Official Jessica Watson Blog

Yesterday was a nice calm day so I decided it was time to have a go at climbing the mast. Down came the mainsail, on went the main electric auto pilot, on went my dorky helmet and up I went. Ella's Pink Lady hasn't got the tallest mast and there wasn't much of a sea, but I certainly felt every little roll up there! 

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Mostly it's just been a normal day out here, not a lot of wind but just enough to keep us moving on a gentle sea at a steady 5 knots. 

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For the first time in over two weeks I saw something man made other than Ella's Pink Lady (drum roll please!). It was a small white piece of plastic that floated by this morning while we were becalmed for a short while. Not all that exciting, but it made me think about just how completely in the middle of nowhere I really am and about how every mile is taking us further into a pretty much empty stretch of ocean. It's still strange to think that I'm probably hundreds of miles from the nearest person, in fact it's now almost two months since I've seen anyone. Sure I've seen other boats but none of them have come close enough toactually make out the crew. 

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For the last few days we've had a dark and slightly eerie sky and a building sea. The wind picked up for a while and was expected to hit about 40 knots and I have been waiting for some action. But it looks like we've missed out this time as we've just sailed clear of the squash zone (an area where two weather systems come together). Oh well, there's always next time. I can't see there being any shortage of strong winds further south. Call this one a practice run! 

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I've been having a busy few days doing jobs and double checking everything before we get too far south, all the while flying along in great sailing conditions. Of course possibly the most important job of all had to be the installation of a safety strap for the crew, my stuffed toys! Hope you liked yesterday's pic. 

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It's been a nice and pretty uneventful day, what with being so far from land and home it must seem a bit strange but it felt just like a Sunday out here today, don't ask me to explain exactly how a Sunday feels but that's just how it felt! 

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We've had that messy sea and squally conditions for the last few days but the clouds and squalls have well and truly cleared out today, leaving Ella's Pink Lady to fly along in picture perfect trade wind conditions. The trade winds are the name given to the band of steady south easterly winds in this part of the world but what the books don't say is how lovely the sunshine is, how nice it is to have a steady breeze and how amazingly blue the water looks speckled with whitecaps. Maybe it's just that I'm just in a particularly good mood and seeing everything through happy glasses but I don't think it gets much better than this! 

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Just a quick update, it's been another squally overcast day and tonight's become a bit bouncy with the wind gusting to 30 knots and the seas standing up as we pass over a shallow patch. The winds been very shifty, every time I put my head on the pillow to catch some sleep something always seems to happen and back on deck I go, it's a pity that Parker cant also trim the sails and navigate! No complaints though and we're still making great time south! 

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Still good progress south but the big news for today is that I actually turned one of my little Hella cabin fans off this morning for the first time in weeks! Two little fans probably don't sound like anything to write home about but believe me they've been a total lifeline, running constantly and doing a great job of helping me keep cool. Maybe it's too soon to start hoping, but it finally feels like it's started getting cooler over the last few days. You can be sure that it will be no time at all and I'll be complaining about the cold! 

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