Nereida Leaves Ushuaia

After two busy months holed up in Ushuaia, Argentina effecting repairs — but mostly waiting for replacement parts to arrive from Europe — to her Najad 380 Nereida, Jeanne Socrates finally made her way down the Beagle Channel early this week, bound for the Falkland Islands. Socrates had left Victoria, B.C. on October 25 on a planned nonstop solo circumnavigation, but a knockdown on her approach to Cape Horn on January 5 dealt a crippling blow to her record attempt. With a severely damaged windscreen/dodger and a broken boom, Socrates managed to limp in to Ushuaia under her own power.

Considering the damage Nereida suffered in the knockdown, and the fact that replacement parts and a new boom had to be shipped from Europe to Argentina, Socrates’ stay in Ushuaia seems downright short. But if Jeanne is one thing, it’s determined. With the help of many local workers, and the generosity of passing cruisers, she managed to get Nereida seaworthy again in record time.

Having left Puerto Español on Wednesday, Jeanne expects to arrive in Port Stanley in the Falklands tomorrow morning. From there, she’ll head to Cape Town — where she’ll have officially completed a circuit of the globe (via three of the five ‘Great Capes’) — and possibly South Georgia Island. We’ll have more in the April issue of Latitude 38.