Last year, I stumbled across Jessica Watson's blog. I can't remember how I got there. I do a lot of random web surfing.

I can remember thinking how together she sounded. Here she was, 16 years old and sailing around the world. She was all alone on a tiny boat in the middle of an enormous ocean. And yet, her blog entries were so positive. She seemed to face any challenge with the same "I can do it" attitude. Even when in one storm her boat was knocked down four times, she wrote about it like it was one big adventure.

I added her blog to my feed and I enjoyed reading her updates. Even the mundanity of life at sea was interesting. She wrote of albatrosses that followed her boat. She wrote of the meals that she made on her tiny stove. She wrote of chatting on the radio to the captains of the massive ships that she passed in the night. She took pictures of the beautiful sunsets that she saw. She really captured the spirit of her sea voyage and made us feel like we were out there with her.

It wasn't until I arrived home in November that I heard the Jessica Watson controversy. There was a whole debate about whether or not she should be allowed to do it that I missed. She also crashed into a tanker on her test voyage (oops!). In the last few months there have been a lot mean spirited comments about her in the media. Her record isn't official. She is selfish. It seems that anyone who has anything to say about Jessica Watson gets an article in the newspaper. Even these challenges Jessica faced with the same positive attitude. She replied to the comments in her blog in a level-headed and mature manner. Generally she just wondered what the fuss was about. She was doing what she wanted to do and that was all that mattered.

I was so impressed with Jessica's achievement and mainly her attitude that I wanted to be there to welcome her home when she returned on Saturday. So on the weekend Andrew, Dad and I boarded Two Up and sailed out to the heads to join Jessica as she crossed the line. I can admit I teared up a little as we sailed through the heads, part of the flotilla of honour with hundreds of other boats. It was worth the wait (3 hours!) and braving the swell (3 m!) to be there. Good on ya Jessica!

Apparently I have a girl crush on Jessica Watson. Is it wrong to have a 16 year old as a role model?

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

A day sailing on Sydney Harbour in the sunshine with my family. A day that will make it harder to go back to cold and grey London (in just a few days too *sob*).













More photos on Flickr.

On Sunday Richard, Trevor, Patrick and I completed our Introductory Sailing Course at Eastsail. We spent 7 hours on the harbour learning to sail (we had previously done two half day sessions). At lunch time we anchored in Camp Cove, and in the afternoon we headed over to Manly. The course was lots of fun and I look forward to doing the competant crew course. Check out the photos here.

Last Sunday, Richie (happy bday for today), Paddy, TD and I went sailing! We had our first lesson on how to sail a 31' yacht. We had a perfect sailing day - 25 degrees, 5/10 knot NE winds and not a cloud in the sky. I was surprised by how busy we were for the whole lesson and didn't get a chance to take any photos until the end. It was a great day and I'm hanging out to hit the harbour again next week.

Richie, just after we got back to the marina	TD, Alan, Richie and Paddy	Belisha the 31' Beneteau