Jessica Watson has crossed the equator in solo circumnavigation attempt - Part 6

Watson celebrating crossing equator with chocolates.
Courtesy of Jessica Watson

Jessica Watson, the 16-year-old Australian girl who cast off Oct. 18 from Sydney Harbor on her planned non-stop, 23,000-mile solo voyage around the world, reported on her blog today she has officially crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better day to cross the equator,” she wrote, “flat seas, 15 knots of wind and sunshine.

“We crossed the line at 2017 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) doing five and a half knots and celebrated with the usual toast to Neptune, the traditional dunking in saltwater and plenty of excited phone calls,” Watson added.

And of course as you might guess any normal 16-year-old would do, she opened a few presents she had “stashed away,” which were mostly chocolate and “very melted.” She even offered some chocolate and fruit juice to Neptune in a toast for good fishing that has been less than lucky so far.

Watson and her 34-foot boat “Ella’s Pink Lady” are now looking forward to completing their first leg of the voyage by sailing to the north of Kirabati (Christmas) island late tomorrow. They will then turn southeast and head back into the southern hemisphere on their way for the infamous Cape Horn.

“Getting this far has given me the confidence to know that even though we’ve got some seriously tough times ahead, we’re going to be able to have fun tackling whatever comes our way,” Watson noted.

Then she thanked her “amazing” team for getting her started and also gave credit to her boat. “I’m just along for the ride,” Watson said humbly.