Jessica Watson in Austrailian Waters and Pandora still on the hard

While I much rather be writing about sailing or working on Pandora, I can always fall back on writing about Jessica Watson who's just recently made it back to Australian waters.  It's quite remarkable that Jess has made it just about the entire way around the world and now has made it back to her home waters.  She still has a lot of miles to go but much of her journey is now behind her.

While it's hard to find any sort of mainstream media covering sailing in the US, Jess has been the subject of much popular broadcasting in Australia since leaving home back in October.   I noticed today that a local TV program, Thursday Night Live, has done yet another segment about her voyage.  In this particular segment, it's fun to hear the interplay between Jess and the interviewer (in particular the women asking the questions) to see how she (the interviewer) is clearly amused and perhaps repulsed by the idea of going so long without a shower. This disbelief combined with "what could you possibly do to entertain yourself for all of this time" is a clear undercurrent of the discussion.  Take a look at this video and think about the typical 16 year old going 9 months without a shower.  That in itself is remarkable and to some a feat nearly equal to someone so young sailing alone around the world.   The shower thing is impressive enough. You be the judge.

As for Pandora, she splashes next Friday and I can't wait. Happily, we have our first rendezvous of the season planned with another SAGA 43 the very next day and that will be great fun. With so many chores and projects behind us, it's hard to imagine that launch time is nearly here.

Lately, I have been very focused on our Summer itinerary including crew for the long runs up the coast and making lists of what I need to have on board. All this plus a long list of weekend adventures including special outings with my grown boys, Chris and Rob with their friends.  Awesome!

Here's to the best sailing season yet and to Jess's homecoming. Both will be great, I am sure.