Official Jessica Watson Blog

Well that's it. Another ocean and  cape down! It took a while with light winds for the last few days but Ella's Pink Lady has passed under Cape Agulhas, but being 400nm south of land I couldn't quite see it this time. A bright orange half moon and a spectacular sky of stars was enough of a celebration. But of course, I also put a bit of a dent in the chocolate supplies and let off a few party poppers!

There's still so many miles to cover across the Indian and then around the bottom of Australia, but it really feels like we're on the homeward leg now. Only 4,200nm till Cape Leeuwin and Australia, a very exciting and slightly scary thought!
The lovely weather over the last few days has more than made up for our slowish speeds. As a high pressure system passed over us, we've had perfect clear skies, warm sunshine, gentle seas, plenty of birds and the odd
albatross for company. In between a lot of enjoying the sunshine and contemplating how perfect it all was, I also used the quiet conditions to keep up with a few jobs and give everything a good double-check over. I made a total mess re-applying Sika flex to the odd persistent leak. Also snapped another two needles and put a few holes in my hands re-stitching one of the tears in the mainsail, then threaded on new windvane lines after finally giving up on the chafed and scruffy old set.

I think that last picture and caption in the blog may have needed a little more explanation. To cut a long story short it was the result of an amusing conversation, fun and slightly ridiculous challenge set by Don McIntyre and Mike Perham! For anyone who isn't familiar with the background, Don and Margie McIntyre are the guys the loaned me Ella's Pink Lady and provided an incredible kickstart to the voyage and project. Mike's the current record holder for 'youngest round' record (not to be confused with Jesse Martins non-stop, unassisted voyage) and he's also a friend. Despite the damage I'm hoping to do to his record Mike has been amazingly supportive. Anyway it's worth a read at www.bountyboat.com/  to see what Don and Mike are up to at the moment and why Don won't be there to see us sail back into Sydney.

As always, good things can't last forever and with a front and some nasty weather expected tomorrow, my quiet few days are over for now. Back to reality and more typical Southern Ocean sailing. Hopefully we can use the strong winds to make a serious dent into the Indian Ocean!

Jesse