Jessica Watson had NIET solo gezeild

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Wow, dat is een verrassing. Ze had nog nooit alléén gezeild.
Dat stuk van haar thuishaven Mooloolaba in Queensland naar Sydney, waar
onderweg dat schip niet voor haar opzij wilde gaan, was haar eerste solo!!

Dat geeft bijna een vrijkaartje aan Laura Dekker, die vanaf haar 10e
verjaardag niet anders heeft gedaan ;)

Groet / Cees

  Jessica Watson 'grumpy' before voyage
May 16, 2010 - 7:44PM
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/jessica-watson-grumpy-before-voyage-20100516-v5ri.html
AAP

Jessica Watson felt "grumpy" at times before her round the world voyage,
fearing she hadn't built up enough experience for such a momentous
challenge.

But the 16-year-old's confidence never really wavered, she told Channel
Ten on Sunday.

"It was driving me mad because I hadn't actually done any solo sailing,"
she said.

"I knew I could do it, there was just that niggling doubt and that
probably made me a bit glum and grumpy."

The grumps were farthest from her mind on Saturday as tens of thousands
of wellwishers descended on Sydney Harbour to welcome the Queensland
teenager home at the end of her epic 210-day solo voyage around the world.

Jessica said she found living in constant motion much harder than the
physical work of sailing.

"The constant motion, it does get to you after a while, especially after
a rough week," she said.

"All you want to do is just walk around a room or lie down, do anything
without clinging on, holding on the whole time."

And while other people had told her a boat knockdown would feel like
slow motion, Jessica said it seemed much faster.

"It would just suddenly happen and you're upside down or on the side.
Then time sort of stops and you think, 'Oh my goodness'," she said.

Her biggest worry on resurfacing after the yacht righted itself was
finding out what was left on deck, she added.

The teenager, who celebrates her 17th birthday on May 18, said she was
rarely scared at night.

"There are a few times when it's just dead calm and your imagination can
start running away from you," she said.

Jessica's mother Julie Watson spoke of her fears in allowing her
daughter sail single-handedly around the world.

"I definitely hoped that she would choose something else," Ms Watson
said, adding that she would suggest things such as sailing around an
island instead.

"But (Jessica) would just roll her eyes and say, 'Oh, mum'."

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********