The going's about to get tougher for Jean

Good old sea dogette Jeanne Socrates is doing well on her circumnavigation bid, though a little more slowly now as she edges into what I found to be the wildest part of the wildness of the deep south, around Antarctica.

The 76-year-old passed notorious old Cape Horn the other day, has passed Falklands, and is edging out into the southern South Atlantic.

Wise gal, she is aiming for a gentler latitude for the lift in the Westerlies towards the sea off Cape of Good Hope.

Jeanne's ambition is to win these two accolades. She hopes to be the oldest woman to sail solo non-stop unassisted around the world ...

An unusual route

A n d to be the first woman to sail solo non-stop unassisted around the world from North America.

Jean’s doing this attempt at passing the Horn by an unusual route.

Like most Cape Horner aspirants, I sailed from the West Country, out to the North Atlantic, and south to the Roaring Forties, and round.

Usually where Jeanne is at the moment, the skipper would turn left and return to Britain.

Unusually, Jean began her voyage from America’s Pacific coast, so that her first major trial was to pass the Horn itself.

For most of us, of course, Cape Horn is the last really major hurdle. We could say that Jean's different route means she is still fresh - more or less - for battles with the oceans after she rounded the Horn.

A sigh of relief

For the rest, we’ve struggled right around the world before come to that potentially mighty encounter with wicked old Cape Horn, down at the bottom of the Americas, at 60 degrees South.

I must say I breathe a considerable sigh of relief as I see Jeanne’s northerly heading. … Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com