last year
in november
i was suposed to deliver a boat from Cairns to Brisbane for an organisation call Ocean Watch
jessica was to be imposed to be of of the crew
well after just 4 days on land trying to prepare the boat , i refuse to take liability of her on the boat as i was the skipper.
She was more interrested to seek attention of the media that learning about the simple thing around a boat, spending more time at the pool of cairns that getting to know the boat.
and i told her and her parents too
i my opinion , she was a attention seeking , who got no idea what she is talking about .
She never at the time even took a boat alone out of a marina..

i am surprise by all the fuss and the media mania..
they even in some comment blame the cargo ship to "run into her"..
so much nonsens..

Jesse Martin had a lot of experience before going, read is book and about him
and i support people myself a lot anyome , yound and old to go and try some adventures
especially women sailing..
just one should at least do a trip ALONE , even for a few days ..
crossing to NZ for exemple
before go make a big fuss about going "around the world non stop"
it is not a question of dreams, or not dreams
it is a question of credibility , and putting other people at risk to rescue you if needed.
you do not go climing mountain like you go to the parc , same with sailing ..
we talking here about seas with ice bergs, 40 fts waves..ect..
be real .........

I have just bought her original mast (not the broken one) from David Lambourne Yacht Rigging who is one of her sponsors.

While inspecting the mast I asked him how it was with Jessica. All he said was that Jessica is very special and she knows how to get what she wants.

She has some very special and credible people backing her as well, such as Don and Margie McIntyre.

The vessel is fitted with radar that has a proximity alarm, and an AIS (Area Identification System). AIS are legally required to be fitted and used aboard all commercial shipping.

It has been published that both systems on both vessels were in operation prior to the collission, that both vessel's watchkeepers were alerted to the presence of the other vessel, that radio communication between the vessels was established prior to the collission albeit hampered by language differences and that the Chinese flagged bulk coal carrier continued on it's way with it's AIS switched off after the collission.

After the collission Jessica secured the damaged gear on her vessel in the dark and proceeded under engine power for several hours to the Gold Coast Seaway.

The attending Water Police expressed admiration of Jessica's presence of mind and capabilities in piloting the vessel to safety unassisted. They believed that they would have to pluck her from the vessel and abandon it.

I hear uninformed and unqualified people shrieking loudly "Well why should I (as a taxpayer) have to pay the millions of dollars to rescue her?" Why assume she will need to be rescued??

Let us analyse the scenario. She did not require (or I believe ask) for assistance in this recent incident. If one goes to www.jessicawatson.com.au , her proposed voyage track can be read. From that it can be seen that the majority of her voyage will be in the Southern Ocean where commercial shipping is uncommon bar Japanese whaling ships and rabid Greenpeace people.

A successful rescue from these locations is highly unlikely if at all possible. If she goes in the water she will not survive more than 5 minutes if that.

No body but mad dogs and Englishmen (google Donald Crowhurst) would embark on this kind of adventure without fully understanding the possible outcomes.

Given the current trade relationship between Australia and China, more specificaly with coal, have no doubt that the recent collission has been discussed at the highest levels of government and instructions passed down to the local level as to how it is to be assessed and dealt with.

Jessica and her party have stated that they will not comment on it. My guess is that they have been told "If you rock the boat, the voyage is off!!" Pardon the pun.

It is important to have all the available facts before forming an opinion on a matter. I hope the above is of interest and assistance.

I say more power to her. Cheers Cisco

P.S. Joe, Jessica is a Sunshine Coast girl, not Gold Coast. The apartment buildings on the Sunshine Coast are not as high as they are on the Gold Coast. Therefore the Sunshine Coast girls tend to be more down to earth.....or water!!!

Investigation findings in:

The Courier-Mail has obtained a copy of the report into a collision between Jessica's yacht and a Chinese bulk carrier this month which shows basic problems led her to a potentially fatal crash off southeast Queensland.

Maritime Safety Queensland inspectors concluded the Sunshine Coast teenager:

* Most probably dozed off before her vessel hit and was dragged alongside the 63,000-tonne cargo ship.

* Did not turn on a device that would have warned her of a potential collision. (AIS)

* Could not produce a clear, plotted plan for her journey.

* Had not developed a fatigue management plan.

* Kept a log with "irregular latitude and longitude entries".

Maritime Safety Queensland inspectors concluded the Sunshine Coast teenager:

* Most probably dozed off before her vessel hit and was dragged alongside the 63,000-tonne cargo ship.

* Did not turn on a device that would have warned her of a potential collision. (AIS)

* Could not produce a clear, plotted plan for her journey.

* Had not developed a fatigue management plan.

* Kept a log with "irregular latitude and longitude entries".

It is interesting to note that none of the above constitute a breach of "The International Rules for Prevention of Collision at Sea".

What they are is a collection of inferences made from an investigation of one of the parties involved in the collision.

Did the "Maritime Safety Queensland Inspectors" interview the watchkeepers on duty and investigate the log of the other vessel???

If they did, what are the contents of that report???

The over riding tenet of the rules is that no matter which vessel has right of way, masters of vessels must take all necessary actions to avoid a collision.

The area the Chinese vessel was transiting is one in which a high volume of traffic is likely to be experienced due to the proximity of the Port of Brisbane and the likelyhood of small vessel traffic is higher still.

Masters of large vessels should excercise extra caution in such areas to avoid loss of vessels and lives.

In cases of collision at sea, masters of all vessels involved are deemed responsible and held liable.

The only people who know exactly what the sequence of events were leading up to and following the collision are the watch keepers of both vessels on duty at the time.

All persons authorised to take charge of a vessel by way of a Recreational Vessel Operator's Certificate of Competency, Coxswain Certificate, Master Class 5, 4, 3, 2 or Foreign Going Master Class 1 Certificate should have an intimate knowlege of the "International Rules for Prevention of Collision at Sea" and shouldn't jump to conclusions.

in my opinion and my opinion ONLY
in november last year,I went to Cairns at my own expence to help an organisation( that i naively beleived was genuine) who was suporting Jessica too,and I was more than willing to give my time, experiene ..ect .to a young girl with great projets..
until i met the girl..
it did not take me long to realise all the "farce".
and i did not want anything to do with that organisation , nor jessica.
I told her , as i told her parents too and the people of this organisation ( coastal wash )my opinion at the time, they all hate me for it , so be it
a the time I find Jessica to be totally out of touch with her own capabilities , and alas to be arrogant about it..as she was not interrested by the boat but only by the attention seeking of the media !!!!!

I teach many people to sail, young and old..for more than 30 years now..
i was a windsurfing instructor at 18
I know few people personnaly who went around the "world alone" ,I have beeing all my life involved in the sailing racing in Europe from preparing prototype boat, and differents projets and helping as a professional photographer with sponsor and projects of that sort.
and i even met Kate coote before she left for her trip in 88, as i did some pictures for her book too.
So from my humble experience and knowlegde, as a single handed sailor too.
Jessica do not have in my opinion at "this time" what it takes to do a NON STOP sail alone around the World..
we are not talking about cruising here..

thanks Cisco for pointing out my mistake.
I had a bit of a feeling that from the people here, this story would be better covered than what we are receiving thru the media. That has proved to be the case. I have made a few mistakes in my time, but have managed to get thru them, i have a couple from on the water that i may have been lucky with, but there was no media involved. Just one of life's lessons for me. In retro- spect i can only judge myself as having been warned.

Quote "Look both vessels are at fault here, but observing the practice of good seamanship is one thing self preservation is another."

Hear here.

I am not saying Jessica is right or wrong or wheter what she is doing is a good or bad idea.

What I am saying is that there is a lot of misinformation about and uninformed opinions being made and expressed.

Because she is "daring to be different", I believe the "mob mentality" is saying "Get back into line you stupid little girl and behave yourself. Stop upsetting us by making us jealous."

cathyoz, I have never met the girl and have no idea what her experience is. However there are some very credible people backing her up. Maybe she is a very good hypnotist.

If she had a history of winning junior yacht racing events throughout her childhood it would add to her credibility and I agree with you that completion of a less ambitious task (say an unassisted non stop solo circumnavigation of Lord Howe Island or New Zealand from Sydney) would be a good precursor to her current adventure.

I believe many of these record breaking attempts (eg kayaking across the Tasman Sea) are "fool's errands" but what Jessica is attempting is a well trodden path with a well proven vehicle.

It has been done many, many times before. Her record attempt is to be the youngest to do it. Who will put their hand up to be the oldest?? Not me.

Humanity does need people who will take on mammoth challenges, otherwise we would still be cave dwellers. Cheers Cisco.

This was, honestly, the first book I ever read.



http://www.amazon.com/Dove-Robin-L-Graham/dp/0060920475

Dove great book
but He did not sail SOLO NON STOP around the world..
he did not make a big fuss before doing it, he just went and did his thing

by the way scico
some recent "Storm Financial" entreprise had great , famous people as back up too ...

fearsome said...


-Fiberglass yachts do not paint well on the radar

But giant metal ships do

Dunno anything about sailing out at sea. But I reckon it can be pretty easy or quite dangerous depending on the weather. Doing by yourself would be bloody hard. How could you sleep?

Finally whats the point of doing something like this? Its not really sailing around the world anyway. They go down the bottom of the world, hitch a ride on the roaring forties to sail underneath South Africa, Australia and only have to work out how to get past cape horn, back to South Africa and they've done it.

A real sail around the world would require crossing the equatator a few time and actually sailing a distance at least equal to the circumphence of the world. Otherwise call it circumnavigating Antanctica.

Good luck to her, she has picked one of the best designed boats of that length that would give you the best possible chance.

Has she had any exposure to the southern ocean even as crew? That changed my mind and gave me massive respect for the solo dudes (particularly Ellen Macarthur). I hope she knows what she is in for - if she pulls it off that would be awesome.

Vitaminsea said...


Pictures of the "Pink Lady" motoring to shore with broken mast show that the mast is a cheap'n nasty 2-piece old mast. Any quality mast is made in one solid piece of extruded aluminum and very unlikely to snap clean right of above the spreaders as in pictures! Jessica need a GOOD new mast and not a fragile one that has been cobbled together once before already. Who would make a 16yo novice make do with anything worse than average?

To summarize, Jessica has been put onboard a poorly outfitted tiny boat by comparison of other go-getters. She suffers from poor organisational (even reckless) support and she herself may be clueless about the constant severity of the situation when being out at sea alone onboard, but obviously not alone on the water.

I hope that she will never attempt to finish this stunt, but has she lost anything? She is a winner any witch way and the pink S&S-34 she can sell for cash as long as it floats in one piece.

Why don't you try running that past David Lambourne Yacht Rigging and her other sponsors Vitaminsea???

By the way, the yacht belongs to Don and Margie McIntyre.

Thats a great Panda, also top pic of Moorea.