Dispatches Hard lessons for Jessica Watson
Hard lessons for Jessica Watson
As teenage sailor Jessica Watson embarks on a solo, non-stop circumnavigation, she leaves unanswered questions about a collision during a sea trial less than two months before she departed.
At 1:46 a.m. Sept. 9, Watson checked the radar aboard her Sparkman & Stephens 34. It showed a ship about 6 miles away, so the 16-year-old, determining it posed no risk, set her radar's guard zone and alarm clocks, then retired to the cabin for a nap.
Four and half minutes later, she collided with a 63,800-metric-ton bulk carrier.
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on the collision with the Chinese-flagged Silver Yang about 15 miles east of Queensland's Point Lookout. The report was released Oct. 20 - two days after Watson departed Sydney for her record attempt.
An earlier report prompted Australian authorities to publicly ask Watson not to embark on the circumnavigation. In late September, Australia's Maritime Safety Queensland concluded that Watson kept "irregular latitude and longitude entries," did not have course plots, and did not have a fatigue-management plan.
After reviewing the report, acting Queensland Premier Paul Lucas made a personal plea to the Watson family that the 16-year-old give up her attempt, according to published reports. Lucas cited concerns that Watson was not prepared for an undertaking of this magnitude.
Sea trial collision
Watson, who turned 16 in May, is sailing the S&S 34, Ella's Pink Lady, on a non-stop Southern Hemisphere route around the world. She departed Sydney Oct. 18 and, after passing Fiji and Samoa, will head north to cross the equator. She plans to round South America's Cape Horn and South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, then continue to Sydney. To qualify for the record, she must depart and arrive in the same port, cross all lines of longitude, and cross the equator into the Northern Hemisphere at least once, according to information on her Web site.
A month and a half before departing, however, Watson collided with the Silver Yang during a passage from Mooloolaba, Queensland, to Sydney, New South Wales - about 500 nautical miles. The weather and visibility that night were reportedly good, and Ella's Pink Lady was traveling about 7 knots, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's preliminary report. During an instrument check at 1:46 a.m., Watson detected what authorities now believe was the Empress Heaven about 6 miles off her starboard quarter.
"She could not see it visually, but she monitored its progress on the radar for about 1 minute. Once she had determined that it did not present a collision risk, she set the guard rings, set her alarm clocks and then went to bed again," according to the report.
She did not see the Silver Yang about a mile south-southeast of her position.
At 1:50 a.m. the bow of Ella's Pink Lady struck the ship on the port side amidships, and Watson climbed out of the cabin.
"She looked upwards and thought that [it] was likely that the yacht's rigging would become entangled with the ship and dismast her vessel, so she returned to the cabin," according to the report. "A few seconds later, the mast came crashing down."
Ella's Pink Lady suffered damage to the hull, deck, rigging, lifelines and bow.
NEXT: So why didn't a 740-foot ship didn't show up on Watson's radar?