Thanks BAYSIDE Crane Hire!

www.brisbanecranehire.com.au

Another Milestone let the work begin!

This morning Youngestround.com went from being a fully functioning yacht (without mentioning a few major issues! i.e. the engine not running, the rig threatening to fall down and at one point sea water flooding in!) to a stripped down hull miles from the water and locked up in a shed. It may sound like we’re going backward at a million miles but today was actually a huge milestone, the beginning of the refit.

Thanks to Bayside Crane Hire for lifting the rig out and to Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron for berthing and the use of your travel-lift!

I had to keep reminding myself how positive it all was because it was very hard to watch Youngestround.com being stripped of its rig, bounced along the highway on the back of a truck and welded into the cradle that will be its home for the next 8 weeks.

We arrived at the shed just after lunchtime and with so many big flash machines and big tough men hanging around I expected that I’d have little to do but stand back and watch. I was wrong. I was given the job of hauling Youngestround.com and the cradle into position, all 5.6tones, training I’m told!

An exhausted Jessica signing out.

Last sail before refit

26 of May, sailing slowly through Moreton Bay for the last time before the refit.
Finally alone on youngestround.com, for me the weather was all sunny!

The 13 of May, the Watson family on the bow of youngestround.com, media on the dock, supporters and friends in the background and Jessica standing out in pink!

Rainy and Successful Boat Show

After a shaky or I should say rainy start and plenty more drama getting the boat to its berth, the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show was an amazing success. Starting with Thursday night at Rivergate Marina and Shipyards Annual Deck Party where I was introduced by Maxi Wild Oats Skipper Mark Richards and had the chance to talk about my voyage.

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped in to say hi and to see Youngestround.com. In between all that lovely rain it was wonderful to receive so many ‘good lucks’ and ‘best wishes’. One of the most amazing experiences we had was to have someone come up to express their doubts about voyage and to have them walk away 10 minutes later over come with emotion and with every confidence in the project.

Also thanks to Rikki, Mel, Brian, Tom, Hannah, Pamela, Jen, Suzanne, Bruce and particularly Mum and Dad for their totally gallant efforts handing out postcards and giving Bruce and I the chance to spend time talking to suppliers and existing sponsors.

No time to settle the overflowing head with a hundred and one refit details to finalise and the rig coming out on Wednesday.

Boat Licence and fun in the rain

My 16th birthday was my best yet, no presents needed when you have a boat...and a licence to drive it! Yes I’m now the proud holder of a boat licence and we immediately celebrated by setting off from Brisbane into the rain to sail the boat down to the Gold Coast, I enjoyed every minute but it wasn’t exactly the nice evening sail we’d expected.

After clearing the river we were met with 25 knots of wind right on the nose and short chop that reduced our speed to a frustrating 3 knots. The slow going meant that we missed the evening tide and had to spend a few hours anchored before I set off again in the morning ,this time by myself.

It was amazing to finally be on youngestround.com alone even though we had to again motor. As the autopilot stubbornly refused to steer the boat in a straight line I had my hands full particularly when we reached a shallow part of the channel, a rain squall came through and a local radio station rang to do a phone interview, multi tasking!

I finally arrived looking very windblown in time to do 5 minute filming segment for a Sunday morning sports program. Everything was back in order after a few hours in front of a computer catching up, birthday cake to celebrate my brother Toms 14th and a good sleep.

From tomorrow you’ll be able to see us at the Sanctuary Cover International boat show before youngestound.com comes out of the water for the much needed refit.

See you at the show

Jesse

Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show

There’s been plenty to keep us all busy after such a successful week .

Tomorrow, I’ll be 16 and plan on heading off the Department of Transport to get my boat licence first thing then I’ll be heading back down to Brisbane to sail youngestround.com down to the Gold Coast.

Remember come and say hi at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show (http://www.sanctuarycoveboatshow.com.au/) 21-24 May 2009, you can find us in berth A25. Just follow the signs and look for the masts. It's going to be great fun! See you there!

Jesse

Amazing amount of support

Over the last few days I’ve been completely taken aback by the offers of support and encouragement flowing in, its great to know that Australia and the world are right there behind us. Every email and every ‘good luck’ gives me so much inspiration! Thanks everyone so much for your emails, it’s amazing what a few words can do, keep them coming!

The launch has been an amazing success and I’d like to say a big thanks to Kim MacKay, Alex Vickers and Don McIntyre for looking after PR, Rivergate Marina and Shipyard for having us, Dan for making the boat look so great, Murray for the banners, Mum and Dad for arranging a hundred and one things, Bruce for helping get the yacht there and stopping me from stressing right out and everyone for being there!

Remember to come along and see the yacht, say hi and meet some of the team at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show on the 21st to the 24th of May.

After the show the boat will be stripped right down for a full refit before heading out for a shake down solo passage and final jobs before departure in September. Stay tuned there will be more exciting news and plenty of big milestones coming up…

Jessica

Thursday 14 May: Out of this world

Tuesday didn’t start so well after waking up bright and early ready for my first live T.V interview to find that the clothes that I’d carefully picked out to wear had found their way into a car heading in the wrong direction, this mightn’t sound like a big deal but when your'e running on minimal sleep, nerves, sunburnt and your voice is hoarse from far too much talking things become a little more fun! And hey I'm 15 I need to worry about what I am wearing!

Things then became a bit unreal when a limousine arived to pick us up. Picture a sleepy, drabby Jessica riding in a limouseine complete with compermentry jelly beans and our wonderful driver David dressed in a suite!

We survived the live interview but it didn’t stop there, the morning was a blur of radio interviews, filming for T.V. and more pictures. After lunch I hibernated to Pat and Judys study in a attempt to keep up with the flood of emails and phone calls coming in, one can only try…

Thanks Pat and Judy for looking after Bruce, Mum and I while we were down in Brisbane, it was the great food that kept us all going and I’d have been lost without my personal five star hair stylist Judy!

Monday 11 May: Drama sailing youngestround.com to Brisbane

Casting off the mooring lines bright and early

Bruce and I cast off the mooring lines and set off into rainsqualls and 20knts of wind on the nose for youngestround.com’s first big sail. To begin with we made good progress then the wind dropped right off under the rain clouds and while I ducked below to stay out of the rain we discovered that the trusty auto pilot had a few personally traits and christened him Mr Wonky. If I’d thought to re-write the user manual I’d have written; to sail in a straight line press go left, followed go right then press go left then go right and repeat till you reach your destination, oh and please enjoy!

So with a few accidental jibes (changes of direction) we slowly sailed south before discovering a problem two, water in the bilge! I quickly offered to take the wheel and Bruce gallantly set to work bailing the bilges, we were relived to find that the water was from washing the boat down the previous night and not some life-threatening leak.

At the top of Moreton Bay progress was slowed by a strong out going tide and our speed was reduced to a thrilling 3 knots with the assistance of the iron topsail (engine).
As we made our way down the passage a shackle on the main sail traveller suddenly snapped as the wind briefly gusted to a not very severe 25knots. We soon had the problem fixed to notice that the starboard lower (one of the wires that hold the mast up) had begun unravelling itself!

The last leg across the bay was a special one with the wind finally pushing us along perfectly and the sun setting before sailing into the river surrounded by the city lights.
We found our berth at Rivergate before heading off for nice warm showers and food.

Over all, I was very proud and impressed with the way the boat sailed even with a set of sails that can only be described as rags and rigging that was disintegrating in front of us. We learnt a lot about youngestround.com from the one day and I’m looking forward to stripping the boat for a complete refit so that everything can be rebuilt ready to take on the world.

Everything I couldn’t tell you in pictures!

The day youngestround.com was hauled out to be surveyed, this was the teaser picture I was sent while stuck in New Zealand impatiently waiting for news and wishing I were there! From left to right, Don McIntyre, Mum Julie, Emily, Tom, Dad Roger and Hannah with her two guinea pigs!


Youngestround.com and I sailing off Mooloolaba


Don McIntyre, myself and Mike Perham in front of youngestround.com after a day sailing

My brother Tom and the newly fitted shiny new Fleming Windvane

The interior of youngestround.com after a day shopping, sorry but where is it all going to fit?

From the classroom, soon to be 16 and on the water

Looking at the calender yesterday I got a bit of a shock to realise that my 16 th birthday is only just a week away on the 18th May, Wow time has been passing fast!
As well as being the big sweet 16, it will also be an important date as I'll be getting my boat licence, what a novelty it will be, to legally skipper boats.
Yesterday started before sunrise with a trip down to the beach to take sextant bearings off Venus, followed by a series of sun sights.

It was really satisfying to plot our position on the chart within 4 nm using only the sun, planets, sextant, almanac...oh and a lot of help from our instructor John who has been amazingly patient with my ability to mix up figures and my inability to add and subtract!

While I was plotting away in the classroom converting bearings to position lines in the chart there was plenty of action on the water.
Yesterday afternoon, Bruce and Suzanne arrived back in Mooloolaba after a season cruising and racing in the Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race.
Also, Australia said farewell to Mike Perham (17 year old English sailor halfway around the world on his own circumnavigation) who sailed out of Hobart yesterday.
I'm so glad I had the chance to meet Mike while he was in this part of the world.
Thanks again for all the confidence you gave me Mike!!

Time for me to head off to school but stay tuned for all the latest exciting news, only 5 days till the big launch.
Wednesday 13 May, 10.30am at Rivergate Marina, Brisbane.

See you there

Jesse

Keeping More Than Busy

Over the last few days I’ve been enjoying learning all about weather systems of the world, currents, passage planing procedures, cyclones and finding sextant errors all as part of the Ocean Yachtmaster course.

I’m getting excited about the Launch and Press Conference on the 13th May and am looking forward to telling you all about my ‘special something’! With out giving away too much there will be a bottle of something (non-alcoholic!) to smash over a bow. Everyone’s invited so come along and be part of the action. That’s Wednesday 13 May, 10.30am at Rivergate Marina.

As the departure date drawers nearer and my schedule becomes more hectic I’m starting to understand something I’ve always been told, that time is the most precious resource we have. I tried giving up sleep to find more time and in an effort to get more done but gave the brilliant idea up after becoming a little disagreeable to live with!!

So what have I been busy with? Apart from continuing to prepare myself and the …! For the launch and Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. We’ve been putting a lot of time into every little detail such as dietary needs, power generation, cooking facilities, the best way to set up a windvane, communications… Now is the time to get down to the details and preparation is such an important of making the voyage as safe, comfortable and achievable as possible.

I’ll be out there for 230 days in some of the worlds most isolated oceans so being 100% confident in every piece of equipment is essential. It’s also important that I’m there as every little thing is fitted so that I know how everything works and how to fix it.

A lot of people have been asking how I’m feeling about departing and after that the voyage? I’m feeling excited, not scared but definitely nervous! Mostly I’m busting to get out there and start plodding away at those 23,000 nautical miles.

Here is some of the latest from the media;

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/04/22/young.solo.sailors/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

http://www.sailingnews.co.za/index.php/20090401383/News/Latest/Youngest-solo-circumnavigation.html

http://www.asktheboater.com/15-year-old-girl-to-sail-solo-around-the-world/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/21/2548414.htm



Signing out

Jessica

P.S. See you on the 13th!

Pacific Route Change and Rock Climbing

After much discussion, consulting of pilot charts and weighing the pro’s against the con’s, we have a new route. The new route will take me northeast across the equator to Washington Island in the North Pacific. Around notorious Cape Horn, below South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and up the east coast of Australia home. An estimated total of 23,000 nautical miles and 230 days at sea!

This morning I really enjoyed heading up to Mt Tinbeerwah to try out some rock climbing and abseiling. I enjoyed the physical challenge of clinging to the rock face and got the heart rate up abseiling down. There is a considerable amount of strategy involved in finding hand and foot holds and working out which limb you should attempt to move first! Thanks for taking me along Gary and Erin!

Jessica

THE DREAM IS TURNING TO REALITY on May 13th

It’s been another busy and productive week, there are not nearly enough hours in a day! Some days it’s like trying to swim against the tide and others the world feels like the smallest of speed bumps! ‘The world is your oyster’ As the saying goes!

The fact that things are so busy is great news, so many exciting things are happening! And you can be part of the most exciting of them all…

On Wednesday 13th May at 10.30am you’re invited to a press conference, Adventurer and solo sailor, Don McIntyre and I, will be making a Major Announcement to the world.
The final countdown is about to begin and I would love to meet you all and show you something very special! Come along to Rivergate Marina (see www.rivergate.com.au to find us) and be part of something BIG. Everyone’s welcome…we’ll see you there,

We have just confirmed that we will also be present at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat show on the Gold Coast, from the 21st to the 24th of May, stop in and say hi!

As well as working hard to ensure that the ‘something special’ is looking gorgeous for the big unveiling, everyday life (organising equipment, plotting out the exact details of my route and making lists) continues at full speed.

Next week, I’ll be undertaking a RYF Ocean Yachtmaster theory course at Sunshine Coast Sailing School to cram in as much knowledge possible and get a better understanding of celestial navigation.

Sunday morning, I’m off to try my hand at a more landlocked challenge, rock-climbing, someone mentioned a 40metre cliff on a local mountain and what could I say…!
I look forward to checking out the harness systems, that the climbers use, as I’ll need similar equipment to haul myself up the mast at sea.

Recently all sorts of interesting things have been arriving in the post, including a Flemming Wind Vane, which made for a pretty big package! A local supporter Kerri, Dad and I set to work assembling it this afternoon.

See you soon!

Jessica