Greetings yachties,
Jessica has just passed the line into the northern hemisphere, stage 1 completed stage 2 is about to begin south to Cape Horn.
60 Minute Story
Jessica Watson is attempting to sail around the world before she gets too old and claim the youngest title off Mike Perham. Follow her adventure here. I will update this thread with news as it happens.
Jessica’s website and blog here
where is Jessica now? tracker link
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Life Goes on as Normal Out Here
Still more nice sailing for Ella’s Pink Lady and I. Yesterday was particularly great with our speed sitting on an almost constant 7knots all day. The wind has mostly been between 12 and 17knots. Well that’s my best guess anyway, because since losing the wind instruments, I’ve had to resort to the oh so primitive method of looking out the window and at a piece of string tied to the rigging, to determine the wind speed and direction!
These are just the sort of conditions Ella’s Pink Lady and I love. Does anyone object if I give Sydney a miss and go around for a second lap?! No, don’t worry I wouldn’t do that to you. I might still be having the time of my life out here, but there’s also things back home that I miss. There’s no way that I’d be able to sail past a hot shower and I’m worried that if I’m away much longer I won’t be able to recognize my brother, who is apparently getting taller by the minute!
Australia Day!
Every year at school we used to get asked what Australia Day meant to us, this year I couldn’t be much further from Australia, there’s none of the things that make a typical Australia Day celebration out here, no sunshine, beach, no taking the day off or BBQ but this year I really can say I’m proud to be an Aussie! And also how great it feels to have the support of the country behind me!
I’ve still got a lot of the world to see (a lot of Australia too actually!) but the things that are special about Oz to me (other than all the cool scenery!) is our relaxed positive attitude and ‘can do’ approach! I’d like to think that we’re a county that’s capable of coming together to tackle challenges, one that’s capable of showing the world that we can achieve the things that we believe in.
So how am I celebrating? Well last night I was pretty thrilled to get a call on the sat phone from Kevin Rudd who offered to pass on a Happy Australia Day message to everyone from me!
Jessica Rides Out Perfect Storm and Knockdowns
Jessica Watson has faced her toughest test to date on her solo circumnavigation, having experienced a violent storm overnight with hurricane-force wind gusts of up to 70 knots and a swell of 7-10 metres, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Jessica also experienced her first knockdown and then had to endure three more during the eight hour storm. A ‘knockdown’ is when the mast goes below horizontal and into the sea. In Jessica’s case, she was hit by a series of rogue waves.
During the storm, Jessica sailed past the 11,000 nautical mile mark. She was belted in to her wet-seat throughout.
Despite the horrific conditions and some minor damage, the good news is that both Jessica and Ella’s Pink Lady have fared well.
“We certainly copped a pounding out here
Wind, Waves, Action and Drama!
My quite sunny conditions ended with a bit of a bang, Ella’s Pink Lady and I have been having a very interesting time out here. The wind had been expected to rise to a near gale, but none of the computers or forecasts picked that it would reach the 65knots that I recorded, before losing the wind instruments in a knockdown!
That much wind means some very big and nasty waves. To give you an idea of the conditions, they were similar to and possibly worse than those of the terrible 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race. We experienced a total of 4 knockdowns, the second was the most severe with the mast being pushed 180 degrees in to the water. Actually pushed isn’t the right word, it would be more accurate to say that Ella’s Pink Lady was picked up, thrown down a wave, then forced under a mountain of breaking water and violently turned upside down.
With everything battened down and conditions far too dangerous to be on deck, there wasn’t anything I could do but belt myself in and hold on. Under just the tiny storm jib, the big electric autopilot did an amazing job of holding us on course downwind, possibly or possibly not helped by my yells of encouragement! It was only the big rogue waves that hit at us at an angle (side on) that proved dangerous and caused the knockdowns.
JESSICA CROSSES LAT & LONG 49, PREPARES FOR APPROACHING STORM
22-Jan-2010
(11.30am AEDT)
Overnight Jessica crossed a point in the Atlantic Ocean where the latitude and longitude are the same number – 49 degrees South and 49 degrees West.
It is the only point of her voyage where the Latitude and Longitude are the same number.
Jessica and her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady continue to make good progress, but they are currently bracing for a storm with gusts of over 60 knots predicted today, which marks day 97 of her epic solo circumnavigation.
We will provide another update once the front passes and Jessica is clear of the storm.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What I Miss The Most
Ella’s Pink Lady has been steadily plodding along north and east out into the Atlantic and yesterday I was treated to a day of incredible sunshine. It was so lovely that I actually drifted off to sleep, sprawled out across the cabin top (of course, with my Ella Bache sunscreen on!). The warm sun and the sound of the water against the hull had me nodding off within minutes.
Better still I was woken up by a pod of beautiful back and white dolphins swimming along next to us. As always they were a treat to watch, playing in the greeny, blue swell. Then there was the pretty pink sunset that I could actually enjoy sitting outside without feeling like my fingers and toes were about to fall off. Sorry, I feel like I’m bragging!
Seeing as I’ve been out here for over three months and very almost 100 days, I thought I’d put together a list of what I miss the most. Not that it’s not all totally worth it out here!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Highlights From An Incredible Few Days!
I’m going to apologize in advance for the over-use of explanation marks, but it’s certainly been an amazing few days! Sorry not to have updated you all earlier on my side of events, but after running on not much more than adrenalin for a good 4 days, I’ve only had one thing on my mind – sleep!
So much has happened lately. So many highs. But I’m going to start at the beginning with Tuesday and 60nm between us and the Cape. Passing squalls, the waves standing up a little as we passed in to shallower water, the wind settling into a consistent 40knots by nightfall, all made life pretty interesting.
But the fast disappearing miles till the Cape and sighting land (Diego Ramirez Island) that
afternoon had me completely pumped up and totally bouncing with excitement! Seeing land after so long was incredible. I can hardly remember feeling so thrilled, which when I think about it, seems like a bit of an overreaction considering I couldn’t actually see anything more
than the outline of a grey bit of rock disappearing frequently, as we dropped into the troughs between waves. Through my eyes at the time, that distant bit of rock was the most beautiful and incredible thing I’d seen. It’s amazing how deprivation can make something look a million times more special! I imagine that my first long hot shower when I get back home will be much the same!
That night was a busy and sleepless one as we approached the Cape. To ensure that we didn’t just go surfing by in the dark, I put a bit of effort into slowing us down and just as it was getting light, there it was – the distinctive outline of Cape Horn!
JESSICA PREPARING FOR MORE STRONG WINDS BEFORE ROUNDING THE CAPE
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
As Jessica prepares to round the infamous Cape Horn, she may first have to face more gale force winds over the next 24 hours, the result of a low pressure system to the south of her current position.
Jessica is currently 150 nautical miles from Cape Horn, sailing in winds of 20 knots and a 3-4 metre swell. She is well prepared for the possible and excited about rounding the Cape.
“It is only 20 knots at the moment, but it looks like we may get some stronger winds before we round the Cape
Monday, January 11, 2010
Closing on the Cape. Slowly!
I’m really not having the most exciting………..
……………………To try to take my mind off the tedious speeds and uncomfortable rolling, I’ve been working away at a few books, totally throwing myself into the stories. Mum keeps asking me what books I’m reading and I think she’s a bit surprised at my replies. I’ve hardly picked up an adventure or sailing story since leaving. Instead I’ve been reading and re-reading the most mindless, trashy
stories that I have. When part of your mind (and often all of it) is constantly thinking of nothing but sailing and all the different aspects of looking after Ella’s Pink Lady, the last thing I feel like doing is reading about more sailing!
So things out here couldn’t be more different to all the stories of swimming, sunshine, diving and surfing from back home. But as always, I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Having no wind can completely drive you up the wall, but at the same time seeing the surface of the big, gentle swell become so glassy that it reflects the moody, grey sky is just incredible. So good things still do come with the bad.
Anyway down to business. The has wind has finally picked up to a steady 12knots in the last few hours, so Ella’s Pink Lady is pushing along nicely again now. You have no idea how good it feels to be moving again! We’ve still got about 270nm till Cape Horn
Friday, January 8, 2010
Becalmed
Just a quick update. Becalmed today, but the Albatrosses have joined us again (see pic below).
Only 450nm to Cape Horn and I’m even more excited now as Mum and Dad flew out of Australia today to watch Ella’s Pink Lady rounding the Cape!
Jesse
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Closing on the Cape
Thanks for being patient waiting for the next blog. My great shore team will always post an update when I don’t have the time to.
The wind hit 40 knots again on Tuesday which kept life interesting and a little bouncy. Since then it’s steadily dropped off to my current 8 knots today, which is really only just enough to keep us moving, slowly!
In typical Southern Ocean style, the visibility hasn’t been great with almost constant light, misty drizzle and not the slightest hint of a clear sky. But no complaints from me. Like I’ve said before, in its own way it’s just as pretty as sunshine and blue water. Looking at it another way, you could always say that at least the low visibility means that you can see very little of the bad weather!
The good news is that I was able to fix the little problem with the mainsheet block easily. But the bad news is that despite spending yesterday morning trying to fix the heater, it still won’t play nice! Oh well, on the scale of things the heater not working really isn’t much of a problem, just one of those optional extras.
I’m really starting to get pretty excited about Cape Horn as we’re getting so close now, with just over 500nm to go!
That’s going to have to be it from me today as my fingers as are pretty keen to slip back into some nice warm gloves!
Jesse
Amazing Sunset
Mostly it’s just been a normal day out here, not a lot of wind but just enough to keep us moving on a gentle sea at a steady 5 knots.
Tonight’s sunset was far from normal though, it was amazing! I thought it was good to start with, but then the colours just kept getting better and better as the sun disappeared. And yes I captured some pics (below) to capture the moment and colours. Hope you like them.
Well it’s just going to be a quick update for today as my tummy is telling me I’m way overdue for some food!
Jesse
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Lucky Not Lonely!
For the first time in over two weeks I saw something man made other than Ella’s Pink Lady (drum roll please!). It was a small white piece of plastic that floated by this morning while we were becalmed for a short while. Not all that exciting, but it made me think about just how completely in the middle of nowhere I really am and about how every mile is taking us further into a pretty much empty stretch of ocean. It’s still strange to think that I’m probably hundreds of miles from the nearest person, in fact it’s now almost two months since I’ve seen anyone. Sure I’ve seen other boats but none of them have come close enough toactually make out the crew.
30 KNOT WINDS AND THROUGH PEAK OF SQUASH ZONE
Friday, 11 December, 2009 (5.00pm AEDT)
The past 24 hours has seen Jessica endure her toughest conditions to date on her solo circumnavigation attempt, with wind gusts of up to 30 knots and 3 a metre swell, courtesy of a low pressure system on her way south to Cape Horn.
Despite the stronger winds, the low was not as bad as the predicted 40-50 knots initially forecast. The good news is that she is through the peak of the squash zone, which is a strange and unpredictable area between the tropics and the Southern Ocean.
For all the concerned bloggers and supporters eagerly awaiting an update report, we can assure you that Jessica and Ella’s Pink Lady are progressing well and she will update you all when she can. She is resting, eating well and well prepared should conditions rapidly change.
Doesn’t Get Much Better!
We’ve had that messy sea and squally conditions for the last few days but the clouds and squalls have well and truly cleared out today, leaving Ella’s Pink Lady to fly along in picture perfect trade wind conditions. The trade winds are the name given to the band of steady south easterly winds in this part of the world but what the books don’t say is how lovely the sunshine is, how nice it is to have a steady breeze and how amazingly blue the water looks speckled with whitecaps. Maybe it’s just that I’m just in a particularly good mood and seeing everything through happy glasses but I don’t think it gets much better than this!
On the down side the south easterly trade winds are also a bit of a pain, because south east is exactly where I’d like to be going! We’ve been able to make some great progress south but we’re not getting anywhere when it comes to making ground to the east. Still nothing to worry about because as we go further south the wind will drop off and probably come from a bit of everywhere (this areas known as the variables or subtropics) before settling in from the west when we get down south to the roaring 40’s. Bob’s latest forecast gives us around another week on this course with similar conditions before we’re able to turn on to a more direct line to Cape Horn.
Finally a Fish!
Yes I’m more than a little pleased and very relieved to report that I finally got a fish! (see pic below). That was starting to get a bit silly. My best guess is that it’s a yellow fin tuna, its not huge but I’m sure that there will be plenty for everyone! I can’t say that there would be many fisherman who would be proud of the mess I made filleting it. I’m just glad there was no one here to witnesses the whole thing, but practice makes perfect right?!
Turns out that wasn’t my last tack last night. The wind and current weren’t going to make things easy for us, so it was a particularly sleepless night as we tacked and inched along ever so slowly.
Every time I thought that we’d finally cleared the Island, the wind would change slightly and we’d have to put another tack in. It’s all a bit frustrating but as always it’s hard not to feel cheerful when the stars are shining and the music’s turned up.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Around Kiritimati Island
Winds on the nose and a current against us for the last few days has made for pretty painful progress, we’re only just getting close to Kiritimati (Christmas) Island now. All going to plan we should be around and clear by the morning, it’ll be a relief to have a bit of sea room and to be making progress south again.
Kiritimati Island sounds pretty interesting so I’ve added it to the list places to stop off at next time! Apparently it’s the world’s largest atoll and thanks to a few random changes in direction by the date line its also the worlds eastern most country. From what I’ve read it sounds pretty
picture perfect with white sandy beaches and coral lagoons but don’t worry I’m not too tempted to stop, in fact I’ll be lucky if I can even see a distant glow of lights as I pass by tonight. Oh and its said to be a good spot for fishing!
We passed a boat (three actually!) for the first time in over a week yesterday, they were big fishing boats but didn’t appear to speak English. I also got a bit of a fright yesterday, I was sitting down below at the nav station and heard the horrible nose of something rubbing down the hull
Friday, November 20, 2009
Northern Hemisphere
No change that I can see. The water is still blue, the waves are still rolling and the wind still blowing, but apparently now the water splashing across the deck and slipping away behind Ella’s Pink Lady, is northern hemisphere water!
I thought that crossing the line would be just like any other day out here, so I surprised myself a little by getting a bit emotional as I juggled three different cameras while counting down the latitude read out on the GPS. It’s not so much physically crossing into the northern hemisphere that had me so worked up (you can only get so excited about an invisible line in the water!!) but the fact that it meant the end of the first leg. Sure this has probably been one of the easier legs (call it the shake down!) compared to some of the sailing down south to come. But the distance we’ve already covered is pretty amazing. Getting this far (and everything that happened before the start line!) has given me the confidence to know that even though we’ve got some seriously tough times ahead, we’re going to be able to have fun tackling whatever comes our way.
This post is tagged cape horn, Jessica Watson, Knockdown
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