Solo 16-year-old sailor hits merchant ship

The real choice, the real lesson.

toad_oftoadhall said:
...Single handed sailors don't keep a perfect lookout
...Deal with it, it's a risk they choose to take
...It’s her choice.
...Guess what they choose.
...I think people should get off her back
...Chichester put up with exactly the same criticisms and felt it acutely, as did his wife...
Click to expand...

Funny that you keep talking about "choice" then tell us to "get off her back"..? Her real choice wasn't to sail single-handed, it was to step directly into the media limelight for her own self-glorification. And once you're there, that's it! There's no escaping its attention! Sorry, but SHE has to deal with that, not us. And she cannot have it both ways, no-one can. If she's big enough to willingly engage in a publicised venture of this sort with all the acclaim and money that success would bring, then she has to be big enough to deal with whatever the outcome, including the views of people on an internet forum.

However, if I were in her position, I'd be dwelling on one lesson only: never mind telling everyone how fabulous your shore-team is, tell them the exact truth about what happened and while you're at it remember not to f*c* with the sea - it doesn't care whether you live or die.
 
Last edited:
Searush said:
I still haven't seen anything to explain how or why she couldn't avoid a ship she saw with time to radio it more than once.
Click to expand...

One explanation might be that, like Sir Alec, she was fast asleep when it happened, and in reality there were no radio transmissions. Another might be that there was no wind and she couldn't get the engine going. Or maybe it was something else. We'll have to be patient and wait for the full story to come out.

When I was her age I drove a 50ccmoped into a hedge. Like J I could have been killed. IMHO was right that I was allowed to choose to take on that risk, and it was right that I was allowed to get back on it and (so far) never crash again.

Babylon - I suspect she needs sponsorship to fund her trip and sponsors require publicity. It's part of the sport.
 
IMHO, the initial disaster can possibly be blamed on inexperience singlehanding - not specifically an age related problem.

It is the actions taken after the disaster that show maturity and knowledge. The fact that she got her act together, and tidied up and got to the marina under her own steam is a very important indication that this girl has got what it takes.

She definitely has my support
 
Just some clarification please:
Does anyone know if this young lady has asked for sympathy, understanding or advice.
I can't see any evidence of it.
She went to sea, had an incident - putting only herself in danger (someone will no doubt mention life boats and rescue - that's another matter IMHO), the press got hold of it, the sponsors wanted all the publicity they could get, she gave an interview.
She is not the only (talented, gifted, adventurous, gutsy) young person to be 'supported' by her parents - better than going on Britains (Australias) got talent surely.
 
TEENAGE sailor Jessica Watson and her parents have been given a clear warning by authorities to call off the 16-year-old's solo trip around the world after a damning assessment of her skills.

The Courier-Mail has obtained a copy of the report into a collision between Jessica's yacht and a Chinese bulk carrier this month which shows basic problems led her to a potentially fatal crash off southeast Queensland.

Maritime Safety Queensland inspectors concluded the Sunshine Coast teenager:

* Most probably dozed off before her vessel hit and was dragged alongside the 63,000-tonne cargo ship.

* Did not turn on a device that would have warned her of a potential collision.

* Could not produce a clear, plotted plan for her journey.

* Had not developed a fatigue management plan.

* Kept a log with "irregular latitude and longitude entries".
Click to expand...

Full story
 
* Most probably dozed off before her vessel hit and was dragged alongside the 63,000-tonne cargo ship.
Click to expand...

As a single hander, that is not unlikely.


* Did not turn on a device that would have warned her of a potential collision.
Click to expand...

Forgot the AIS? - many of us don't even have one.

* Had not developed a fatigue management plan.
Click to expand...

err, like having a snooze now & again - like she did? Perhaps she should ask the Pilot of the Pinta to help out (a la Slocomb)


* Kept a log with "irregular latitude and longitude entries".
Click to expand...

That's a bit more worrying as it suggests serious tiredness or incompetence.

None of the above explains how she had time to call 'em on the VHF but not to get out of the way.
 
Well ... so allowing for journalistic licence ... it appears that she did sleep ... AIS detector not on, failed to assess Collision risk from her radar ...

Now lets be honest - how many of YOU would go to sleep with a radar target 6nm indicated ... on pretty well reciprocal course to you ?

It also appears that radio contact was AFTER the collision ... not the multiple calls before collision she first apparently claimed.

One point that is in that news article ... that as a former Seafarer I have trouble with - Why would she claim :

The report says that after the vessels separated, with Jessica's yacht dismasted, she contacted the skipper of the Silver Yang by radio and received an apology and a pledge to pay for the damages.

Sorry but that does not happen ... No Master would ever give such pledge - he'd be out of a job faster than a rabbit gets #$%^&*(

I have sneaking suspicion that young lady is still not telling all ...
 
She

.
The MSQ letter was confidential and made some recommendations which have been adhered to, despite the fact that the incident occurred outside MSQ’s due restriction.

It is disappointing that the MSQ letter has been leaked to the media.

Jessica’s team will continue to treat the MSQ letter as confidential and, as such, will not be making any comment on the contents.
Click to expand...

Which I think is fair enough. Keep as many worms in the can as possible and don't talk to the press when they are not on your side. We can argue about the alleged contents of the letter here though and I think Searush has made all the right points.

As to the bit about
* Kept a log with "irregular latitude and longitude entries".
Click to expand...
- this is not the clearest of phrases. Were the lat/long entries wrong? I doubt it very much - I am sure the lassie can copy numbers off her GPS set. It is more likely to mean that she wasn't keeping an exact hourly log, and that the time intervals between her log entries was irregular. Well, mea culpa also - if you examine the log from any of our long passages you will find that while sometimes there may be a page with a log entry (with lat and long) every two hours all the way down the page this is the exception rather than the rule. At other times there may be longer, irregular intervals between. On a short handed boat other things may be happening and keeping a log at exact regular intervals is not top priority, although a pen pusher in an agency office may feel differently.

I see the deputy premier of Queensland has seen fit to make a public pronouncement even though it is none of his business - Queensland has obviously gone from being a roughie toughie crocodile wrestling frontier to a nanny state in short order. Shame.

Go Jessica! Have a great trip.

- W
 
Sorry Confidential or not ... it's out there ... and the article I read said "Report" was obtained .... didn't read that the Letter to Jess and parents was leaked.

As to them keeping it confi. and not commenting on it - TBH, given what we've read so far - I don't blame them - as it would appear that Australian Authorities are not so comfortable with her doing the solo-nav. IMHO - I would hope that she reconsiders. If not I hope she doesn't meet anymore Ships and decide to go to sleep ....

As to Acting Premier - he is a private citizen as anyone else and is free to comment. The fact that his position makes it news - so be it. The Premier has supported her.
JW does not have Govt backing - she has personal comments by Govt persons. As we've seen before Aussie politicians are not known to keep mouths shut ! :D

Personally - I think the whole affair should be out in the open - reports, letters etc. so that any others who want to jump on the record breaking bandwagon have something to read and think about before casting off and risking themselves ... with all the effort of others thrown in etc.

Oh - a personal comment - nothing to do with the incident .. :) I hate Pink on that boat ... and TBH - the boat looks awful with all that gear fitted etc. and that doghouse !! S&S - good boats though ... just a shame what they've added to it ! IMHO :)
 
Last edited:
From Dyflin's news link:

"It also found Jessica could not produce "course plots on paper charts or waypoints on the plotter"

Even allowing for journalistic licence thats a bit of a damming statement!
 
Why?

"It also found Jessica could not produce "course plots on paper charts or waypoints on the plotter"

Even allowing for journalistic licence thats a bit of a damming statement!
Click to expand...

Well, I must be damned then.

A record of lat and long in the log is more than adequate when offshore. Plotting a pencil line on a chart is only usually necessary when there are stationary obstacles in the vicinity. Neither do I see any necessity to have waypoints set in open water unless you choose to do so for (eg) following a great circle route or putting a marker where you think the butter should begin to melt.

I am afraid that I too would have disappointed the authorities if they think waypoints and paper plots are essential for an offshore passage. The track of the vessel can be plotted afterwards from log entries in the event of an enquiry.

Now, if Jessica had not recorded any lat/long entries at all in the log that might be a little more worrying, but I have not seen anything to suggest that this was the case.

If I was her I would get to sea again as quickly as possible and ignore the press and the rest of the humourless lynch mob.


- W
 
webcraft said:
.
I see the deputy premier of Queensland has seen fit to make a public pronouncement even though it is none of his business - Queensland has obviously gone from being a roughie toughie crocodile wrestling frontier to a nanny state in short order. Shame.

Go Jessica! Have a great trip.

- W
Click to expand...
I think you need to stop digging! Most forumites on here were experienced enough to know her account of events did not tally with most likely sailing scenarios.

I admire Jessica for her guts.

I do not admire anyone, media, parents, forumites who agree that breaking a record solely to do with age is clever or worthwhile. Most record breakers go for elapsed time or outright speed or first time round a given circuit or whatever and are of an age where they will have the experience and maturity to cope with this type of sailing and deal with the risks - and sleep deprivation is a risk in amongst shipping.

Trying to break records for being youngest female etc is idiotic, where does it stop? The sea is unforgiving whatever your age and irrespective of whether you're male, female, pretty or ugly. The idea of proper sailors supporting this type of record breaking attempt is very sad in my opinion and has more to do with themselves saving face due to other earlier comments they might have made than common sense based on the leaked contents of this first report. If not Jessica, then sooner or later another 15 (or 14 or 13) year old will die attempting to break the current age record due to NOT having the experience to stay safe - is that what people really want? I think that's very sad and it's the main reason I have written on this thread as I have done.

I think it's irresponsible to support this type of attempt, Jessica is obviously a very courageous young girl but she should forget age records and so should everyone else in the context of the sea. She should make her name, build her sailing experience and increase her maturity whilst racing in "normal" events until she has the appropriate experience to look after herself.

We're not talking of "Dove" type slow cruises around the World with countless stops, we're talking of record breaking non-stop round the World attempts and to break the record based solely on age, is incredibly dangerous and will be a great loss of life if Jessica or anyone else dies as a result of taking on something they are unprepared for physically or maturely (sp).

We should be putting her off not encouraging her to try again! The Governor of Queensland is absolutely correct, it has nothing to do with "nanny state" it has everything to do with the very high likelihood she, or someone else even younger, will die in what is essentially a very pointless record breaking attempt. Support for this type of record breaking attempt is rather like helping someone climb over the bridge to jump instead of encouraging them to stay alive. Have you read the report? Encouraging her to go again in her current state of immaturity, inexperience and lack of preparedness is stupid.

Cheers, Brian.
 
Re Webcraft-
I agree with you, waypoints etc are not required offshore- but eventually inevitably you will make landfall, and the ability to plot your position and course either on paper or chartplotter will become desirable.
As I read the quote, Jessica was unable to enter waypoints in her plotter, not that she had failed to do so on her short passage.

Refueller is right- the only way to clear up the inconsistencies is to publish the letters and reports etc.
That her team choose to keep them confidential suggests to me that that it must be embarrassing to their cause.
 
Last edited:
webcraft said:
Well, I must be damned then.

A record of lat and long in the log is more than adequate when offshore. Plotting a pencil line on a chart is only usually necessary when there are stationary obstacles in the vicinity. Neither do I see any necessity to have waypoints set in open water unless you choose to do so for (eg) following a great circle route or putting a marker where you think the butter should begin to melt.

I am afraid that I too would have disappointed the authorities if they think waypoints and paper plots are essential for an offshore passage. The track of the vessel can be plotted afterwards from log entries in the event of an enquiry.

Now, if Jessica had not recorded any lat/long entries at all in the log that might be a little more worrying, but I have not seen anything to suggest that this was the case.

If I was her I would get to sea again as quickly as possible and ignore the press and the rest of the humourless lynch mob.


- W
Click to expand...
I'm surprised you even bother to record your coordinates if you think it's unimportant to be able to plot a course subsequently? Surely that's the whole purpose of periodically logging your position? If Jessica has an electronics failure 2000 miles from land how do you propose she finds her way home if she can't plot a course from her last recorded position? I can't believe someone who can't plot a course will know anything about astronav or be aware of any other emergency methods to set a course for land.

Cheers, Brian.
 
I cannot believe she cannot plot a position or imput to plotter - surely ?? That beggars belief ...

I feel a bit of journalistic licence may have crept in ? Why can we not get to the report ? MSQ site is a joke of old stuff - you'd think it would at least keep up as MCA does !!

Anyone got a link or know where this report is ??
 
Ellen MacArthur comments in her book how she came across her first big berg, at sun up. I don't think she knew it was there and it would have been curtains if she hit it. People have hit things on the water as soon as man launched his first boat.

This girl may or may not have certain skills but she seems to have the guts to go for it. In the interview transcript in a previous posting where she talks about going through a mental check list and thinking about her hull state / rigging state sounds to me as if she was working quite methodically in a crisis.

I don't really have an opinion on whether she should or shouldn't sail around the world but I if she does, that's good.

I do think the young get a bad press these days and at 12 and 13 years old many young people are more than capable of doing this sort of thing. You don't have to understand yourself to undertake challenges, you just have to do it.

Its the prerogative of the young to stick two fingers up at their seniors and do it their way. If she dies in the process, so be it. At least she has the opportunity to do this sort of thing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Eh?

I'm surprised you even bother to record your coordinates if you think it's unimportant to be able to plot a course subsequently? Surely that's the whole purpose of periodically logging your position? . . . I can't believe someone who can't plot a course will know anything about astronav or be aware of any other emergency methods to set a course for land.

Cheers, Brian.
Click to expand...
You ought to either read peoples' posts more carefully OR engage your brain before replying.

I did not say it was unimportant to be able to plot a course. The report did not say Jessica was unable to plot a course, it said she did not have a course plotted on paper charts. From the report she obviously had logged her position, but apparently not at regular intervals - which is hardly critical or in any way relevant to the incident.

(And FWI, our 27ft boat carries five independent GPS systems on an ocean passage, two magnetic compasses and a gyro compass, plus a quality sextant and the necessary tables - but people have crossed the Atlantic by just sailing West until they reach land . . . it's everyone's perogative to do it their way and risk their own lives however they wish so long as they do not put others at risk).

My other comment is, what a bunch of miserable boring old farts. The lassie is 16 now, she is an adult and she can damn well make up her own mind if she wants to go sailing, whatever her motivation for it might be.


Go Jessica!

- W
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top