You Go Girl! Sailing Around the World in a Pink Yacht

jessicawatsonboat-420x0 copy When one of us girls does something totally awesome, it makes our gender rock even more. And right now we are all totally rockin’ thanks to Jessica Watson, an Australian embarking on a 23,600 mile yacht trip around the world.

Let’s not fail to mention that this is freakin’ dangerous, as she will undoubtedly encounter weather and not-so-friendly sea life. And she is all alone.

But the real clincher of the story? Jessica is a mere 16 years old, which would make her the youngest person to ever complete this feat. She sailed out of the Sydney harbor on her pink yacht (which is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen), and is expected to be gone for about 8 months, within which she will sail around the tips of Africa and South America.

At 16 years old?! When I was 16 I was falling in love with a new guy every week and stressing over the pimple on my forehead. If someone had put me in a yacht and sent me out to sea for 8 months I would curl into a fetal position and cry myself to death. This is most definitely one of the bravest 16-year-olds I have ever heard of.

As I sit here (5 years older, and still stressing over the pimple on my forehead…) I am cheering this girl on big time! It’s accomplishments like this that us girls should be striving for. Obviously we aren’t all jumping to sail around the world, but seeing the willpower of this one girl reminds us all that if we put our minds to something we can conquer our own oceans.

Although I’d really like to be able to stop for supplies along the way – I can’t do anything productive without mascara and a cappuccino.

Sophie says:
Tue, 20th Oct 20099:11 am

This is her second attempt. The first one failed before she even got to the start line when she crashed into a cargo carrier while she was sleeping on her way to Sydney.

Don Pollard says:
Tue, 3rd Nov 20098:37 am

I Hope that she makes it. But also hope there is a saftey ship following her not to far behind for protection She is very young and I worry for her D.Pollard.Adelaide .S,A,

Perez says:
Wed, 18th Nov 20093:38 am

I think “Sophie” who made the negative comment is a whining little oxygen thief. Is that the best comment you can make. Keep living your negative little life Sophie while others are “doing” things you are incapable of even dreaming about.

Tage says:
Mon, 18th Jan 20108:55 pm

It was irresponsible of her to be asleep near shipping. Container ships travel around 24 kts. From the deck of a sailing boat, you could see a typical container ship from about 13 miles away. If she climbed her mast, she could see it from 16.9 miles away.

This means that if they were headed towards each other, you can look out on clear blue ocean as far as the eye can see, go below for a half hour, and hit a ship during your nap.

One should keep a lookout, and never sleep in a shipping lane.
In the open ocean, it’s okay to take naps, and even sleep, but never near shipping. It is best to have a crew of 2 or greater. Sailing singlehanded can be done safely if you are extra careful, and sleep for short amounts of time, but being below while making way in a shipping lane is stupid.