Summaries

Synopsis

Jessica grew up on the sunshine coast in Australia !! The family lived next to the ocean. She practically lived on her family boat. She started sailing as a teenager. She was captivated by the allure of the sea. She studied the ocean for 4 yrs and learnt everything about sailing boats. She worked 3 part time jobs and saved money, to achieve her dream of sailing around the world.

In 2009, 16-year-old Jessica Watson (Teagan Croft) dreams of becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and unassisted, which means she must sail alone and not dock at any port along the way. The journey is estimated to take 200 days, and she must cross the equator and all meridians of longitude. Her team consist of her parents (Julie (Anna Paquin), Roger (Josh Lawson)), three siblings (TOm (Stacy Clausen), Emily (Bridget Webb) & Hannah (Vivien Turner)), and her coach Ben Bryant (Cliff Curtis): a disgraced, former competitive sailor. When on her boat, the Pink Lady, Jessica communicates with the team via satellite phone. Ben has circumnavigated solo around the globe, 3 times himselfJessica met Ben at the pier, when she was still a kid, and asked him to coach her. She says She is an adventurer and an explorer.

On a test run, Jessica's boat is hit by a freighter that strayed off course. She didn't notice the oncoming ship because she forgot to turn on her alert system before going to bed. Ben asks the family not to call in the coast guard as the media is waiting for her to fail and would to see her limping back to dock in Sydney. She was only 20 miles away from Sydney.The accident raises skepticism among the media as to whether Jessica can safely achieve her goal (this was night one of her only test run). Her parents are also worried, but continue to support her ambitions. She is a target, if she succeeds, she is a hero. If she sails, tragedy sells.Jess is confident. She has sailed for 10,000 miles and she is qualified. She is prepared. The media questions her parents for being too irresponsible, given Jessica forgot to turn on her alarm system.. But they want her to follow her dreams.Media also questions if Ben is the right coach, since he lost one of his crew members during the Millenium cup.

Roger wants to buy new equipment to repair the damage on her boat. But they don't have enough money. Ben wants to patch things up where possible and get her on her way in 2 weeks, before the southern oceans fill up with ice. The sponsors are not responding to Jessica's call, and her hopes of making this yrs sailing deadline are fading fast.Ben rounds up some of his mates, who are happy to volunteer, and get them working to fix Jessica's boat. to count as circumnavigation, Jessica cannot enter any port, has to cross all lines of longitude and round all 4 capes (Cape Horn, Cape Agulhas, Cape Leeuwin and the Cape of SE Tasmania).

Jessica sets off on her journey from Sydney, Australia (on 18th Oct 2009), and things go smoothly (she calls in daily and provides her coordinates to Ben and Roger, who track her progress on a map.. Day 12, she is already nearing Fiji in the Pacific Ocean. Day 33 she crosses the equator 4356 miles from home) until she encounters her first big storm. Deciding to ride it out, Jessica lowers her sail (launches her drogue, which is kind of like a soft anchor) and retreats to her cabin. The waves are so violent that she is knocked unconscious and doesn't awake until the next morning. Her parents fear she is concussed, but Jessica assures them she's fine and continues her trip.Day 50 and she nears the South American coast. She maintains a video blog and Hannah shares the address with the press. Soon, the video blog goes Viral. Day 72 she is 9504 miles away from home, in the Pacific OCean.Cape horn is always tough. This is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean and leads to winds and currents crashing into each other, resulting in huge waves. Jessica gets to Cape Horn on day 82, 10824 miles from home.

A period of no wind occurs around day 113, 12884 miles from home, and Jessica's boat remains stationary for a week. During this time, she suffers from depression and loneliness. She has a heated argument with Ben and cruelly reminds him that, while competing in the New Zealand Millennium Cup, one of his crew members died under his command. He angrily quits the project in response. Jessica's mother encourages her frustrated daughter to lift her spirits by singing David Bowie's "Starman" while looking at the brightest star in the sky.

The wind returns after more than a week and Jessica continues her journey. She eventually nears Australia and is about one thousand miles from Sydney. Before she can reach home, she encounters three storms that merge. Her mother asks her to head to port and abandon her circumnavigation attempt. winds are 70 kmph with 40 foot swells. Ben returns and advises her to alter the route (which would make her miss the 4th cape), effectively abandoning her official circumnavigation. Jessica refuses to give up and chooses to ride it out. Meanwhile she is aware that the boat is springing a leak and would not withstand the pressure of a monster storm. Her plan is not to use the drogue and instead move her boat with the storms to reduce the pressure on its hull. She is up against 60 foot waves and she plans to ride over them. Day 198, Jessica takes the storm, head on.The storm proves to be far more violent than the last one. The Pink Lady capsizes and is thrust 15 feet (4.5 meters) underwater. This sets off the boat's emergency locator beacon, and the team fears Jessica may have drowned.

The Pink Lady, however, resurfaces and rights herself. Jessica informs her family that she and the boat are safe. She returns to Sydney Harbor, 210 days after she left. Her team and a crowd spectators (80,000 strong at the Sydney Harbor) are there to welcome her home on 15th May 2010.The epilogue reveals that Jessica was named the 2011 Young Australian of the Year, has written two books despite having dyslexia, and is still an avid sailor.