>It’s been a while since I last wrote about Jessica Watson, the young Australian Girl that sailed around the world, returning just a few weeks ago. It seems that Jess has been hard at work, and was while she sailed aboard Ella’s Pink Lady, writing her book which is now scheduled to be available in August.
Her new book True Spirit sounds like it will be a fun read and I for one will have to get a copy.
You can check out more of what she has been up to by going to this link. And some more detail about her book, True Spirit is here.
As any self respecting 16 year old solo circumnavigating sailor would do, Jess filmed a promotional video for her book in the middle of the Indian Ocean that I found on YouTube.
The book, according to her website…
“she details the extensive preparation she and her team made for the big voyage, her journey and the battles she fought along the way – against sleep deprivation, gale-force winds, mountainous seas and the solitude most of us can only imagine. When she sailed back into Sydney Harbour on 15 May 2010, after 210 days at sea, she was cheered in by a huge crowd that included Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. To many, Jessica was our newest hero. She disagreed, saying she wasn’t a hero, “just an ordinary girl who had a dream and worked hard at it and proved that anything is possible”. This is her story. About Jessica: Jessica was born on 18 May 1993 on Australia’s Gold Coast. She left Sydney Harbour on her quest to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world on 18 October 2009 and arrived home triumphant seven months later. “
Further, somewhat random, details about her voyage are…
Some facts from the book:
• Jessica sailed more than 24,000 nautical miles in seven months
• Her favourite meal on the journey was steak & kidney pie heated in the onboard pressure cooker
• She suffered six knockdowns (when the mast goes underwater) during her journey, including four in one particularly bad storm off the Falkland Islands during 70-knot winds and 10m waves
• Jessica took with her 32 tins of spam, 150l of milk, 64 tins of potatoes and 160 popper drinks
Meanwhile, Abby Sunderland, another teen trying to sail around the world, had her voyage meet an unhappy end with her boat Wild Eyes was dismasted during a storm in the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, Abby was rescued by a fishing boat and will take several weeks to find her way home. She says that she is writing a book too. I’ll bet she is, and it should be an interesting to read given all of the difficulties that she encountered along the way.
Now, all I have to do is to find another sailing voyage to follow. Any suggestions?