Half Way, 100 Days & Thank You!
25-Jan-2010
Jessica has now passed the halfway mark in her attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. She has now been sailing for 100 days and is approximately 1,500 nautical miles ahead of where we thought she'd be at this stage of her voyage.
Whilst Jessica still has another 11,000 nautical miles to cover, her parents Roger and Julie and all of her shore team are delighted to know she's officially homeward bound.
Jessica has been recovering after being hit by a raging storm on Friday in the southern Atlantic Ocean that damaged some of her equipment and left her bruised.
Another low pressure system is expected to cross Jessica’s path in the next 24 hours, with more forecasts of gale-force winds. But we are hoping she manages to avoid this one.
The good news is that Jessica has managed to catch up on some sleep and is again well-prepared.
There have been so many thousands of messages coming through in the past week, it has been impossible to reply to everyone. But Jessica and all her team would again like to extend a huge thank you to all the bloggers and supporters, especially after the big storm.
Bruce Arms of our shore team said the storm made it a tough 24 hours for everyone, but delighted with the way Jessica dealt with it.
“This was one of the hardest parts of the voyage to date for Jessica, her family and the team. The storm was a lot stronger than forecast, but Jessica and Ella’s Pink Lady (EPL) were well prepared for it,” said Bruce.
“Jessica showed incredible mental, physical strength and endurance during this tough time to bring EPL and herself through the storm. I am very proud of the way Jessica dealt with the situation and also the way the team all worked well together. It was a nervous time for everyone, but the outcome was truly wonderful and Jessica will carry on a stronger person”.
“This storm has showed Jessica to have all the seamanship skills to get through most things that the sea can throw at her and EPL”.
We can only hope that there won’t be any more storms as bad as that one, but if there is, we are all confident Jessica will handle it.
It is comforting to know that Jessica has so many fans urging her along, helping her to achieve her dream of sailing back into Sydney in May.
