Click photo to enlarge
Central Otago family and friends of solo round-the-world
sailor Jessica Watson enjoy an "equator party" yesterday to
celebrate the teenage adventurer's imminent crossing of the
equator. Photo by Lynda Van Kempen.
An "equator party" held by her Central Otago family
yesterday sent pink-tinged support to teenage adventurer
Jessica Watson, who has completed the first month of her solo
round-the-world sailing trip.
The pink theme for the get-together at Ripponvale, near
Cromwell, reflected the colour of the Queenslander's yacht
and marked, a little early, her imminent arrival at the
equator on her 38,000km solo voyage.
The 16-year-old's Lowburn grandparents, Gordon and Margaret
Chisholm; her Ripponvale aunt and uncle, Wendy and Steve
Taylor; her Tarras aunt and uncle, Neville and Jenny
Chisholm; five cousins and assorted family friends were all
present..
Jessica plans to be the youngest person to sail around the
world nonstop, solo and unassisted.
Her aunt, Wendy Taylor, said Jessica had expected to reach
the equator yesterday, so the party was arranged as a show of
support by her family in New Zealand.
But a lack of wind had slowed her down, though she was still
likely to cross the equator today.
"Although we're celebrating a day early, she will be crossing
the dateline, so maybe we can blame it on that," Mrs Taylor
said.
"It's still a major milestone and we wanted to show our
support and let her know we're thinking about her. Quite a
few of our friends have been asking about her progress, so
we've invited them along too."
Jessica began her voyage on October 18 from Sydney and has
about another seven months of sailing to complete her task.
"She's having a ball. This is her dream come true," Mrs
Taylor said.
Although the hardest part of the trip was still ahead of her,
the family was proud of what she had achieved so far.
Jessica had fielded a lot of criticism before her trip and
when her yacht collided with a cargo vessel as she was
sailing from the Gold Coast to Sydney to begin the journey,
she faced calls to abandon her trip.
"I know there's still a few people who knock her, but she's
got even more supporters out there, especially people
involved in sailing, " Mrs Taylor said.
"She's a very determined person but realistic about the task
ahead as well."
Jessica's yacht is named Ella's Pink Lady and, on her web
log, she wrote about being excited to get closer to the
equator.
"One down, seven more months to go," she wrote.
lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz
