Jessica Watson finds 'company' as she heads for the Horn

by Des Ryan on 30 Dec 2009 16-year-old solo sailor and would-be youngest circumnavigator Jessica Watson, now heading south east towards the Southern Ocean and the southern tip of South America, has been keeping company with another sailor in the last few days.

'Keeping company' may be a misnomer, but when you are sailing thousands of miles from home even talking on the radio feels like 'keeping company'.

Dilip Donde is the Indian Naval Commander who is attempting to be the first Indian to circumnavigate the world. On his much larger(47ft) Mhadei, he is catching up fast, on his own way to Cape Horn.

'It's been great to talk to him and compare conditions', observed Jessica.

In the meantime she continues her slow progress towards the Horn in the long swells that typify the Antarctic. Now experiencing 20 knot winds, the typical gray skies of the Southern Ocean, and just 1500 nm from the Horn, she is having colder and colder weather. In her typical upbeat style, Jessica reports being happy with her chocolate pudding and also with her running repairs of replacing shackles on the vang and windvane.

While Jessica could be said to be half way through her voyage in her lolly pink boat Ella's Pink Lady, the most challenging part of the journey is yet to come, with several months to be spent in the unfriendliest waters of the planet, the Southern Ocean.

Jessica had a dramatic start to her solo sailing career when her collision with a cargo ship on her first night at sea garnered her world headlines from the mainstream press. An investigation revealed that she was not utilising some of the safety gear on her boat at the time, and had been asleep at the time of the incident. The boat was dismasted and suffered other damage, which had to be repaired before her departure.

Back in Marina del Ray in Los Angeles, her Californian counterpart, 16-year old Abby Sunderland is feverishly preparing her new Open 40 Wild Eyes for her own assault on the Horn this summer. Abby's is a much faster boat, but more difficult to handle. It's important that she leave soon if she wants to go get the best of the weather in her planned six month circumnavigation voyage.

The third teen with circumnavigation ambitions (though of a more cruising nature, stopping in many ports along the way) Dutch/New Zealander 14-year-old Laura Dekker has been given a conditional green light by a Dutch Children's Court to commence her own voyage next summer.

All three girls have attracted much comment, both positive and negative, from everyone from politicians to experienced sailors about whether they should be allowed to undertake such journeys rather than spending their time at school.