Official Jessica Watson Blog

Yes I'm more than a little pleased and very relieved to report that I finally got a fish! (see pic below). That was starting to get a bit silly. My best guess is that it's a yellow fin tuna, its not huge but I'm sure that there will be plenty for everyone! I can't say that there would be many fisherman who would be proud of the mess I made filleting it. I'm just glad there was no one here to witnesses the whole thing, but practice makes perfect right?!

Turns out that wasn't my last tack last night. The wind and current weren't going to make things easy for us, so it was a particularly sleepless night as we tacked and inched along ever so slowly.

Every time I thought that we'd finally cleared the Island, the wind would change slightly and we'd have to put another tack in. It's all a bit frustrating but as always it's hard not to feel cheerful when the stars are shining and the music's turned up.

I spent a lot of the day on deck enjoying the shade from the sails and trying (without much success!) to give the stainless a polish up. Also I've been noticing quite a bit chafe on the windvane lines (not to worry I've got plenty of spares) so have been playing around trying to stop some of the chafe. It's a good reminder of the way Parker is constantly working. There's always something to keep me busy, whether it's wiping the salt crystals off the solar panels, replying to an email or trying to keep up with the house work (boatwork?!) side of things.

There's been a lot of birds around again and I've really been enjoying listening to them call out to each other as they swoop low around Ella's Pink Lady. It made me think about all the other land noise that I haven't heard for so long and that made me a little home sick. But I know as soon as I do get back to land, that I'll miss the constant noise of the water along the hull and all the little creaks and groans as Ella's Pink Lady sails along.

When I checked my emails this morning I found a very serious email from my clearly worried Mum, telling me to watch out for all those 'boys' - I think they could have seen me rolling my eyes from space!

I'd love to write more but it's time for some fun in the galley and the long awaited fish and chips!

Jesse