This week on the SHIPSHAPE podcast, we had the privilege of meeting the legendary British yachtswoman, Jeanne Socrates. Jeanne holds the record of being the oldest woman to have circumnavigated the world single-handed and is also the only woman to have circumnavigated solo non-stop from North America. Listen on and discover her remarkable stories from a truly unique and incredible career in sailing.

 

Transcript —-

Farah [00:00:00] Subscribe and leave a review for the Shipshape.Pro Podcast.

 

Merrill [00:00:05] Cast Today on a shipshape podcast, we have Jeanne Socrates, who is a professional sailor. She sailed around the world. She’s had quite an extensive career. How are you doing today?

 

Jeanne [00:00:29] Yeah, fine, thank you. But I need to correct you on the Professional, because I’m not a professional. I’m not being paid. I’m struggling to get any sponsorship. So basically, I’m kind of going around out of my own pocket and just doing what I enjoy doing, basically.

 

Ali [00:00:46] I find that shocking that you’d be struggling to get sponsorship. I mean, I’ll correct Merrill in that. I agree. I mean, I believe you’re a professional. But just to clarify, you’re the first woman to, you know, unassisted solo navigate around the world, also from North America, setting a world record. You’re the oldest woman to do so. If I’m correct.

 

Jeanne [00:01:13] That’s correct. But I also have an oldest person record still. Oh, wow. Because the oldest person. I’m the oldest person to sailed around the world for the five Great Capes. Nonstop, unassisted solo. So I still hold that record.

 

Ali [00:01:27] So I have quite a resume. And I don’t understand why everyone isn’t sponsoring you.

 

Merrill [00:01:32] But so, you know, I’ve looked at kind of a lot of the content you’ve put out and a lot of the articles that are about you. And from my understanding, you started in the early 1990s, but if I do that math out correctly, you started, what, in your late forties, early fifties?

 

Jeanne [00:01:52] Correct? Yes, that’s correct. I stepped onto a dinghy, did a little bit of dinghy saving. 48 and a few years in windsurfing, I really got into windsurfing and then 52 I first stepped onto onto a sailing yacht, so, you know, into my fifties when I just did a washing course.

 

Merrill [00:02:11] What were you doing before the whole boat adventure?

 

Jeanne [00:02:17] You mean working as a living?

 

Ali [00:02:18] Yeah. I’ve been to. I’ve been telling your forties when you started windsurfing and. And got on the boat.

 

Jeanne [00:02:24] Yeah, well, I’m a mathematician, so I was lecturing at a university for ten years, and I went into a high school to do a university entrance type examinations.

 

Merrill [00:02:35] What exactly was the, you know, the draw to get into boating, or were you looking for a hobby? Was this something that you were doing with your husband? You know? What was it?

 

Jeanne [00:02:46] Oh, cloudy by chance. Really? When I got into it, then I was actually at a high school and the it was a boys high school in England, London. And after the major exams at the end of the year, we’d spend a whole week. It’s called activities. We just whenever whatever anyone fancied doing, they take a group of boys and do that. So could be drama, could be rock climbing, could be sailing, could be anything, you know. And some of it in London and some of it elsewhere in England and a few in Europe. So the first couple of years I was there, I chose birdwatching. And then the after that I got into the sea, onto the sailing activity and water skiing at the same time. So I started sailing and skiing because I was hoping to keep an eye on the on the fly is also learning to do it. So that was pretty by chance and the seeding of ocean actually I really, really love them and just wanted to go on. So I then and my husband was able to kind of join me because he also hadn’t done this early in his life before. So we basically went through a lot of sailing courses. Any chance we got, we’d grab it and get on the water and make up for lost time, as it were. Really getting a lot of experience on boats because in England a lot of the boat near boating courses and sailing courses are actually practical On boats, it’s very little. It is some multiple choice kind of questions. In a classroom, you don’t do that. You get on the boat and sail from there and learn your theory as you go along. You can do the theory of how you really want to put a lot of the courses all on a boat. Practical? Absolutely fantastic.

 

Ali [00:04:23] I really enjoy it. I was listening to a couple of interviews that you did before, and I you said something along the lines of there was so much more to being on air than just sailing.

 

Jeanne [00:04:35] Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That really got got me. I mean, I thought I thought I mean, the first time I did it, I really did think it’s going to be boring because, you know, I did a lot of my sailing, my learning, my doing is eating out of the house and windsurfing as well. And I learned to sit and I went to and I as we came in on our lasers or whatever, you know, we’d see these people about to learn jump in a marina. So they’re just standing. Ground on dirt. You know, I thought that it was totally boring. But then when I actually got the chance to get on the yacht myself for the week of a competent crew course, it was cool. It was just amazing. We had really good weather, had a good instructor over in Solon. And, you know, you can you’ve got the sailing and you’ve got all the other stuff that you’re, you know, just I thought that was yeah, it is absolutely intriguing. I really loved it. So, yeah, I really, really took off from that.

 

Merrill [00:05:27] So at what point did you and your husband decide to, you know, wipe off the shackles of society, essentially, and, you know, quit your job and, you know, decide to start sailing? What was what was that mentality?

 

Jeanne [00:05:44] Well, the point is that we had we then went on for a year or two, you know, doing sailing courses or crabbing any kind of winter weekends. The same school was kind of just to get some income. So they put up some really cheap weekend sailing sessions. So we went on those quite a bit in the winter, which isn’t too bad in England. I mean, I think we did get through on time, but mostly not very, very deserted. So not many people out sailing, which is, you know, pretty good. And then we suddenly realized that both of us at the same time are facing the prospect of early retirement. My husband would be trying to go to anyway, You know, he was five years older than me, and I hadn’t been thinking about doing it. But then when I looked at the the way they were changing the scheme, you know, if he did retire, I suddenly realized that I’d be working four years and checking my intention for no financial gain. So I thought we’d done that and that’s not going to happen. So, you know, we both stay at the same time, which serves a pretty good, you know, fairly. He was five years old. I was ten years old. And so we took off. We you know, we’d been thinking about getting a second hand boat. And then with retirement, of course, you know, you get a lump sum with that. So we can start over. Maybe we can afford a new one. And then went to the boat show and there was one available that was already in bills. Someone had backed out of it. And so we ended up I finished work in July one day, July the third, I think from July the fourth. He flew out to Sweden to pick up the boat. And it’s just like that. It’s just fantastic.

 

Ali [00:07:18] I love it. I feel yeah, it sounds like I was meant to be. I mean, it just happened so naturally and like how cool that you could you could retire early. That makes sense. Yeah. You know.

 

Jeanne [00:07:31] Well, I mean, you know, obviously you income’s not what it would be if you went on, but I mean if you’re not enjoying your job as much as you had been, which is my situation and, and then you’re going to be taking off, you know, on your sailboat. You know, it’s a bit of a no brainer. You know, it doesn’t cost that much money. You’ve got the boat, you know, to actually go around sailing anywhere, you know, especially if you’re anchoring mostly you’re going to cost you, you know, a bit of food, maybe through customs clearances, maybe. But once you’ve got the boat, obviously that’s an expense. For once you’ve got it and set it up, then actually cruising around in it is a fairly inexpensive way of traveling.

 

Merrill [00:08:07] I feel that a lot of people have that idea, that dream of, you know, basically retiring relatively early and, you know, getting on a boat and sailing around the world. So what would be, you know, a piece of advice that you would give for that?

 

Jeanne [00:08:24] Oh, definitely get some experience sailing and also make sure that your boat’s fit and sturdy enough for unexpected storms and bad weather. You know, it’s one thing to have the dream and think it’s always going to be sorry, but it’s not always sunny. And you have to make sure that you’re going to be capable of doing things and also that the boat is going to stand up to the bad weather. So both of those things are pretty important.

 

Ali [00:08:47] I was kind of curious about after George passed away. I feel like that’s something a lot of women, at least that I’ve encountered in the sailing community, handle. It’s like losing their partners and trying to decide whether they want to keep on on their boat or not and in what capacity. And I’m curious as to, you know, what sort of led you to choose the path that you did it as opposed to going back on the land.

 

Jeanne [00:09:14] Wasn’t even in the offing. I mean, I didn’t consider stopping being on the boat for a moment. The only question was to, you know, could I manage it? Yeah. So you’ve got one of the ferries crossing the Georgia Strait coming into the into the U.S. harbor nearby. Yeah. So for me, it wasn’t a question of stopping, you know, to even think about stopping. It was a matter of, you know, could I managed to keep on and I felt I could because I knew I could stay on the boat. And it was a risk of being a bit worried about overnight passages by myself. Maybe I should have someone with me who wanted more safety for The View to keep watch all the time. I kept praising all the only solo sailors I met with. Just say, Well, why did you overnight? You know, that’s always a big question. But, you know, you learn. Experience. You get short catnaps or longer months if you’re lucky, and you know never to sleep. I know. 2 hours, maybe 3 hours, maybe. Normally anything from 20 minutes to an hour is more likely what you’re going to be sleeping. And then you’ve got hopefully air.

 

Ali [00:10:17] Right.

 

Jeanne [00:10:18] So it’s made things a lot safer because now you can put it on an alarm and you can see, you know, if something if someone should get close while you sleeping, you know, you get woken up. So, yes. So that so yes, it’s really, really help this thing behind us, that’s for sure.

 

Ali [00:10:32] So what if I was recently asked at a at a boat gathering by a woman who had recently lost her husband? She has like a 30 foot boat and she was terrified of single handling it. And she asked me, you know, what I would suggest to do? And I was like, okay, well, take I say I want I want, you know, find boats to race on. I tried to throw out any advice I could give, but to be honest, I’ve never single handed my 30 foot, but I’m confident I could. But, you know, is there something that you would like? I was I did. I wanted to be like, don’t give up. But is there something you know, you’re it sounds like the advice you’re giving is is obviously really valuable. But for more experienced people, what would you tell to people that are just kind of terrified to even continue on?

 

Jeanne [00:11:22] What I presume they’re terrified because they’ve actually not had the experience, otherwise they wouldn’t be terrified. You know, lack of knowledge is is is a quick path to being terrified of any any bad situation. And if they’ve had some experience. And the problem is that so often the man’s the captain and the wife or the partner is the galley slave or the admiral, which I hate, as a lot of people hate that. But anyway, so they’re not really, you know, they maybe weren’t the instigators, but I mean, you know, if someone’s enjoying being on the water and wants to continue that kind of lifestyle, then clearly the thing to do is, I mean, there are a lot of women’s groups now around the country, a lot of them. And so she can go, you know, to join the women’s group, get sailing, racing, anything at all to get sailing. And then with her boat with someone else, maybe on the boat or not doing anything, just pretend that she’s seeing or handing. But with someone there to jump to if they need to, just to help give a helping hand. Maybe, maybe just even just for talking. You know, that’s often the time that is a bit a bit difficult to have to figure out what to do with that. I mean, I normally I would normally when I’m docking in somewhere, obviously you want to stop the boat and that might take two or three attempts. But I mean, so well, you know, it’s not a problem. It’s a sign of a good mariner to realize that the first time isn’t working. Go back out and come in again. And having learned from the first attempt, you then make a better second attempt. So, you know, maybe there’s a comment, maybe this is disgusting round and you just have to practice it. And one of the things that we did, she was nice, both of us from our new boat, we found some docks were totally empty and all we did one day was go in and out, in and out, in and out, getting to know the boat and getting to sort out how to best Becka. And the same for me, you know, I mean, I had to. So I would normally I’ve got amidships fleet. That’s really very important. If you’re single, having that six feet is absolutely vital. I’ve got one, get one, get it. But then I step off the boat onto the dock. Notice that we never jump. Obviously. Correct before with three lines in my hand. I’ve got the button for this. I’ve got the amidships which ships fleet, and I’ve got a line from the boat. And the solution is in my hand as I step off so that whatever the boat is trying to do, if I can pull on that particular boat, we’re trying to get the ship’s crew to that line on first. Yeah, you know, I’ve had a few, you know, I’ve nearly lost the boat once or twice and just just managed to kind of get a reprimand, actually. So it can get pretty exciting sometimes. But, you know, that’s that’s what you’re aiming at. And so, yes, sometimes just literally go practice it, you know, over and over.

 

Ali [00:14:09] I absolutely agree with that. Bringing back to what you talking about, women in sailing. This is something that that I’ve been talking on about. But I’m curious as if you have any advice about how to empower women in sailing in the current climate. Do you think that, you know there’s equality there and where do you think we could grow and how do you think we can do that with sort of the groups that we’ve got going on and stuff like that?

 

Jeanne [00:14:38] Well, it’s definitely improving. I mean, there’s so many more women’s groups around and a lot of the time now, you know, you don’t get as much of the mature attitude from the men in sailing. I mean, it’s still there, obviously, but some 20 your you know, your with what kind of group of people with. So I mean if you aren’t comfortable with a group people just you know. Drop them and find some people that you do get on with and do enjoy being with. I think also the problem with cruising couples, especially their newish. You know, she has to think, okay. Something happens to my partner. God forbid I’ve got to be able to take over the boat and your partner is going to appreciate that. That can only come from being having experience at home, making decisions, looking at everything, looking at where they’re looking at. Everything, you know, is no good, hoping it will have no true when the time comes, you’ve got to learn. The both of both halves of the partnership have to appreciate that, you know, something happens to one of them. The other one just takes over equally.

 

Ali [00:15:38] Yeah, and that’s something I’m sort of struggled to figure out how to work on in our community, because half of me is like, there are plenty of women sailors out there doing this on their own, no problem. And then the other half of me is like, I meet these cruising couples where the woman doesn’t know how to drive the dinghy.

 

Jeanne [00:15:57] And then she gets terrified because when they hit store, because because she’s totally inexperienced in handling boats. So she doesn’t appreciate because she’s not into that scenario. She she doesn’t know that the boat is probably fine. You know, they just have to do certain things. Obviously, keep the boat safe, but there’s no boat, you know, they’re not going to sink just because they get sold. You know, so they do certain things. So she that’s why she has to go and do some dinghy sailing with somebody, actually get some dinghy and get to get, you know, what a boat can do because, you know, not only a big dinghy with winches, because you’ve got big, big sails.

 

Ali [00:16:36] Yeah. Mean, it’s like a cork in the ocean, you know, it’s meant to float.

 

Jeanne [00:16:41] Yeah.

 

Merrill [00:16:43] So, you know, obviously, one of the the big elephant in the room here is that you sailed around the world nonstop. Unassisted, which is already a mouthful. So what were you thinking when you decided to do this? Because it’s not something that, you know, sailing around the world is like one thing, right? That’s already kind of crazy. And I’m a sailor. I’m sitting there like, whoa, I, I don’t know if I can do that, but that nonstop. Unassisted. I’m wondering where that idea came from.

 

Jeanne [00:17:14] From the Volvo, from the van dike loop. And. And the McArthur going around Solar went around. Amazing me. I mean she you know what she did was just fantastic was following her every day and then the phone’s aglow with Sam DAVIES and decaf coffee in that particular one. That was when I was getting my this new boat organized. And I wasn’t thinking initially of doing a nonstop around. But when I saw them and with Ellen, you know, I kind of think, well, I’m just getting my boat. What am I going to do with my boat? This is the second one my new one want to have now. And I’m thinking, Oh, I wonder what it would be like to go nonstop. You know, it’s definitely a challenge, you know? So that was really what got me going. You know, seeing them thinking wouldn’t know, be something totally different, you know, let’s try it, see what happens, you know, see if I can manage it. And it was more I felt then. And I still feel it’s more a matter of the getting the boat around in one piece rather than. So I know if I could do it. I never had any problems with myself being on the boat, but getting the boat there was a big that happens. You’ve got to be ready for those and have all the tools and spares because you never know quite what big shoes are going to happen or some situations you’re going to be in. So again, I had my Jordan a stroke with the stormy weather. I had weather information, so I knew when storms were coming and which way to try to her to keep out of the worst of them. So yeah, how the information were being ready say it was basically the challenge of it you know could I couldn’t make it around you know they were doing it. So you know in theory if they can, I could I could lose my feeling.

 

Ali [00:18:53] But that must.

 

Jeanne [00:18:54] Be a challenge. And it would be a challenge. The, you know, very satisfying if I could do it. So that’s that’s really what got me going.

 

Ali [00:19:01] Well, you inspired me. Think.

 

Merrill [00:19:05] Did you find out anything like, about yourself during that trip? You know, it’s obviously a time of reflection.

 

Jeanne [00:19:14] Well, to an extent it is. I’d already found. I mean, when I you know, when my husband died, the boat was in Bonaire, in the Dutch Antilles, in the Caribbean. And then then I decided to get the boat around the Pacific to take part in a rally in DC, in British Columbia. So I had to get the boat around to Fort Lauderdale because I decided, you know, due to sea grounding along the way. So I was going to ship the boat around because at that time the Dollar Virgin exchange was really in my favor. And if I booked it four months in advance, I got a 20% discount. So I decided that and I then had the money. I think I might have just so showed. Also the money was there. So yes. So that was much how I got round to Pacific. And you can cover off the set if you’re Christian.

 

Ali [00:20:11] Like that Sounds like the mathematician, you know, because I know it’s not my strong suit and everything. I’m like, okay, you’re saving money for sure. I wanted to actually ask you a couple of other questions about being I’m sure I have just been super curious about this in general about what you keeping or ditch bag?

 

Jeanne [00:20:32] Oh my. But yeah, I’ve just been looking over my dick bag and sewing away some outdated flares. I just got just about everything in, you know? I mean, you’ve got to have you’ve got to assume, you know, okay, we’re leaving the boat. We’ve got to this is what we’re going to have everything we went out to cover. So I then put my passport and cards and, you know, important things like that into a real zippered bag bag and into into the ditch bag. If you take reading last quarter, you know, you just got to think very carefully what’s going to be in it and then also have some clothing ready, you know, just in case. So that each bag is some. Yeah. I mean, in my particular life I have shoot most already so I didn’t have to as I probably would put in a bit more high energy stuff and maybe a pot of water, but I knew I didn’t have to worry too much. Assuming that you’re going to get someone is going to find you in a few weeks.

 

Ali [00:21:26] Yeah, I never assume that. I mean, but I had incredibly large bag and.

 

Jeanne [00:21:34] Well, I think Is it. Yeah. I mean, so long as it’s a fruit, you want the eagles to stop, you got shoulder straps or something so you can have two hands free. Well if you still got it. No I’ve got a very good quite a big one, you know, not you and you just try and think of everything, you know. I’ve got my silver emergency blanketing thing. I’ve got a bendy chemical like 96. Yeah. Or just about, you know, just anything that you think there’s a lot of information about the things to make sure you don’t forget something nice reflect a mirror to reflect that to hope that someone might see it.

 

Ali [00:22:13] Think like the backpack straps. Somebody mentioned that to me. I was like, genius, because when you’re doing the book, you don’t usually have extra like limbs to go around. So to be able to strap that to yourself as a.

 

Jeanne [00:22:27] Yeah, I know. So it to be a bit floaty, you know, and also to have you have a PLB. So you want, you want people to know where you are.

 

Ali [00:22:35] Right?

 

Jeanne [00:22:36] And I’m going to wind a bit of wind up torch That’s pretty important. Oh, it’s about to disappear, but the wind up torch is quite good. So I can see what’s going on.

 

Ali [00:22:46] It’s sort of in the vein of things that you like. I had another question then is what is your favorite tool to have on board?

 

Jeanne [00:22:56] My favorite To have a board.

 

Ali [00:22:58] Yeah.

 

Jeanne [00:22:59] Oh, Lord. I’ve got jaws and lockers full of tools, you know, I’ve got so many I’ve got my soft through bag is really, really handy because it, it’s amazing how much stuff it takes and wrenches and so, so much so many different things and but one of my most useful ones and this is probably speaking as a woman now is I’ve got a little length of copper tubing which gives me an extension to any handle. So I’m trying to do something. I can make my lever a bit longer and maybe I’ll do something that I was struggling to do. So you just put the copper tube in. In my case, it’s a bit of water pipe. Just, you know, make sure it’s big enough is going to be a good inch or service in diameter and can add that into something. And just to give a bit more leverage and it’s amazing how sometimes it really does work. So that’s that’s pretty you know, I wouldn’t go anywhere without that, to be honest.

 

Ali [00:23:56] That’s incredibly informative. I never thought about that.

 

Jeanne [00:24:00] Yeah.

 

Merrill [00:24:01] I’ve read a lot of your content that you put out there and it seems like you truly know the definition of boat being like it’s repairs all the time and upkeep and all of that. And I mean, you’ve replaced engines, you’ve essentially learned how to become a mechanic, a sail repair, rigging, you know, everything.

 

Jeanne [00:24:22] Yeah. Electrician. Yeah, Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You’ve got, you’ve got to assume that, you know, anything on the boat that’s there can break down any time. So have you got the shoes. Have you got everything you need. You know, sometimes a mechanic comes to, to do something on the engine and he’s got to searching for some wrench or something that he hasn’t got. And what are you looking for? Invariably, I have it because I’ve got a really, you know, because you learn from the experience. You know, as things break down, you suddenly realize you need a tool. So in fact I go browsing in the in the two shops, you know, in the hardware stores I go browse. I want to see what else new is come up. And it’s amazing what you find. Oh, my gosh. That’s you know, you use that.

 

Ali [00:25:06] Yeah, I’ve noticed some advertising lately and flying and directly towards men. And I’m like, I could spend hours in Home Depot as well and looking at the new stuff that’s come out.

 

Jeanne [00:25:17] Yeah, absolutely. And then the other things are vital, are having loads and those are all different Islam tying it from tiny to ginormous cable ties, zip ties and tapes of all kinds and debilitate and yeah, so some of the simple stuff is really vital.

 

Ali [00:25:35] Yeah, the simple stuff can be the most useful. Absolutely. Mhm.

 

Merrill [00:25:38] Well I’ve looked at your boat online on your website and it seems like you are stacked with equipment. So do you have like a ton of manuals? Just.

 

Jeanne [00:25:49] Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean I never in fact I’m having a chance to, to put in now I’m going to have to replace a lot of my instruments and the guy turned up with a, I think I was expecting the box. It was just reminding myself, you know, I’ve got to say to them, there was a there was a bit of paper or a leaflet in that box. So I think I would like to have that. That’s all about my the transducer. So now you’ve got to make sure you’ve got every piece of paper about anything you’ve got on the boat because you know, that’s the you know, that’s the gospel, that’s what tells you exactly what you know, what you’re going to do or what size things are. All it’s got over the years. Useful information and it’s got the contact information. Of course, when you can’t when you’re back on land and you want to get it. So pieces for it. Yeah. Very important. I’ve got manual. Oh my gosh I’ve got a whole area I’m trying to seeing. I’ve probably got a dozen big folders in off about different parts of the boat and I’ve got an engine, the engine workshop manual. That’s right. Well, you know, if you are using an engine, I mean, how I could I would change changed injectors all the way up to situ after my oh 60 graduate transfer race. Would never have done it without the workshop manual, you know, But I had the tools as well, pretty important. And I happened to have the injectors. So when I talk to my fuel and certainly my engine was working with, I wanted it to after three days, I think it might have been three, maybe more, three days of effort, getting a few things. You know, I got the engine working pretty, pretty good at that. Proud of that. It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Merrill [00:27:22] So you certainly have a interesting perspective because you’ve been sailing so long and there’s been a lot of technology that has changed in the industry. Has that made it more difficult, you know, to repair all of these things or.

 

Jeanne [00:27:37] That, whoa, there’s more, you know, black boxes on the electronics side, of course. So you tend to have a backup. I mean, I’ve got for instance, on the water card, I’ve got a display down below and I’ve got a display up in the cockpit. But I’ve also fortunately got the as well. I’d say fortunately, this is foresight. Again, got a spare a spare control head so that when my complete system went down, coming back up the Pacific last time, I was able to, but I’m of the autopilot independent of everything else into the course computer. And you know, because I had the wire nice long bit of wire and I had to hedge so I was able to take it up to the cockpit or down below, wherever I was, I had it with me and I thought it was work. So, you know, that’s pretty handy because at that moment when steering wasn’t working, it was that or sit at the wheel or going to, you know, you go very far when you have to.

 

Merrill [00:28:32] So I guess the moral of the story is always have backups of everything.

 

Jeanne [00:28:36] Oh, yeah. Backup backups of backups absolutely is three layers almost. You’ve got the only sum, you’ve got a backup and you’ve got at least one more backup. Where Myles is has got two arms there already so that when one goes down I just switch over to the other one and then I’ve actually got a complete system. So if both of those fails, I can always take one out and the other. And so yeah, instruments, yeah, you’ve got to be ready. But it’s ferocious. Yeah. His point is also, I mean some of the new people coming, I mean, you know, because I was in the Caribbean for four or five years in Boston and we see some of these charters come out in the states and they had absolutely no clue anything, even new coaches, they assumed that wherever they were, they’d be someone they could call on to come and fix the problem for them. Just that just happened right right there. A lot of the places, most of the places that does not happen, if you’re lucky, it might. Mostly it doesn’t. So therefore, you’ve got to be independent. You’ve got to be self reliant.

 

Ali [00:29:39] Absolutely.

 

Jeanne [00:29:40] Hmm.

 

Ali [00:29:42] In a slightly different note, I was also wondering if you believe in any sailing superstitions.

 

Jeanne [00:29:51] I’ve often gone off on a Friday and afternoon, so I do that. Supposing I was inside and certain comes around actually. So I. Totally, totally not. She was superstitious about it. And in fact, I’ve had people kind of screaming at me, Oh, my God, you got bananas on board and so on.

 

Ali [00:30:10] It’s funny you mention that, because Meryl and I both agreed before for this interview. Neither of us will keep bananas on our roads and in our store.

 

Jeanne [00:30:20] You know why they do? They’re quite nice to have. Make a quick meal.

 

Ali [00:30:24] Right? Yeah, well, apparently, redheads are bad luck on birds, and I am right here, so.

 

Jeanne [00:30:29] Well, according to the men, so are women, you know, So traditionally they wouldn’t have women on board.

 

Ali [00:30:34] Right.

 

Jeanne [00:30:35] There we go. We’re just turning all these ideas upside down.

 

Ali [00:30:38] I guess I can keep bananas on my boat again.

 

Jeanne [00:30:41] I reckon you could make a very good banana bread. Or you can even make banana beer. How about that?

 

Ali [00:30:46] Oh, really?

 

Jeanne [00:30:47] Oh, yeah. Anything, anything. Anything biological you can make into. You know, the theory is, if you really want you to buy that one.

 

Ali [00:30:56] I suppose that’s something you figure out, I’m sure.

 

Jeanne [00:30:59] Yeah. I mean, I’ve never been to have to say, but some I have heard of actually doing it because, you know, they’ve taken the whole hand of bananas and I say they don’t last long, so they’ve kind of been desperately making banana bread and this suddenly and then suddenly they think, Oh, just try banana beer.

 

Ali [00:31:14] I hope they’re voyages turned out okay. So another thing that I wanted to bring up, curiosity, is because of all the stuff that people face you’ve faced, I’ve faced offshore what your relationship with fear is like.

 

Jeanne [00:31:30] Um, Rarely do I feel frightened of inaction. Probably I get a bit worried about things, but that’s not the same as here. You know, you get worried because you can see there’s a situation developing. And so then you make sure to make sure that you’re ready for when it gets really bad. And so that’s a good segue in a way, You know, I mean, you know, you’d be stupid if you didn’t get worried about certain situations. But then the thing is, okay, what do you do about it? You don’t let your emotions overcome you. You just get on with what you have to do to make sure you stay safe. So it’s pretty important. You know, prioritizing is very important when things get nasty.

 

Merrill [00:32:10] So kind of going off that what exactly makes a good sailor.

 

Jeanne [00:32:14] Staying calm and thinking through the which I have to do first. You know, I say prioritizing is pretty important. A lot of things need doing. What’s the most important thing to do first, staying safe, having a place in your cushy job. Well, so that situations. Yeah I think you know, preparing the boat is really valuable as well as being ready yourself, because once you take off, you see you’ve become a mariner, you’ve got certain obligations to everyone else around you. You can’t just ignore the collision regulations. You know, you, you go at sea and you know, you’ve got other people around you at times and you’ve got to make sure that you do the right thing and don’t confuse them or doing the wrong thing. That’s when disasters happen.

 

Ali [00:32:57] Yeah. Can you think of the last time you were in a situation where you didn’t know what to do and what you did and that.

 

Jeanne [00:33:05] I don’t think you know, I think, you know, obviously when the weather gets bad, you’re trying to reduce sail and trying to stay safe. When the worst comes, the worst you could have put at risk of stroke or whatever your failsafe, your safe safety device is. I mean, I’ve have to several times just to just to get a rest or do something when things haven’t been too bad. But the Jordan Syria stroke has been absolutely amazing. It just makes you feel so safe in really nasty conditions, you know, when it’s gusting 60 knots or whatever, and you’ve got ginormous seas, it’s really good to know that the joke is keeping you safe. Yeah, So that’s a pretty important thing.

 

Ali [00:33:50] That’s a very calming response.

 

Merrill [00:33:53] So, you know, obviously because you’re, you know, a big name in the sailing community, there’s a lot of people that look up to you. But who do you admire and who are the people that you looked up to when you were, you know, starting out this journey?

 

Jeanne [00:34:07] Oh, because without a doubt that, you know, getting the speed record around the world, what she went through and the sleep deprivation that she conquered and kept going. No. And and it’s lovely to see Discovery and Sam DAVIES and people, you know, sitting around in the sun globe completing and, you know, showing that, yeah, we’re women. So what? You know, we can still compete and get a good place. Yeah, that’s really, you know, I mean, obviously, you know, people are having it tough then and they’re surviving despite it. Yeah, that’s good. You know, and again it’s because yeah, they prepared the boat, they prepared themselves, They, you know, the important thing for anyone starting boating or cruising, let’s say anywhere going offshore is you just you’ve got to think of the worst possible scenario and assume, well, there is a chance it could happen. So have I got the boat ready for the. Am I ready for that? How about I decided if this should happen, what would I actually do? So you’ve got to. You’ve kind of been through this scenario in your mind’s eye, ready for when it happens. Otherwise, yeah, it could be a disaster if you thought about it and you’ve got things on the boat, you decided what you would do. You know, you’re not going to just call me and expect someone to come and save you. That’s the last thing you want to do, is you should be independent, you should be self-reliant and get everything ready in advance. Think about it. But it’s partly also the docking thing. So many times people say, Oh, you’ve got to come in and get it the first time. Absolute nonsense. You know, I mean, I’ve come in, I think three or four times. One time one of the times I was coming in to talk with people on it and they were telling me, Oh, so we’ve changed your plan. You’ve got to put your fingers in line the other side. But you’ve had a part. I mean, I if I go into somebody that I don’t know and I’m not sure where I’m going or I’ve got lines and fenders on both sides of the boat, obviously, because you don’t know, you’ve got to be ready. You know, you think you might be coming in months on this. Suddenly it changes. The wind is not the same and it’s much easier to come in on the other side if there’s a side of veritable, you know, come in that way, just get to your boat. Yeah. We ready for everything?

 

Ali [00:36:09] Yeah. There’s no. I think you have to put your ego aside. It really doesn’t matter. Being prepared is.

 

Jeanne [00:36:15] What I say. It’s not an ego thing either. It’s being a good sailor, recognizing the boat, you know, you’re coming into dock and suddenly things aren’t quite the way you thought they were. Because, you know, maybe the wind or the town is changing. No new hinterland. And so you have the sense you have the sense to say, okay, things are not quite the same. We realize what they are. Go back out and think about it. I mean, I was coming in actually, I came in to Key West from is the Mercator’s, you know, came across Cuba and came to Cuba. So Secretary Rice by myself on the boat. And I was I had my charts. I had my you know, it was night time and I had a torch to do to deal with or I had to do what happened with the charting. But I was looking at a paper of the now I know it was not appropriate, but you come into Key West at night and they were like sort of the place, all different colors, red, green and not sure lights. So I was just coming up to the fairway buoy at the beginning of a convoluted entrance in. And of course, you know, if you don’t get into the channel, you’re going to be aground. It’s pretty shallow either side. And I suddenly realized, you know, this was not going to happen. So I actually went right out again, had a good look at the chart, put my pencil and paper together, you know, as I’d been taught in my utmost of courses, you know, get the essentials of what you need to know. What’s the what’s the course going to be to the next light? What’s, you know, look at your compass and see, okay, now I’m I know I’m on course for now. You can find the moment you’re aiming for in about in the in among the myriad of sites that are there. And then when you get to there, you have now again, you’ve got a very clear little diagram showing exactly what to do. I came in to Key West by myself at night, you know, juggling the torch and the rain and my bit of paper. There was a couple of behind me who were taking I was advising them as to what I was finding because I was ahead of them. And there was a dredger in the way, of course, at one point and I ended up anchoring safely and I warned them about a particular left hand, you know, ports of port hand bend in the, in the channel which if they missed they go aground and what did the couple do. So they ran aground. I you know, because they just weren’t looking. They said to me how did you manage it? But we didn’t. I said, Well, I think I probably file a piece of paper with my pencil. Just I want is what saved me going out and realizing there was no way I was going to get it. My if I kept on going, it was just too confusing. So get yourself a plan of action and stick to it. Makes it easy. If you know you’re looking at zero and you’re going to see a light, you know what color it is all all flashing for you can see it’s got. So you’re going to find it if you’re heading directly for it. If you’re not sure where it is, you’re looking for it. You never going to see it in the morning or the overnight.

 

Merrill [00:39:11] So, you know, I know it’s hard to try to pull out one story out of such a resumé, but what would be you know, one of the the more interesting stories that you have that you’ve experience, either like beauty or, you know, nervousness or anything like that.

 

Jeanne [00:39:30] Well, I could answer you when I was really worried about coming down to Cape Horn this last time. Well, I think all three times what comes on to Cape Horn does invariably some nasty seas and weather. And so that was a real bother, you know, just praying and saying, bring it down. Maybe the conditions will ease and then suddenly realizing that maybe, you know, you just can’t keep it. Businesses are coming onto your beam and getting pretty nasty. You might get struck by pieces hard, so you just have to run downwind. If you’ve got sea room that’s so important. If you’ve got plenty of sea, that’s what I like being off shore. You’ve got no rocks to hit and you’ve got you’ve got plenty of sea room. So if you want to suddenly change course, that’s the safest thing to do in the conditions. You can do it. You know, it is no problem. There’s no one around you, there’s nothing around you. So that’s really good. So there’s that side of things. The other thing that I have to say, I really believe it now says to me, What’s one of your most memorable bits of a passage? I have to say, this last time coming on Cape Horn was just amazing. I had a really you know, I’ve had pretty nasty weather coming down to it for a couple of weeks following us, but actually coming down to the horn itself, that day was a beautiful sail. And then I came across the horn. It was beautiful, which was night. And so it didn’t get dark. And I could actually see I thought I wasn’t going to see it. There’s a white flashing light, but I see the light. But I didn’t realize I would actually see the outline of the horn itself. So that was pretty memorable. Pretty impressive.

 

Merrill [00:41:07] What’s the biggest CS you’ve ever seen?

 

Jeanne [00:41:10] Always difficult to gauge Seas. I kind of compare with a multistory building and try to gauge whether I’m on the fourth floor or the fifth floor when I’m at the top of a wave and looking down into the trough. So then I work. I reckon I’m working in nature, as I’m saying. Okay, roughly ten meters. So I saw two feet high room. How many times that? Four or five, 50 feet, something like that. So you know, that’s how I work it out as best I can. It’s very, very difficult. Yeah. They can do it. I mean so we say well spaced out there. Okay. It’s pretty impressive. Mind you. You kind of see the steep sea face coming towards you to the stern. And, you know, we get a timer and we do, you know, the boot doors. And just pretty impressive to see what’s happening.

 

Ali [00:41:59] I think it’s pretty telling that you started with the fourth or fifth story of a building. A lot of people are starting to hit at ground level, you know, But I agree that’s a good way to measure it.

 

Jeanne [00:42:14] No, I say I really love it when people tell me they’re continuing sailing when maybe they were just thinking of stopping or they’re being told they should stop and some or they’re just starting out and they want to go sailing. And yes, you know, you just get to do all the right things, you know, get get some experience, get the right boat, make sure she’s in good, she’s in a good state. And I love it when people say that by watching me doing what I’ve done, it gives you the feeling that, yeah, they can do this, you know, so we should be doing it. It makes me feel as though I’m doing something really useful. You know.

 

Ali [00:42:45] You have this world experience where just listening to you, I mean, I can do this. I will try to do this excellently.

 

Jeanne [00:42:53] Yeah, You’re just going to want to do it right? So many people say they could do what I did. Yeah, of course you could. If you wanted to do it, you’d make it happen. If you’re not harming anyone, why not make it happen? Absolutely. Go ahead.

 

Ali [00:43:05] I want to.

 

Jeanne [00:43:06] Yeah, that’s it. Go for it.

 

Merrill [00:43:08] I feel like it’s an interesting dynamic. You know, it’s like a lot of people have, like, careers and so they’re like, Oh, I need to work and, you know, I need to have enough money to be able to do it. And, you know, it’s finding that balance that I feel like it’s a pretty difficult thing to do.

 

Jeanne [00:43:23] Yeah, but I think, you know, when you’re coming up to when you’re actually not able to take the time out to do it, in the meantime, you’re just getting the practice in and getting the experience. So you’re you’re getting ready for the big day when it comes.

 

Ali [00:43:35] I think having that positive outlook, that’s what I have noticed about every question you’ve answered is like or trying to dig up the bad stuff and you’re like, Well, not good. Like I’m ready, I’m prepared. You know, look at the bright side. Focus on, you know, what you know, and you don’t have to worry. And that is such a valuable piece of advice.

 

Jeanne [00:43:58] But it’s so important. It’s like these women are getting worried, you know, or frightened because they’re hitting a storm. But, you know, if if you know, the boat’s prepared and you know that you’re prepared for the possibilities and the boat, you just trust your boat, you know, it will go up to you. You know, you’ve got to have faith in your boat. MCNERNEY Have faith in your boat. You know that It’s a good one. And you prepared it.

 

Ali [00:44:21] Yeah, Well, and yourself, you have to, you know, to trust yourself. That’s the boat. It’s like.

 

Jeanne [00:44:25] Yeah, just stay calm, do what you have to do and you’ll be fine. You know, it takes a lot to make a boat sink, you know, especially in the middle of the ocean, You know, it’s nothing.

 

Ali [00:44:34] Take it easy to tell people that. But, you know.

 

Jeanne [00:44:39] I feel safer out in the ocean than I do in that I have to kind of think about, oh, it’s not so much the carefully in which I avoid staff and, you know, being out in the middle of the ocean with there’s no one else. There is way, way safer.

 

Ali [00:44:52] I am.

 

Merrill [00:44:53] So do you get seasick at all or.

 

Jeanne [00:44:57] No, I’m very lucky. No, I don’t get seasick.

 

Ali [00:45:00] That must be nice. I get very I think people have this assumption that if you like, if you’re a sailor, you just don’t. But I’m trying to be a proponent for people. It’s okay if you do. You can still be a sailor.

 

Jeanne [00:45:15] But the thing is, you know, have you have you been at sea for many days? Do you find that after a day or two or three it goes?

 

Ali [00:45:21] No, no. I think that I’ve struggled with it immensely. I actually now I take it’s like a chemotherapy medication. You can only you can’t get it in the States. You can only get it in Bermuda and I think in South America, that how.

 

Jeanne [00:45:36] That works.

 

Ali [00:45:38] It doesn’t get tired. You know, it doesn’t make you all of a sudden.

 

Jeanne [00:45:42] Because a lot of cruises do have you get seasick. I mean, I know lots of people who cruise regularly and they do get seasick for a day or two, maybe three, but they know that eventually it will stop. So therefore, they’re enjoying that. They’re enjoying the cruise too much not to keep going. So they just put up with it, you know. But obviously, they’re not. We’re doing the cooking in the meantime.

 

Ali [00:46:01] Yeah, I’ve been in too many situations where I’ve had to go down to check the bills or something. It’s been myself and one other person and I.

 

Jeanne [00:46:09] Just said, Oh.

 

Ali [00:46:10] Yeah, I know what’s going to happen. And I was like, Never again. I will be. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Jeanne [00:46:16] You know, you you’ve got to accept the situation and what you’ve got to do for the best and do it.

 

Ali [00:46:20] So I think we’re going to jump into our final little rapid fire quick drop thing. And I think I can guess some of your answers at this point. But, Marilyn, I’m just going to fire these questions at you. And then, you know, if there’s not a yes or no answer, you could say whatever else you like. So I’ll start with. Sailboat or powerboat.

 

Jeanne [00:46:49] Sailboat.

 

Merrill [00:46:49] Diesel or gas.

 

Ali [00:46:51] Diesel outboard or.

 

Jeanne [00:46:55] No. Yeah. Well, you’ve got to have always knew about something.

 

Merrill [00:47:02] Sweet or salty.

 

Jeanne [00:47:03] Salty.

 

Ali [00:47:04] Summer or winter.

 

Jeanne [00:47:06] Oh, that’s a difficult one. Yeah, I know. Both.

 

Merrill [00:47:12] Thin keel or full keel.

 

Jeanne [00:47:13] I’ve been a long, thin keel. So she’s between long keel and thinking. Oh, sorry. I’m hearing it now. Yeah. So you said skin care along keel, didn’t you? So I go for long thin. That’s what I’ve got. My boat is a good compromise.

 

Ali [00:47:27] It is. Okay. Cats or dogs?

 

Jeanne [00:47:30] Dogs.

 

Merrill [00:47:31] Center cockpit or aft?

 

Jeanne [00:47:33] Cockpit center. Go up to it. Mm.

 

Ali [00:47:36] Sunrise or sunset.

 

Merrill [00:47:38] Those whales are dolphins.

 

Jeanne [00:47:41] Oh, dolphins are gorgeous. But, you know, I like to see what else. But dolphins are great.

 

Ali [00:47:45] Nature or nurture.

 

Jeanne [00:47:48] Probably same nature, actually.

 

Merrill [00:47:50] After birth or rebirth.

 

Jeanne [00:47:52] Um, mostly for as a North American thing, we both, we say for people in Europe and yeah, well, I’ve been off to cabin so you know my for I don’t think you’d want to go traveling very fine that season the Falkland right before.

 

Ali [00:48:13] Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope.

 

Jeanne [00:48:15] Black hole kangaroo because hope is very very dramatic mind you.

 

Ali [00:48:19] But I thought they were.

 

Jeanne [00:48:22] Well yeah I think probably cape I do the difference both dramatic aren’t they look good for the horn you’re far more likely to get five weather I mean I’ve been on Cape with Hope several times and come with a pleasant more than just occasionally but it not it’s not the cape of storms they call it it’s not really Cape of Good Hope. Cape Horn. Yeah that’s the cape. The storm’s.

 

Merrill [00:48:47] Kangaroo or koala.

 

Jeanne [00:48:49] Call is a 3:00.

 

Ali [00:48:52] Flathead or Phillips.

 

Jeanne [00:48:54] Oh, should it? So I’d rather have a talk show. A square? Mm hmm. Between those. Yeah. Phillips. Except, mind you, I was trying to undo a little screw with only about a centimeter half an inch, but it’s and half an inch below it. And it was a Phillips, and I didn’t have anything. Right. Angled shortness, so I was wishing it was a subject wrong, you know, because then you could actually get a knife or something into it. One do it. No Vice grips came to the rescue.

 

Ali [00:49:22] Via scraps of.

 

Merrill [00:49:24] Paper chart or digital.

 

Jeanne [00:49:26] Paper.

 

Ali [00:49:26] Sunglasses or binoculars.

 

Jeanne [00:49:29] So I’ve got to have sunglasses. Everyone should have sunglasses because otherwise you’re done with your eyes.

 

Merrill [00:49:34] Stainless or bronze.

 

Ali [00:49:36] Stainless extra steel or extra water.

 

Jeanne [00:49:39] From the actual watering.

 

Merrill [00:49:41] So over pen or pencil.

 

Jeanne [00:49:43] And so.

 

Ali [00:49:44] Robin Knox, Johnson or Bernard, my trusty.

 

Jeanne [00:49:48] Plotter, see, every time.

 

Ali [00:49:49] Oh, my gosh. Me too. I mean, Robin school.

 

Merrill [00:49:53] Awesome. Well, it was amazing to get to talk to you and here kind of, you know. Some interesting points of all the experiences that you’ve had. I mean, certainly it’s impossible to encompass all of that. You’ve had like multiple lives, essentially. So how can people find you and and read about you and hear what you’re doing?

 

Jeanne [00:50:12] Well, I’ve got a website which is the name of my boot history, the writer I in the middle, and I’m on YouTube. I think that’s under my name, actually. That’s on Jejune Sort, which is on Facebook, on Instagram or on Twitter. So I’m trying to get I’ve got lots of pictures going moment. I’m trying to put quite a few YouTube videos up and comments about all of the things on the page on the boot. Because if you name something on a boat, that’s probably something I’m repairing. It’s a long list of things to do.

 

Ali [00:50:41] And then you said you have you’re working on the book going solo, and that should be out next year.

 

Jeanne [00:50:46] Yeah, I hope so. Yeah. Should be finished by this year. And the plan is to get it published well before next September. So going solo will be the title here.

 

Ali [00:50:55] Very exciting. I look forward to reading it.

 

Jeanne [00:50:58] Thank you.

 

Merrill [00:50:59] Well, thank you for letting us talk to you and.

 

Ali [00:51:02] We really appreciate your time. It was it was great to connect with you again.

 

Jeanne [00:51:06] Okay. Thank you and enjoy sailing. Evening.

 

Ali [00:51:10] Thanks a lot.

 

Jeanne [00:51:11] Cheers.

 

Farah [00:51:25] Check back every Tuesday for our latest episode and be sure to like, share and subscribe to shipshape. Doc Pro. Doc Pro.