Nereida Gets Back Underway

After three frustrating months in Cape Town, South Africa, Jeanne Socrates restarted her second solo circumnavigation — this one aboard her new Najad 380 Nereida — on Tuesday. She had left the Canary Islands last October on a planned non-stop circuit, but Nereida developed a few nagging, but potentially dangerous, problems that Socrates wisely felt needed fixing before continuing her journey. Most of them were quickly resolved, but she soon realized that her Yanmar would need to be replaced due to seawater having backed into the engine under sail. Cue the red tape. Three months of haggling with Yanmar and Najad finally resulted in a new engine, but too late to finish her circumnavigation.

Instead, Socrates is planning to sail nonstop to San Francisco. "I hope to make the start of this summer’s Singlehanded TransPac," she said. "Having had to miss the race start last time, it would be fun to do it this year and would fill in the time up to the end of the year when I could make a second attempt at a nonstop circumnavigation." Follow her progress at www.svnereida.com.