Watson was born on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.[5] The second of four children of New Zealand couple Roger and Julie Watson, who moved to Australia in 1987, she has dual Australian and New Zealand nationality.[6] She has an older sister (Emily) and younger brother and sister (Tom and Hannah). All four took sailing lessons as children, and the family went on to live on board a 16 metre cabin cruiser for five years, the children being home schooled via distance learning. Later they lived on a purpose-built double decker bus for some time.[7] When Jessica was eleven and they were still living on the boat, her mother read Jesse Martins book Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit to the children as a bedtime story. This led to Jessica forming the ambition at age twelve to sail around the world too.[7][8] Circumnavigation and publicity[edit] Jessica Watson sailing.jpg Approximate route taken by Watson on her voyage between October 2009 and May 2010 Watson had been planning to complete a solo non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the globe since at least early 2008.[9] Officially announced in May 2009, the journey was expected to take eight months with an estimated distance of 23,000 nautical miles. To fulfill the plan of sailing non-stop and unassisted, during the journey no other person would be allowed to give her anything and she must not moor to any port or other boat, although advice over radio communication was permitted. Watsons planned circumnavigation route was to start and end at Sydney, and to pass near New Zealand, Fiji, Kiribati, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and South East Cape.[10] In accordance with the definitions for circumnavigations set out by the International Sailing Federations WSSRC, the equator must be crossed;[11] this crossing was carried out near Kiritimati. However, the journey eventually did not meet the WSSRC requirement of an orthodromic distance of 21,600 nmi (refer below for the reason). Watson arrived back in Sydney Harbour at 1:53 pm, Saturday 15 May 2010. The Los Angeles Times reported Watsons reason for her journey: I wanted to challenge myself and achieve something to be proud of. And yes, I wanted to inspire people. I hated being judged by my appearance and other peoples expectations of what a little girl was capable of. Its no longer just my dream or voyage. Every milestone out here isnt just my achievement, but an achievement for everyone who has put so much time and effort into helping getting me here.[12] After the journey she continued a relationship with Michael Perham, the previous youngest circumnavigator.[13] They met during a stop he made in Australia during his circumnavigation, and they had several phone conversations during her journey. More recently, however, Jessica has also been seen spending time with Australias youngest ever federal politician, Wyatt Roy. Jessicas mother insists they are just friends, and that Jessicas schedule—which takes her around the country and world—is currently preventing her from dating boys.[14] Watson has written a book about her experience, which is called True Spirit and published by Hachette Australia (ISBN 0733624979).[15] The book was released 29 July 2010. Jessica has also filmed a documentary about her solo trip before, during and after completing her journey, which was narrated by Sir Richard Branson and premiered on ONEHD on 16 August 2010, before being released on DVD along with a CD album on 20 August 2010.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Oct 2013 20:59:08 +0000
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