Fast-moving Typhoon gives teen sailor a fright
by CHRISTINE KELLETT
With more than 10,000 nautical miles of ocean still stretching ahead of her, Jessica Watson has had plenty of time for contemplation.
But the intrepid teen, who reached the half-way mark in her history-making world solo sail bid last week, says her thoughts have been with the people of earthquake ravaged Haiti.
From her tiny pink yacht in the Southern Atlantic, Jessica said she had been keeping abreast of the disastrous situation unfolding north of her in the Caribbean.
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"I can't imagine what it must be like for the survivors and for everyone working with aid organisations in what sounds like horrific conditions," she wrote on her blog yesterday.
"My thoughts and good wishes are with them. It's great to hear about all the support pouring in for them from all around the world."
The 16-year-old rounded the tip of Cape Horn last Thursday and received a flying visit from parents Julie and Roger, who circled overhead in a plane.
Earlier this week, she was also treated to a flyover by a British RAF Typhoon fighter jet while drifting off the coast of the Falkland Islands, giving the teen "quite a fright" over her breakfast.
Jessica's safe passage past the southernmost tip of South America was a significant achievement for the Buderim schoolgirl, owing to the region's treacherous waves, strong winds, currents and icebergs.
She said her 10-metre sloop, Ella's Pink Lady, was holding up well to the conditions, despite three months at sea.
"I'm totally thrilled at how great Pink Lady is looking," she said.
"It's great to have come this far with so few signs of wear and tear."
The young adventuress said she was now trying to refocus after conquering "the Everest of ocean sailing".
"With Cape Horn being the subject of all my attention for so long, it's strange now to refocus and start thinking ahead to the rest of the voyage and the other milestones along the way.
"Even though it's all been very exciting and a total novelty, I'm also glad to again be clear of land and the shipping that comes with it. It's nice to be able to settle back into some sort of vague attempt at a routine and to be able to sleep better knowing that it's just Ella's Pink Lady and I again."
Jessica is hopes to complete her 23,000-nautical mile quest and be back on land in Australia before her 17th birthday on May 18, which would make her the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world unassisted.
She says she will use the current leg of her journey - from Cape Horn to the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa - to rest after months of tough sailing.
She departed from Sydney on October 18, two weeks after hitting a coal freighter on a test sail off North Stradbroke Island, sparking an inquiry.
"As the voyage is non-stop I won't be pulling into port, so calmer seas and refuge behind land will feel like a holiday,'' she said of the coming weeks.
CHRISTINE KELLETT
