True Spirit: The Aussie girl who took on the world

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No, at least not on her round-the-world trip. "That happened on a sea trial," she clarifies. She did use a fork, having gotten the idea from sailor Jesse Martin, who forgot his brush when he circumnavigated the globe. The movie finds Jessica (Teagan Croft) taping two forks together and using that as a brush. In her book True Spirit, she stated, "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!" Her manager, Andrew Fraser, defended her journey by pointing out that the WSSRC does not recognize records achieved by sailors who are not yet eighteen, so their input doesn't matter. He argued that it was never stated she would be going for a world record, simply that she would become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, nonstop, and unassisted ( Brisbane Times). No. Technically, her primarily southern journey did not go far enough north of the equator to satisfy the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC) to be a true around-the-world trip. The WSSRC, which is the official record body, recognizes a full circumnavigation of the globe as having traveled an orthodromic distance (great circle) of at least 21,600 nautical miles, the circumference of the Earth. According to Sail-World.com, Jessica's voyage came up at least 2,000 nautical miles short and therefore would not go into the WSSRC's record books as a full global circumnavigation. It started with the trailer for the Netflix movie. I’m not normally drawn to “based on a true story” books or movies but that trailer immediately hooked me so when it finally released I watched the movie and needed to know more about Jessica Watson and her story! What an incredibly inspiring individual. I’m blown away by what she accomplished at only 16 and I enjoyed reading about every moment of her journey. Her dedication, passion, and grit at such a young age really goes to show that anyone can do anything if they dream big enough and want it bad enough. Which is the very message she wanted to convey throughout the course of her book. I feel so inspired to continue chasing my own dreams. To continue to dream big! If Jessica Watson, at the age of 16, can circumnavigate the entire world entirely alone, experiencing multiple near-death experiences, then I can write and publish those books. I can become my own boss and work for myself. I can improve my drawing and other creative abilities. If Jessica can do something as challenging as sail around the world, then I can accomplish my own dreams that just don’t seem as daunting in comparison. Not that my dreams aren’t just as important, they just seem so much more doable now! Now a Netflix film* The inspiring true story of Jessica Watson—an Australian teenager who set out to sail solo around the world!

By that point, Jessica had roughly 6,000 ocean and 6,000 coastal miles of sailing experience. She had also taken numerous courses, including several maritime safety and first-aid courses. She completed a radar course, diesel engine course, radio operator course, and a yachtmaster ocean theory course. Since her voyage, Jessica has maintained a pretty private life. However, her public appearances mostly take the shape of inspiring speeches or podcast interviews. This is a book for adventurers, for those who aspire, for those who are in pursuit of a dream, for those looking to defy the odds. Below are some of my favorite quotes from part one:

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Circumnavigating the globe is impressive as it is, but in Jessica's case, she was also a 16-year-old girl. In a year when most 16-year-olds were planking and doing the stanky leg, Jessica was sailing around the world solo. Earlier this month, Netflix premiered True Spirit, starring Titans' Teagan Croft as Jessica Watson. The movie also features Cliff Curtis, Anna Paquin, and Josh Lawson. True Spirit gives its viewers an honest and inspiring look at a remarkable story of determination and grit while also being littered with hits from the time, like Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream," or "Geronimo" by Sheppard in a way that captures the essence of the early 2000s perfectly. I loved this memoir of adventure and I wanted to read it before watching the Netflix movie adaption that is now available for viewing. Whilst reading this memoir I was very sad to hear that Jessica has suffered personal trauma in her life recently when her long-term partner suffered a catastrophic stoke at the age of 29, and passed away 6 weeks later. My heart goes out to this incredibly strong young woman. Her parents and three siblings are supportive, as well as her sailing coach Ben (Cliff Curtis), but the rest of the world seems to be waiting to see her fail. Some simply state that the 16-year-old girl is incapable of sailing a ship by herself all the way around the world, but there are also child welfare groups that question whether her parents should be allowing her to do the challenge. But despite the worries of Roger (Josh Lawson) and Julie (Anna Paquin), they support her desire to be the youngest person to complete the journey. The last part of the book chronicles the incredible welcome that Jessica received after completing her record breaking voyage, as a country stopped to welcome home one of its own who dared to carry on in the face of adversity, and fulfill her ambition.

Every once in a blue moon someone comes along and has a different take on how to live life. All of us, when we were young, read about people doing amazing things, but how many of us, when the book was put down, said to themselves, "I could do that " and then went about doing it!True Spirit by Jessica Watson is the memoir of the Aussie girl who took on the world. At the age of 16, from October 2009 to May 2010, sailing her 34-foot yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady, Jessica circumnavigated the globe. This made her the youngest person to sail non-stop, solo, and unassisted around the world. The journey took her 240 days and she sailed 23,000 nautical miles.

The part I liked most about the novel was that she was always so positive. Throughout the book Jessica faced life threatening events but with her positive nature and incredible sailing ability she managed to push through it. As she sailed she also updated a blog which she recorded all her events. When i read some of them it felt like i was out their with her!She was a very good, detailed writer. My favorite quote that Jessica wrote in one of her diary entries was "You are only as big as the dreams you dare to live.” This is a really good quote that inspires me to set goals because she has proven to me that if you work hard enough they can come true. This quote was one of her many words of wisdom but for me i can relate to this one most. Tilda Swinton is remarkable in The Eternal Daughter 24 November, 2023 Bradley Cooper's Maestro will win Oscars - lots of them 24 November, 2023 Does it matter if Napoleon gets its facts wrong? 22 November, 2023

We had all come to terms with the dangers involved in what I was planning, so we didn’t let this stop us.” The day the movie “true spirit” I watched it. And the day after. And the day after that. And then about 15 more times after that. I had no idea who Jessica Watson was before the movie was recommended to me on Netflix but after watching the movie I needed to read the book too and I can confidently say this was incredibly beautiful and powerful too! She really is such an inspiration!

Any age record is eventually broken…Ultimately, this wasn’t about a record—I was looking for a challenge.” Did Jessica perform the tradition of dunking herself in salt water when she crossed the equator for the first time? I wasn’t sailing around the world to become famous…I wasn’t thinking it was a great way to make money…I was setting off on this epic trip to challenge myself, to see if I could do it, and to show others that it is possible to make a dream a reality. My family and I knew the risks involved, and we knew it was going to be a hugely demanding journey both physically and mentally. I had faith in the boat, my sailing abilities, and the support I had…I’d know soon enough if I had what it takes.” Jessica says that she handled it "really well." "I'm not sure if that means that I'm really simple or not, but I really did enjoy being by myself," she told 60 Minutes Australia. "I obviously really missed everyone, you know, from the day, the minute I started out of Sydney Harbour, you know, it was something's missing and I missed everyone so badly, but I did, I really enjoyed it. You know, once I got used to it, I enjoyed, you know, the sort of freedom, the independence of being by yourself."I also learned so much about sailing through this book! (I knew absolutely nothing about the subject) and that I found intriguing as well. There is something different about adventurers; about the way their minds work. They look at the world as a place of challenges and though they know what fear is, they refuse to be hindered by it. The True Spirit movie true story confirms that in the latter portion of her journey, Jessica encountered three monster low-pressure systems that formed in succession off Antarctica and surged through the Southern Ocean, producing 50-knot winds and gigantic waves up to 12 meters (39 feet) high. Jessica's solo, nonstop, unassisted around-the-world journey took 210 days (approximately seven months) and she logged 24,285 nautical miles, though her officially recognized sailing distance was considerably less. She departed Sydney Harbour on October 18, 2009 and returned on May 15, 2010.