Jessica Watson is just 1,000 miles away from finishing her record setting journey sailing around the world by herself. At the age of 16 she will be the youngest person to ever do it and will go down in the record books. On October 18, 2009 she set sail, on her bright pink boat Ella’s Pink Lady, out of Sydney Harbour (Australia) and she is expected to be back there in the next few weeks. Along the way, in between storms and waves, she has found time to blog and record video diaries which you can see at her website. Check them out when you get a chance and you can follow her journey with maps and a timeline of her adventure.
She has been out there all by herself just sailing and soaking in the sun but in no way has it been a vacation. Rough seas have battered her all along the way. Seven times she has had the boat knocked down on its side in the water by a severe storm but has recovered and kept on sailing. She has battled 30′ swells and anything else the oceans have thrown at her, all by herself with no help from anyone and only the fish to keep her company. Along the way her parents have kept up with her via email and chat as well as flying over to see with their own eys that she made it through various stages.
It is amazing to think of what she has been doing the past few months and what we have been doing. On Christmas and New Years she was preparing to go past Cape Horn which has killed many sailors over the centuries. When we were all celebrating our love on Valentine’s Day, she was just about to pass the Prime Meridian. When we were paying our taxes she was just getting to Cape Leeuwin in Australia and experiencing some of the worst weather of her entire journey.
Now it’s down to the end and it looks like she will get in well ahead of schedule and before her 17th birthday. Keep an eye out because in the coming days you will hear more about her when she finally does complete the voyage and her record will be complete. Don’t expect it to last extremely long though, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland set sail in January so I would imagine this one will be broken by some adventurous kid in the next few years.
Most of us have a hard time getting through a regular work week without needing a little something from someone else. She’s sailing around the entire world. Wow.
