Official Jessica Watson Blog

Well the most exciting news is that I set off again early this morning and I'm now sailing along at 7kts heading out to sea before turning south for Sydney. It's great to be out here and it's been a good first day! For the last week we've all been steadily plodding away to get Ella's Pink Lady back on the water and sailing again. We have been retesting everything and installing a few new pieces of new equipment. 

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It’s been a crazy few days here on the Gold Coast with all the media hype, so sorry about the delay on the updates. Ella’s Pink Lady finally hit the water again yesterday and what a relief to get back out sailing again. 

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There's not a huge amount to report apart from the fact that everything's still going really well. All the work to the hull is finished up, and the rig will be in any day. 

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The repairs and work on Ella's Pink Lady are almost completely finished up. So it will be out of the shed and into the water early next week before the rig goes in some days later. Watching Ella's Pink Lady slowly come back together again has been great and everyone at the yard is so keen to help and fun to spend time with. 

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Things are going well in the shed. The hull and deck damage has been patched, and the damaged fittings are being replaced. The new rig is well underway. The guys have been powering away. So, I've been spending my time keeping up with everything that's happening, getting my hands dirty and being part of all the decisions. 

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Things are back on track already and that’s mostly thanks to Dean and the team at Gold Coast City Marina and also Joe at Australian Marine Enterprises (AME). Immediately after hearing the news of the accident, Gold Coast City Marina and AME stepped forward and offered to repair the damage and see that Ella’s Pink Lady gets back on the water as soon as possible. Ella’s Pink Lady has been treated like royalty and we’ve all been made to feel completely at home at such a fantastic facility.

After coming out of the water and into a shed on Thursday, work is already well underway. The damaged rigging, lifelines and bow fitting have been removed and the first layers of fiberglass have been laid on over the damaged areas. All things considered I’m still marveling at how well we did come off. Talk about a tough little boat. As we’ve been going over Ella's Pink Lady

What a week. From the highs of departing Mooloolaba, my home port, with family, friends and media waving me off, to the incredible turn of events soon after. 

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The last few days have been pretty busy in the lead up to departure from the Sunshine Coast this morning. After feeling like I’d never get away for so long, the last few days have been a bit of a blur! 

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Amazingly, packing all the food into Ella's Pink Lady has been going well, after all that initial panicking, everything's actually fitting in so well. The mounds of food piled up in the spare room have somehow fitted neatly into the bow. With Mum putting the hard work in to ensure that everything's packed in the right order hopefully there aren't too many phone calls starting along the lines of 'Mum where's the...?'  

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Wow, some exciting news! You may have seen by now that Ella Bache have stepped on board as our major sponsor. I feel really proud to be representing such a great brand. Ella Bache have a long history in sailing and were heavily involved in the 18 foot skiffs in the 90s, that was all before my time but it was a pretty big thing back then. 

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