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Jessica Watson's odyssey plays out like a cinematic masterpiece, immortalized on the silver screen.
Jessica Watson, a typical girl from Queensland, Australia, made an extraordinary decision in 2010 to circumnavigate the globe. Circumnavigating the world isn't an easy feat for anyone, let alone for a young girl of merely 16 years old. And to add to the challenge, Jessica didn't take the conventional route; she sailed solo on a small boat across endless oceans.
Alone on the helm of a swaying sailboat across 4 oceans.
Jessica Watson chose the most primitive, least safe means for her life-defining journey. All she had was a tiny sailboat, devoid of many modern conveniences. Jessica sailed solo, without any assistance, completing a 43,000-kilometer sea voyage, traversing the world's most perilous waters for 8 months, never docking at any port until returning home to Australia.
Jessica's journey faced scrutiny from the start. Debates raged over whether such a young girl should be allowed to undertake such a perilous journey.
Since Jessica was a little girl, she has traveled and wandered with her parents on a bus. Inspired by Jesse Martin's book Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit since she was 11 years old, Jessica dreamed of embarking on an exciting, remarkable adventure, leaving behind the most vibrant experiences.
The family had to go public to assert that despite her young age, Jessica is an experienced sailor with full knowledge of maritime safety laws and electronic devices for long sea voyages. Despite sailing alone, she kept in close contact with family and safety support organizations. Additionally, Jessica regularly wrote publicly accessible blogs sharing her daily journey on the Internet.
7 near-death experiences
Jessica Watson's adventure unfolded just as she had initially imagined: a myriad of stacked challenges, countless thrilling emotions. Over 8 relentless months, the young girl had to overcome numerous challenges, big and small. Along the way, there were times when Jessica faced windless days, rendering her boat immobile. She also grappled with food shortages, personal hygiene, and illness. Every aspect of the 16-year-old girl's journey had to be self-managed without any outside help. Jessica Watson also suffered from dyslexia in real life. Whenever stressed, she easily misread and misinterpreted her coordinates, leading to complications, getting lost, or being unable to seek help in dire situations.
In the film True Spirit, a retelling of the young girl's adventure, Jessica's journey culminates in her greatest challenge when multiple large storms converge into one. Giant waves overturn her boat, and Jessica becomes trapped underwater at a depth of 4.5 meters for an extended period. It's a terrifying and breathtaking scene in the movie. And as Jessica recounts, what happened in real life was even more terrifying, and as it turns out, the cinematic version doesn't even tell the whole story.
'I almost succumbed 7 times,' Jessica reveals. 'The moment I fell 4.5 meters underwater is real because my emergency beacon activated automatically when the boat sank. That did happen. During the time I was capsized, it certainly felt very long; I truly had no concept of time, it felt like forever.'
Controversial Record
Upon Jessica's arrival at Sydney Harbor at the end of her journey, it seemed as if the entire country of Australia had come to celebrate her achievement.
'There were so many layers of emotions on that journey for me,' Jessica Watson, though not one to speak much, but surely everyone can imagine the young girl must have had a thrilling, spectacular, and emotionally charged adventure.
Jessica Watson, now 29 years old, departed Sydney, Australia, on October 18, 2009, and returned on May 15, 2010, just before her 17th birthday. The high school student sailed approximately 18,582 nautical miles, crossing the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, all alone and without stopping. This courageous young woman was honored with the Australian Bravery Medal for this remarkable 8-month journey.
She set out with the goal of achieving the record for the youngest solo circumnavigator ever recorded. However, in the end, the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) ruled that Watson did not meet the criteria to set the record, as she needed to sail a minimum distance of 21,600 nautical miles to be recognized as circumnavigating the globe.
However, what Jessica Watson did was not for the title, and she didn't need a title for the world to admire. She sailed for the love of it. She adventured for the burning passion to conquer the seas. And this extraordinary girl's story was adapted by Netflix into the film True Spirit released in February 2023. The film, as well as Jessica's miraculous story, has been described as 'a hymn to the independence and audacity of the teenage years' and 'conveys a fervent belief in the human spirit's power.
Source: EW, Time
