True Spirit Review

This is Jessica's story of how she came to be sailing around the world on her own at the young age of 16.

If you had a teenage daughter - would you let her go off and sail around the world on her own? Probably not.

But if you knew this was her dream since she was 12 years old and that she had been sailing since she was 9 and had spent the last 4 years training and preparing for this journey, then would you still allow her to do this? That depends on how mature she is? You decide. .

Well for anyone who is as focused on this dream as Jessica was, the training and preparation would more likely give you that maturity. Jessica did not have time to play with dolls, or spend time talking to her friends about fashion and boys. She didn't have many friends anyway. Jessica spent a lot of her free time at a local restaurant washing dishes, to earn money for her trip.

The book itself centres mostly around Jessica's online blog which she updated on a regular basis, usually every day. She gives details of what she ate, how she felt and what the boat was doing, how many miles she had to do, to make the next goal and what the seas were doing. Once she got back home, she began adding extra little nuggets of information, memories and some things that she did not mention in her blog.

When Jessica first started out on this trip in September 2009, she was actually sailing from Queensland down the coast to Sydney from where she was to start her epic journey. Her small boat crashed into a large cargo ship one night. The cargo ship's radar did not see her, nor did the crew and ship, stop to help which they are required to do as a rule of maritime law. Jessica patched up the Pink Lady as best as she could and motored back to Queensland.

When the news broke, her critics came out in droves and used this as a reason for why she should NOT make this trip. She obviously wasnt not competent or experienced enough [In my head, I can still hear the girl's voice in the movie - Home Alone - saying (and I quote) - You know Kevin, you're what the french call - la in-com-pet-tohnt (incompetant spoken with a french accent)]. She was not mature enough and she hit another ship for goodness sakes,. That proves she was not experienced enough. So said the critics.

The vitriolic continued. Jessica's parents were bad parents and should be jailed, Jessica was absolutely crazy to even attempt a stunt like this. Why was the childrens services not being called out? Because Jessica was obviously NOT being well looked after. Some of the comments was downright hateful and nasty.

Jessica's land manager (Bruce Arms) told her exactly what it takes to be a solo sailor. A person has to be mentally strong, an all round sailor and she has to be able to do everything herself - cooking, sailing, electrical and engine repair, plumbing, sewing, rigging. weather watch etc etc. Not once did he mention anything about a sailors age or gender affecting these attributes.

The biggest thing that Jessica learned from this incident was that she had the mental strength to handle anything that this journey might throw at her. But as often happens, the first major hurdle is often the only major hurdle. They say it is traditional for a dress rehearsal to have all the mistakes in it, so that the first night ends up going off perfectly. This was Jessica's dress rehearsal.

Many years ago I read a book called The Dove, by a young American called Robin Lee Graham. It's a true story about a young 16 year old American who had a dream to sail around the world. He did it too - BUT he stopped along the way and he took 5 years to complete his journey. This story was one of Jessica's major inspirations.

Jessica set sail from Sydney, Australia on October 18th 2009, aged 16 years and 5 months. She sailed East around the globe, following the easterly winds. First she headed north east up to the Equator, crossed the equator on November 18, 2010, rounded Kiribati (aka Christmas Islands) on November 22 and then headed south and later south east towards the bottom of South America.

She rounded Cape Horn on January 15, 2010. Julie and Roger Watson (Jessica's parents) were flown out to Chile by an Australian Newspaper along with the photographer. The newspaper hired a plane and it took 3 attempts before Julie and Roger were successful in flying over the Pink Lady and being able to chat to Jessica on the radio as she rounded Cape Horn.

The Pink Lady had 4 knockdowns in the Southern Atlantic on January 23, 2010. Knockdowns are where the winds and the waves are so strong that the boat is knocked over to the side and often the mast hits the water. But the boat is supposed to right itself ASAP - provided not too much water has flooded inside. Ella's Pink Lady performed admirably each time the boat was knocked over, and each time the boat righted itself. Jessica kept right on sailing, despite the mess that was made of her personal belongings in the cabin after each knockdown.

Ell's Pink Lady passed Cape Horn on February 23, 2010. Crossing the Indian Ocean was proably the longest and loneliest time Jessica faced.

Jessica sailed back into Australian waters on April 10, 2010 when she sailed passed Cape Leeuwin. On this occasion of Jessica passing Cape Leeuwins, Jessica's parents and younger siblings plus a photographer, hired a plane and flew out over the ocean to see the boat and have a nice radio chat - again.

As Jessica struggled to cross the Great Australian Bight (the open sea area immediately off the southern coast of Australia). she encountered heavy seas, huge swells and a lot of bad weather. She even thought about taking a short cut through the Bass Strait (between Tasmania and the mainland) and not sailing around the bottom of Tasmania, but in the end she decided to keep to the planned route.

Once she rounded the bottom of Tasmania, she was on the home stretch sailing north again, up the coast of Australia and back to Sydney. The excitement began to build and the plans that had begun, were completed.

Jessica finally reached Sydney on May 15th, 2010 (one year ago today - exactly) to be welcomed by thousands of Australians, as well as the governor of New South Wales, and even the Prime Minister of Australia (at the time the PM was Kevin Rudd). When the Pink lady was finally tied up in the Sydney Harbour right outside the Sydney Opera House, Jessica stepped off the boat and into her parents arms. For the first time in 8 months she was back on land.

After a few speeches by the PM and the Governor, Jessica spoke a few words and promptly contradicted the Prime Minister (who had called Jessica a hero), saying she was not a hero, she was just a girl with a big dream.

Jessica spent three weeks in Sydney attending various functions in celebration of her achievement, before sailing the Pink Lady back up the coast, making several stops along the way, She received another tumultuous welcome in her home port, and finally was able to sleep in her own bed.

The first thing Jessica said she wanted to do when she got home, was to gain her drivers license. She accomplished that fairly soon after arriving home, as well as going back to school to complete her education. Her book True Spirit was published in 2010 and Jessica has done some book tours to promote it. This is an excellent book and I loved reading every word of it.

In January 2011, Jessica was named as Young Australian of the Year.

Jessica's Birthday is May 18th (1993). In just a few days she will turn 18 years old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA.

Picture source - Jessica Returns Home The Australian Newspaper May 15, 2010

As most of you who read these pages know, I am from New Zealand. I grew up spending several Xmas summer holidays with my second cousins Julie, Vivienne and Wendy Chisholm and their parents, whom I called Uncle Gordon and Aunt Margaret. Margaret is my Dad's first cousin so that makes Julie and her siblings, my second cousins.

Julie grew up and married Roger Watson and they moved to Australia where they had 4 children. One of those children is Jessica Watson. She is my second cousin once removed, and also third cousin to my son.

So although Jessica was born and raised in Australia and calls Australia her home, she is also a citizen of New Zealand and carries passports from both countries. For those of you who have read True Spirit, Jessica mentions this in the book toward the end of the voyage because (as she saw it) her grandpa Chisholm likes to stir things up and tried to have New Zealand claim Jessica as their own.

Gordon tells me that he didn't start that whole debate. The New Zealand Herald (NZ's largest newspaper) called him and asked him if he was willing to bring it up in an article. "Naturally, I fully endorsed it" he said. Gordon was always one for stirring people up and teasing the kids. That's part of his personality. I can still remember him teasing me when I was a kid. He has the wonderful ability to keep a straight face and spin a wild story and have you wondering if you should really beleive it.

I don't think I have seen Margaret and Gordon in person since the mid 1970s. In the photo above - Gordon has not changed at all other than his hair going from black to white.

Photo source - Otago Daily Times Newspaper, Dunedin, New Zealand, March 2009. Photo by Rosie Manins.

Poddys has a Wall of Fame lens and this lens (about Jessica) is MY Claim to Fame on his wall.