Jessica Watson

Possum · Post by **Possum** » 6th May, '10, 13:45

What an amazing young lady. I'm sure her parents have been on tender hooks for the last 7 months, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to allow one of my children the freedom to challenge their dreams when so much risk was involved.

Hats off to her and her family

cromasaig · Post by **cromasaig** » 6th May, '10, 16:16

Hats off to her indeed. And a very big kick up the arse to her family for allowing a 16 year-old to do something so unbelievably dangerous.

Possum · Post by **Possum** » 6th May, '10, 17:51

Now why would you say that.. Not all people develop at the same speed. From her blog she appears to be a very capable and mature person. It is not pure luck that has got her around the world unaided, rather skills, knowledge and determination.

cromasaig · Post by **cromasaig** » 6th May, '10, 18:53

I'm not denying her talents and skill in any way and she's clearly exceptional. But in my opinion, it was irresponsible of her parents to allow her to do this alone. I'd have insisted that another experienced sailor go along - even if they agreed to do nothing to help unless there was a genuinely life-threatening situation. She'd have still done the journey unaided - it would still be a singular achievement. I presume the reason they couldn't is that she was going for a record, and again, IMO, they shouldn't have allowed that to take precedence.

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 6th May, '10, 19:53

Far too young for me to be interested. Wait at least 4 years....

Possum · Post by **Possum** » 7th May, '10, 09:14

One of the challenges of being a parent is knowing when to loosen the umbilical cord, when to believe enough in your “babys” abilities to make their own decisions and be master of their own life. As a parent I want 3 things;
1. When they are asked about their mother they say “she is an awesome mum”
2. They discover their passions and follow them. I do not care what those passions are (quilting, mountain climbing, playing cards or deep sea diving) as long as they do not harm others and it brings them happiness.
3. They have a strong moral fiber/belief system.
I have a son the same age. Would I allow/approve of him sailing solo and unaided around the world? NOPE! I doubt he would make it out of the harbor:)
It is not his passion and he has not spent years showing and developing the love, skills, capabilities and knowledge. If he had then I would have to support him even if I hated every moment of it. At some stage their life becomes their own – for some its earlier than others.

Note to self.....warn my daughters about dirty old men like FB

Scrummy Mummy · Post by **Scrummy Mummy** » 7th May, '10, 09:21

A great philosophy Poss.

Hard to know whether I'd "allow" this as Mini is only 3, hard to imagine him at 16. I'm always amazed when I look at, say, tennis players how young and yet how mature they are.

Although I am, apparently already the best Mummy in the world.

(Btw, you coming Monday? See TLC.)

Possum · Post by **Possum** » 7th May, '10, 09:27

I will be following one of my passions on Monday

sorry

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 7th May, '10, 09:42

Surely there was a small armada of other crafts accompanying her: photographer, journalist, documentary crew, etc. and probably someone trained for medical emergencies. I'll bet she was in constant radio/video contact, tracked with GPS navigation and kitted with the latest in NASA space age polymer doo dads.

I totally see Crom's argument, but I doubt "solo" means that she was truly on her own.

baloo · Post by **baloo** » 7th May, '10, 10:05

I'm pretty sure she was Solo LVS. It mentions that when she arrives in Sydney it will be the first time she's seen another person in the flesh since October.

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 7th May, '10, 10:18

Is there a distance at which other boats could tail her but still remain far enough away for her to be considered sailing solo?

But really, hats off to this girl. It's an amazing accomplishment.

Morrolan · Post by **Morrolan** » 7th May, '10, 11:42

there's a 13 year old girl in the Netherlands who wanted to do the same thing late last year, but she's been placed under state supervision to prevent the father from letting her go.

Possum · Post by **Possum** » 7th May, '10, 13:00

Personally I feel there is a huge difference between 13 and 16 - when Jessica arrives back next week she will be 17.
The State also recognizes the shift from child to young adult during this time (15-17yrs), when they have the right to leave school, gain full-time employment and marry etc.

sundaymorningstaple · Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » 7th May, '10, 16:03

In Singapore you can marry at 16 legally if your are a girl. Is that any less dangerous?

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 7th May, '10, 17:53

baloo wrote:I'm pretty sure she was Solo LVS. It mentions that when she arrives in Sydney it will be the first time she's seen another person in the flesh since October.

Sounds like great fun! Let's all watch out for the flashers in Sydney Harbour!

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 7th May, '10, 17:56

Possum wrote:Personally I feel there is a huge difference between 13 and 16

Gary Glitter probably agrees.....

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 8th May, '10, 07:21

With today's modern technology you can probably sail your boat around the world from the comfort of your own home. The actual sailing bit is not as difficult as it used to be. The difficulty is actually getting into a boat and being sometimes thousand of miles from help if something went wrong. To those of you who think she was followed by a support group of hundreds of boats and stuff, she wasn't. If something had gone wrong she would probably have died.

The thing that amazes me is that she wanted to do it. At sixteen I had about a billion things I would have preferred to do (at least half of which involved the opposite sex) than sticking myself into a small boat on my own for a year. Maybe she fell out with her friends.

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 8th May, '10, 09:22

Whereas I only wanted to do one thing to members of the opposite sex. Maybe a half a billion times though.

baloo · Post by **baloo** » 11th Jun, '10, 11:12

It's not looking good for Abby Sunderland, the 16yo solo round the world sailor. Lost contact in the Indian Ocean, believed capsized. No sighting of her or her yacht yet.

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 11th Jun, '10, 11:37

This is the latest entry on her blog:

http://soloround.blogspot.com/

Tas · Post by **Tas** » 11th Jun, '10, 14:47

Good news

Teenage sailor Abby Sunderland has been found.

The Qantas Airbus A330 has located her in the Indian Ocean.

Her father, Laurence Sunderland, told Fairfax Radio his daughter was ‘‘fine’’.

‘‘Abby’s fine... the vessel is upright, the weather conditions are abating and [searchers] actually had communication via radio,’’ Mr Sunderland said.

‘‘We’ve heard the fishing vessel that’s been diverted will rendezvous with her tomorrow and there will be a rescue then.’’

Earlier today, Mr Sunderland said the fate of his daughter, whose emergency beacons were activated in treacherous seas more than 3000 kilometres off the Australian coast, was "in God's hands".

Source: brisbanetimes

Lili Von Shtupp · Post by **Lili Von Shtupp** » 11th Jun, '10, 14:51

That is good news.

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 13th Jun, '10, 10:07

Abby was picked up by a french fishing vessel. What's a french fishing vessel doing in the Indian Ocean?

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 13th Jun, '10, 13:29

Fat Bob wrote:Abby was picked up by a french fishing vessel. What's a french fishing vessel doing in the Indian Ocean?

Fishing?

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 13th Jun, '10, 14:22

Bloody long way from France.

The Singapore Forum

Jessica Watson

Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson

Re: Jessica Watson