Jessica's Journey Begins...

After colliding with another vessel while asleep at the helm, schoolgirl Jessica Watson has polarised public opinion over her attempt to be the youngest person to sail unassisted and solo around the world.

There're many sceptics pointing to her youth and lack of deep-water sailing experience. Still, society would be no safer if we stamped down hard on adventurism, beyond reasonable safeguards. Adventurous spirits are not easily denied: in this case a young Aussie teenager is pushing tolerances...and isn't that what teenagers do? Sometimes all you can do is try to help them be as safe as you can, be poised to help if it's needed, and worry like hell.

Her family certainly believe in her: they describe her as well-prepared, incredibly focussed and unbelievably mature for a 16 year old girl.

So, Jessica set sail today from Sydney on her 23,000 mile/8-month voyage in her little 34ft.boat, "Ella's Pink Lady" (which she describes as "really cute, but really tough as well.").
I'll be posting on her progress from time to time, or for more, check out her website and blog.