Socrates and Rutherford Updates

Solitude is what many sailors seek when they take to the water, but some seek it more than others. Jeanne Socrates, the British granny who is making her way to Victoria, B.C. before starting her third attempt at a nonstop solo circumnavigation, is one of them. Readers will remember that Socrates’ Najad 380 Nereida was damaged while rounding Cape Horn in her last nonstop effort, and she spent the next year hunkered down in Cape Town, South Africa. She left Cape Town on February 7 and, after 56 days at sea alone, safely pulled into Hobart, Tasmania on April 1.

"We had a fast overnight sail towards the southeast cape in rough seas and winds to 36 knots," Socrates wrote of her last day at sea. "We were often right on the edge but just managed to keep going — and what a great welcome soon after dawn! Sailing nicely, in less strong conditions, with Mewstone and Maatsuyker Islands in sight ahead, patches of blue sky above, rain well away in the distance— and a big school of large dolphins speeding toward the boat, to leap in twos and threes out of the water close by, to greet me to Tasmania and Australia! This is what landfall is all about — exhilarating. Couldn’t ask for better!"

Meanwhile, Annapolis sailor Matt Rutherford — who’s celebrating his 31st birthday today — is just days away from completing his record-setting nonstop solo circumnavigation of the Americas aboard his Albin Vega 27 St. Brendan. Rutherford left Annapolis on June 11, traversed the Northwest Passage, sailed down the west coast of the continent, turned the corner at Cape Horn and is now a couple hundred miles off the Carolina coast.

He’s expected to arrive in time for a party in his honor on April 14 at the National Sailing Hall of Fame dock in Annapolis, but as he noted in today’s blog post, "All in all I have no idea when I’ll get back. There is a low that will be coming off Hatteras in a few days that might become a gale. If it does it will be northerly and will probably push me backwards for 50-60 miles. Even if it doesn’t become a gale its going be hard going north against the wind. The long term forecast could change but right now it’s pretty bad. This trip will end when Poseidon says it will end and not a day sooner."

Both Socrates and Rutherford are trying to raise funds for charities close to their hearts: Marie Curie Cancer Care and Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating, respectively. Click the links above to donate to their causes, then check out each sailor’s blog — Nereida’s and St. Brendan’s — but don’t do it till you have some serious time to kill, because once you start, you won’t want to stop.