Jessica Watson at the Sydney Boat Show
by Sail-World.com on 2 Aug 2010
Jessica telling her story - Sydney International Boat Show 2010 Sydney International Boat Show .
www.sydneyboatshow.com.au
Jessica Watson has attracted big crowds to the Better Boating Stage at the Sydney International Boat Show, with an impressive presentation.
After her first presentation, she spoke to the media about her just launched book Jessica Watson True Spirit. ‘‘I started on it going around the world and of course I have been working on it now for a few months since.
‘We used the blog post in quite a big way while sailing. In the book I tell you a lot more than I didn’t tell you while at sea. The book is about my inspiration and my life before hand because that is such a big part of the story.
‘The route was all planned very carefully – we went north above the equator in the Pacific first because it gave me a couple of months of settling in before I hit the bad stuff. Basically that was recognized as sailing around the world pretty much, a similar route to Kay Cottee, although she crossed the equator in the Atlantic.
‘I had multiple auto-pilots, ones – I had multiple everything actually. But Parker, my wind vane system did most of the work. It all worked beautifully and so I did not actually have much time on the helm.
Asked by Sail-World about the four knockdowns after rounding Cape Horn Jessica said ‘The biggest problem was I was rolling down across the wave rather than just gently rolling over. I was quite numb while reacting to it – We were upside down, we were 180 degrees over but we came back up the same way.
‘It was quite strange looking back it was quite scary and I didn’t know how badly the damage was. After the fourth big wave and knockdown, I was pretty worried for a while there.
‘Below decks was a mess. First I had to check for damage, before I could clean up. I was exhausted. It took quite a while to get over it. .
‘Now I am on the Book Tour. I am heading everywhere I think I am off to Tasmania from here, Sydney to Melbourne and back up to north. I am really looking forward to quite a bit of traveling.
‘After the book, its back to finishing school, getting my drivers license, I’ve done 30 hours so far.
‘After that, I am going to see where that takes me - a little sailing and racing is what I would love to do.
‘One of the things about sailing around the world some of the other things that have come along – the opportunities are amazing but I never expected the welcome home I’ve received. The whole experience has been amazing to share with people. ‘
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