teen circumnavigator completes trip

[Dutchman]

Despite controversy, homecoming is a magical time for teen sailor Jessica WatsonBy: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

It's the eve of Jessica Watson's return to civilization, after seven months spent sailing around the world, and the 16-year-old Australian brims with excitement.

"It's like the day before Christmas except I don't ever remember getting this excited about Christmas," she posted on her blog.

An estimated 50,000 fans will cheer as the intrepid mariner docks at the Opera House and steps wobbly from a 34-foot pink sailboat on which she will have lived, with stuffed animals as her only companions, for 210 days.

Watson, who has been dubbed "Australia's Salty Lady" by one publication, is timing her arrival into Sydney Harbor for late Saturday morning local time (Friday evening in the U.S.) and she'll receive a hero's welcome despite the controversy now swirling around any record she set during her voyage.

She will NOT, as she had originally hoped, officially be recognized as the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted-- even though she will now be the youngest person to have done precisely that.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council and other record-keeping organizations stopped recognizing "youngest" pursuits recently because they've become so controversial.

Thus, the official record seemingly will forever belong to fellow Australian Jesse Martin, who in 1999, at 18 and after 11 months at sea, completed a more drawn out circumnavigation without stopping or receiving physical assistance.

What's more, in the past few weeks, sailing purists have argued that Watson doesn't deserve the record anyway because she did not sail far enough north of the equator or log enough nautical miles -- the criteria to earn credit for a full circumnavigation -- during her voyage carried out largely in the Southern Ocean, beneath the populated continents.

Andrew Fraser, a spokesman for Watson's team, filed a formal response claiming she met all the criteria.

Watson's supporters also include Martin and England's Mike Perham, who last summer became, at 17, the youngest person simply to have sailed around the world, after completing an "assisted" voyage that required multiple stops for repairs.

Perham told Australia's Sunshine Coast Daily: "Jessica has definitely sailed around the world and she is only 16. Everyone should be proud at what she achieved."

Watson endured gale-force winds that knocked her vessel from side to side so violently that the mast bashed surface water. She navigated through lightening storms and fiery bolts that crackled menacingly alongside her vessel.

She experienced freezing temperatures and excruciatingly long bouts of windless boredom and loneliness, and has not enjoyed a cold soft drink or hot shower for more than 200 days.

Yet, judging from blog reports she seems to always have kept high spirits and her wits, and even remembered her mum last week on Mother's Day.

"I couldn't cook her breakfast in bed or make her a card like she deserves a million times over, so I've saved an extra hug for her when I get in," Watson wrote. "What mum did letting me go and helping me get to the start line while still looking after everyone else is in my eyes much harder than anything I've faced out here."

Watson's parents were harshly criticized for letting their daughter go off on such a potentially perilous journey.

It did not help that her boat, Ella's Pink Lady, collided during the night with a 700-foot freighter as the sailor slept in a busy shipping channel, during a sea trial in advance of her departure.

But her parents did not waver and supporters were as vociferous as critics. In an interview Don McIntyre, a renowned sailor and adventurer, said he was a "passionate believer in the positive values of adventure and responsible risk taking."

McIntyre labeled this an era of sedentary lifestyles and childhood obesity, and added: "Our children are being wrapped in cotton wool to the point that we are now developing a whole generation of marshmallow kids, who are not allowed to go out and scratch their knee or get a bruise."

Watson is not the only 16-year-old girl attempting a controversial solo-circumnavigation. Abby Sunderland, who is five months younger, was recently forced into Cape Town, South Africa, where she's making repairs to her 40-foot cruising sled.

Abby, whose brother Zac last July completed a 13-month, multiple stop circumnavigation, plans only the one stop and if she completes her journey within five months she will unofficially become the youngest person to have sailed around the world.

Watson and Sunderland have recently implied that official records are not as important as the fulfillment of dreams. The sheer sense of accomplishment, according to others who have blazed similar paths, will be sufficient reward.

"They will have lived in ways most people can never experience," said Pat Henry, who authored "By the Grace of the Sea" after completing her solo-circumnavigation in 1997. "They will have touched the highest points possible as well as the lowest."

Henry cautioned, however, that the toughest aspect might be dealing with "the onslaught of attention, and the impact of people again and the unreality of everyday life" upon the return to civilization.

Watson, who is about to discover this first-hand, acknowledged on her blog that it'll require a long time for her achievement to fully sink in.

"It's just too big to get my head around," she wrote.

[callenish gunner]

Aye good on her for her determination and skill! I agree with Mr. MacIntyre it's time to quit molly-coddling our kids or being suit happy over a skinned knee or bump on their noggins. Hell I rode a bicycle for 40 years before I ever wore a helmet and I used a knife and other sharp tools since I was 5-6; and yeah I got cut a few times but I learned safety all the faster for it. Well done lass keep to your dreams