"It's been a long walk on the beach..." - Jessica Watson

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ A still from the TV screening TODAY of a moment in Australian History when a young 16 year old Queenslander sailed home into Sydney Harbour.
(The reflected element intruding on the bottom left is my coffee table!
Somehow the yacht becomes like a model boat!
How symbolic!)
She had spent 210 days circumnavigating the world - alone - in a yacht.
Ella was emblazoned on her sails but she was fondly called Pink Lady.
~
The little Yanmar engine is going again! A little delicately, but it is running with a water transfer pump rigged up in place of the fuel pump which had stopped working. It's pretty dodgey with all the miss matching hoses but should do the job. Apart from the kick I got from actually managing to fix something, it was quite a relief as we've pretty much had no wind at all the last two days, so the batteries were lower than I'd thought. - A Working Engine - May 10
AND
I've spent the day on deck watching us surf along with a grin from one seriously cold ear to the other numb one (and right now I'm paying the price with a badly wind burnt face!)
- So Close and What I'm Going To Miss - May 13 2010
The young girl with bubbling enthusiasm right to the end is
JESSICA WATSON.
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman - from the TV screening of an interview onboard with Jessica
~
Writer's Island 2010 ~ Prompt #3 ~ The Key
One Single Impression #116 ~ Trembling
Carry on Tuesday #53 ~ This week our prompt is a special one to set the tone for our first birthday here at Carry On Tuesday. Translated from Latin, it’s from good old Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BC)!
Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.
Sunday Scribblings #215 ~ Recipe

~

210 days
An adventure
Lathered with
Trembling swells
Under currents
Wild surf and
Glassy reflections
~
210 days
And in the clouds
Cynics come and go
Mouthing
Why's and woes
~
210 days
Channelling the spirit of Penelope
Taking her along for the ride
(Odysseus weaves
Latent Time
At home)
~
210 days
And in the skies
Cynics come and go
Mouthing
Sighs and no's
~
210 days
3 hours late
But Sydney Harbour smiles
And so does the Prime Minister
Welcome Home Little Traveller
We love heroes
But she disagrees
I am no hero
I am completely ordinary
I dared to dream
Reality
The recipe for achieving is
Believing
(Unbelievably
The Prime Minister still smiles)
~
210 days
No more
~
And somewhere up there
Dry cynics are
Vacuumed
Invisible
Dialogue
Let us celebrate
~
Let us celebrate the occasion with
The wine of the moment
Bright sunlight
Trailing
On glistening waters
Offering
Sweet
Silent words
The Key
To Anyone
~
Extract from Jessica's last post Across the Line - May 15:
Hi everyone just a really quick update to let you know I’m across the line and have had the most amazing day (mega mega under exaggeration!). I ended up crossing the line a few hours late, to a totally overwhelming welcome, way way beyond anything I’d ever imagined. It would take a very long time to tell you all about it, so I’ll save that for another time. Seeing everyone again and finally getting those hugs was really something special!

I’ll keep writing this blog for a little while, to tell you all about how I’m finding life back on land, but I have a feeling that there’s going to be just too much to tell so you’re going to have to wait for the book!
~

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ From the TV coverage, a shot of welcoming boats on Sydney Harbour.