! . . .

In full agreement there!

[Jim Cate]

It is interesting to compare Jeanne with our other friend, Susanne Huber-Curphey and her yacht Nehaj.

Instead of entering the GGR, she entered the French event, the Longue Route which was set up to informally celebrate Bernard's voyage in the original GGR. She departed from Maine, sailed the capes and then, instead of heading up the Atlantic to France as scheduled, she "did a Motoissier" and kept on going, passing Good Hope and traversing the Indian Ocean again. I kept tempting her with tales of fresh fruit and veg in Tasmania and she succumbed and ended her non stop voyage in Hobart... after 208 days at sea and 1 1/2 circumnavigations of the world. All this with no publicity, no sponsors, no records, no attention from the authorities nor much from the press. When we greeted her in Hobart we asked what chores needed doing, what refitting and how much fuel etc she needed. Answer: nothing but rebuilding her JSD which had been in use some 170 hours (IIRC) and which had worn out the spinnaker cloth cones. That is all... she didn't even top up fuel!

While I have great admiration for jeanne's dogged determination, Suzanne's seamanship has earned even greater admiration... what an amazing woman, and what amazing voyages she has made.*

I hope that Jeanne can resolve some of her issues and continue on to the finish, but it's gonna be a tough row to hoe... for sure! Susanne, meanwhile has left Tasmania, crossed the winter Tasman sea with several strong gales and now is relaxing in New Caledonia, basking in the sun!

Jim

* I suppose I should mention that to reach her starting point forthe Longue Route she left Tasmania in 2016 and then sailed through the NW passage... first female single hander to do so.

[RaymondR]

Some folks like to fill their lives with experiences, others are happy to just wait around until they die.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

It is interesting to compare Jeanne with our other friend, Susanne Huber-Curphey and her yacht Nehaj.

Instead of entering the GGR, she entered the French event, the Longue Route which was set up to informally celebrate Bernard's voyage in the original GGR. She departed from Maine, sailed the capes and then, instead of heading up the Atlantic to France as scheduled, she "did a Motoissier" and kept on going, passing Good Hope and traversing the Indian Ocean again. I kept tempting her with tales of fresh fruit and veg in Tasmania and she succumbed and ended her non stop voyage in Hobart... after 208 days at sea and 1 1/2 circumnavigations of the world. All this with no publicity, no sponsors, no records, no attention from the authorities nor much from the press. When we greeted her in Hobart we asked what chores needed doing, what refitting and how much fuel etc she needed. Answer: nothing but rebuilding her JSD which had been in use some 170 hours (IIRC) and which had worn out the spinnaker cloth cones. That is all... she didn't even top up fuel!

While I have great admiration for jeanne's dogged determination, Suzanne's seamanship has earned even greater admiration... what an amazing woman, and what amazing voyages she has made.*

I hope that Jeanne can resolve some of her issues and continue on to the finish, but it's gonna be a tough row to hoe... for sure! Susanne, meanwhile has left Tasmania, crossed the winter Tasman sea with several strong gales and now is relaxing in New Caledonia, basking in the sun!

Jim

* I suppose I should mention that to reach her starting point forthe Longue Route she left Tasmania in 2016 and then sailed through the NW passage... first female single hander to do so.

Thanks for sharing this Jim. Amazing! I found lots & lots of accomplishments, accolades & photos on the internet about your friend Susanne, including this:

"This woman is the real thing! This past January she won the Ocean Cruising Club Barton Cup for being the first woman to transit the Northwest Passage singlehanded. In 2008 she won the Cruising Club of America’s Rod Stephens Trophy for singlehandedly rescuing her husband and towing him on his boat some 650 miles in challenging conditions."

https://wavetrain.net/2018/07/03/gol...f-and-running/

[JPA Cate]

Jeanne reports having a few of the slides in the Strong Track, not enough to use the main sail yet, though, even at the triple reef. And that she is 191 n. mi. from NZ's SW cape. She reports the sea state to be pretty rolly for accomplishing a whole lot, even below. Plus, it must be awfully darn cold.

She wrote that she can't remember whether she has a spare set of blades for the wind gen, but apparently, it is still there, with one broken blade, and she may have a spare blade for it, under the berth in the forepeak, but will need kinder sea conditions to check on it. It is sometimes hard for land based folks to relate to how difficult even simple things can be to do in a vigorous seaway.

I agree that Susanne is a heck of a fine sailor--and she is a great deal younger than Jeanne. Another difference is that Susanne grew up with parents who took her sailing, and must have learned a lot through "osmosis." Jeanne came to sailing as an adult, and has earned my respect for tenacity, and problem solving.

Ann

[JPA Cate]

Update,

After scheduled radio broadcasts done via satphone, we had a ham radio contact with Jeanne this morning.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but she is persevering with her attempt and was located near Southwest Cape, Stewart Is., New Zealand, (47 deg. 18 m S) surrounded by a wealth of sea birds, and sounding quite pleased to be heading for warmer climes.



Ann

[Don C L]

Thanks for that! Good to hear she's in good spirits.

[Jim Cate]

To be a little more specific, she said she was abeam the cape and turning N. Looking at the MSLs, she should have lighter but favorable winds for a while. Should give her some time to finish tidying up the huge mess, get things somewhat dry and perhaps get new blades on the wind gen. She had said she "thought" she had some under the forward bunk, but couldn't get to them earlier.

Hope that she has enough spare electrons to come up on our net now and then. We should be able to work her for some time to come, and I'll be glad to relay her thoughts.

Jim

[conachair]

North she goes at last! Showing up on sat AIS on marinetraffic.

Complete set of windgen blades found in forepeak.

Interview here, 57 minutes in -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p077yjw1



Blog getting updated every day again it seem with sat phone issues sorted out.
https://svnereida.com/blog

[JPA Cate]

Thanks for the fill, conachair, Jim called her up on marinetraffic, too.

Ann

[stimpsonjcat]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

To be a little more specific, she said she was abeam the cape and turning N. Looking at the MSLs, she should have lighter but favorable winds for a while. Should give her some time to finish tidying up the huge mess, get things somewhat dry and perhaps get new blades on the wind gen. She had said she "thought" she had some under the forward bunk, but couldn't get to them earlier.

Hope that she has enough spare electrons to come up on our net now and then. We should be able to work her for some time to come, and I'll be glad to relay her thoughts.

Jim

What net is that? I would like to try to listen in. Thanks!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by stimpsonjcat

What net is that? I would like to try to listen in. Thanks!

It is the Comedy net which has been running for some 20+ years now, and you would be welcome to join in. However, it is run on the 40 meter band (7.087 MHz LSB) and there is a near zero chance that there would be propagation to the USA on that frequency. The net commences at 2140 GMT 365 days of the year, and all licensed hams are welcome to join us. Our area of coverage is the SW Pacific, with most participants being in Australia or the surrounding islands.

Jeanne also comes up on Tony's net (14.315 MHz USB) at 2030 GMT), and there is some chance of hearing that in the USA, though not a really good chance for a casual listener.

As she gets further N she will likely switch to other nets, but I'm not sure of whiich ones.

Jim N9GFT/VK4GFT

[oldbilbo]

According to MarineTraffic ( https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...:-46.1/zoom:10 ) at 1800UTC25May, she was about 25nm south of Dunedin/NZ, heading 054degrees at 1.1kt. Her last blog-post suggests she's hale and hearty. Perhaps she'll have some respite to finish sewing her damaged mainsail, and stowing stuff dislodged by recent tribulations.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by oldbilbo

According to MarineTraffic ( https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...:-46.1/zoom:10 ) at 1800UTC25May, she was about 25nm south of Dunedin/NZ, heading 054degrees at 1.1kt. Her last blog-post suggests she's hale and hearty. Perhaps she'll have some respite to finish sewing her damaged mainsail, and stowing stuff dislodged by recent tribulations.

From conversations a few days back now, her sail repair is complete. The sticking point is getting the sail slides (Strong track brand) fed back into the mast. She feels that she needs flat water and calm winds to accomplish this task, and has not had them during daylight hours yet.

She sure could use that main!

Jim