The second made-up character is a particularly inflammatory reporter played by Todd Lasance. Lasance's character, Craig Atherton is based on several reporters who criticized her journey and her parents' support of the trip as they viewed it as too dangerous for a child. The film shows a collision between the Ella's Pink Lady and a cargo ship during a test trip before she begins her voyage. This collision did happen, and in the film, it adds fuel to the fire of the negative press. Reading about it all a decade later, however, did not change the fact that even at a young age, Jessica Watson had dreams. And she dreamt BIG. It is also clear that from her perspective, she worked hard to reach her dreams. She has first proven to her parents that she's serious and once she's got their support, she also received many others. Both morally & financially. Jessica Watson is a very good, positive influence on girls around the world my age. Scratch that- people EVERYWHERE of ANY AGE. Great story of a 16 year-old girl who took on the high seas in a 34 foot sailboat. She started out as a little girl afraid of everything and gradually changed as she learned to sail (among other things). She began pestering her parents when she was 12 and by the time she was 14, they not only had given her permission to follow her dream but were actively working to make it a reality. Jessica Watson's journey was interesting to read about because of her determination to complete her dreams. She set this goal when she was turning 13 and kept persevering and convincing her family and fiends she was capable. During her preparation their was a lot lot media reporting on her. Majority of the media were saying the Jessica's parents were mad for letting her attempt such a life threatening journey at the age of 16. 210 days after departing from Sydney Jessica returned in her trusty boat the pink lady proving the media wrong and making her family proud. Jessica showed true courage and perseverance. This is why she is one of my role models.

I chose to read 'True Spirit' an autobiography written by Jessica Watson about her journey circumnavigating the world single handed at the age of 16 because my Grandparents decided to get me a copy of her novel for my Birthday. I really enjoyed reading about her journey because i to love to sail. This inspiring novel falls into the category of a dairy, autobiography or biography. Jessica Watson wrote her autobiography as she was sailing around the world and published it a year after she returned. I’d left Mooloolaba with an escort of boats and helicopters at around ten that morning, and after fifteen hours at sea and weeks of full-time preparation I was feeling tired and slightly queasy. It normally took me a few days to find my sea legs. Confident that everything was fine, I decided to put my head down for a few minutes and have a catnap.This book was smooth. It flowed smoothly from section to section, never once making me feel lost or rushed. Yes. In answering the question, "How accurate is True Spirit?" we confirmed that about a month before Jessica Watson left, she was en route from Brisbane to Sydney when her boat, Ella's Pink Lady, collided with the Silver Yang, a 63,000-ton Chinese bulk carrier. She had reportedly been taking a five-minute nap at the time of the collision and had failed to spot the Silver Yang on her radar prior to lying down. She also had forgotten to turn on her proximity alarms. "'No, no,' I go, 'It's alright, really, I'm okay, but lost half my mast, yeah,'" she stated after the accident. She managed to get the boat to port using the motor. Jessica said that the collision scene in the movie is "really accurate" ( Entertainment Weekly).

Any age record is eventually broken…Ultimately, this wasn’t about a record—I was looking for a challenge.” What an awesome story! You may remember last year when there was a bit of controversy over a young (16years old) Australian girl wanting to sail solo, round-the-World. Well, True Spirit is her story. Watson and her family lived on a boat for several years and this was when she developed her love of sailing. She loved to read about sailors and their solo journeys around the World. At around age 14, she decided that she would like to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the World. This was her dream and for the next two years, her main focus. She spent all her spare time reading books, talking to the sailors, crewing for local yachties, and generally mentally preparing herself. Single-minded, determined and ultra focussed, Watson won many supporters who not only helped her to organise sponsorship but also to prepare and equip her yacht. What is it in the sea life which is so powerful in its influence? … It whispers in the wind of the veldt, it hums in the music of the tropical night … above all it is there to the man who holds the nightwatch alone at sea. It is the sense of things done, of things endured, of meanings not understood; the secret of the Deep Silence, which is of eternity, which the heart cannot speak. We had all come to terms with the dangers involved in what I was planning, so we didn’t let this stop us.”

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Sailing is something I’ve done over the years [since my voyage] but it’s something I take less seriously [now],” she said in the interview. “These days I actually have a sensible career. A desk job.” Jessica is finding joy in her family. My favorite quote that Jessica wrote in one of her diary entries was "You are only as big as the dreams you dare to live.” This is a really good quote that inspires me to set goals because she has proven to me that if you work hard enough they can come true. This quote was one of her many words of wisdom but for me i can relate to this one most. Written, first person, in an engaging and understated style, the book "True Spirit" is the story of how a young girl from an adventurous family was taken by the dream of sailing around the world, solo, nonstop and unassisted after hearing a book by Jesse Martin. Martin, who had circumnavigated ten years before, had written how he was just an average person with a dream. Through hard work and dogged perseverance, Jessica replicates his achievement a few days short of her seventeenth birthday. Jess's charming personality really comes through in the book, as it did in the captivating blogs she wrote during the voyage.

Thanks to all the people who have followed my blog. When I was putting this book together with my publisher, I started to rewrite the story of the voyage in a more traditional way, but it didn’t work. I lost something doing this. Instead, I decided to include the blogs, though they have been edited sometimes, and then expand on them to reveal things I wasn’t quite ready to talk about when I was at sea and to share things I have learned since. I hope you enjoy reading about my whole journey, not just my 210 days on the ocean.

It's not perfect, it's not flowery, descriptive writing that drives you on an emotional rollercoaster.

I also learned so much about sailing through this book! (I knew absolutely nothing about the subject) and that I found intriguing as well. Jessica Watson had a perfect way of describing her adventure that made me feel like part of it. I was invested in her journey. Very, very early, every Sunday, I cycle the Brisbane River Loop. A short 35 Km route that takes me over the Goodwill Bridge. From there, you can see Ella's Pink Lady (Jessica Watson's boat) in the Brisbane Maritime Museum where she's on display (the boat, not Jessica). I used to occasionally stop and marvel at how small the boat looks...compared to how BIG the ocean is. I'd think how brave this skinny little Aussie girl was. Even though she completed her round the world trip 10 years ago, I still hadn't gotten around to reading her book. Then, for some reason, Ella's Pink Lady was gone! Thankfully to return after restoration. This made me think I'd better read Jessica's book soon in case it disappears too! In the book, Jessica says that she wrote several letters to the WSSRC asking the organization what she had to do to secure the record. They responded by stating that she would not be able to since age records were no longer recognized. The "youngest" category was removed in an effort to prevent ambitious parents from sending ever-younger kids out to sea. Still, she felt that she had done everything necessary for the record, including starting and returning from the same point and crossing the equator and all meridians of longitude. She pointed out that she sailed "a little longer" than Kay Cottee's solo, unassisted, and nonstop circumnavigation, which was recognized by the WSSRC.

Jessica gives her readers a taste of what being on the ocean is like through her descriptive and exciting blog entries (which were eventually made into this book). Though Jessica faced some near-death situations during her 210 days at sea, she learned a lot about self-motivation and the importance of believing in one’s self. Jessica’s story is one that I will always remember while sailing on my family’s sailboat. Knowing how much work it is to sail our boat (which is the same size as Jessica’s) with four people crewing, I hold a high amount of respect for Jessica and her knowledge of sailing—especially with her being so young while taking on such an enormous adventure. There is something different about adventurers; about the way their minds work. They look at the world as a place of challenges and though they know what fear is, they refuse to be hindered by it. In her book True Spirit, she stated, "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!" Her manager, Andrew Fraser, defended her journey by pointing out that the WSSRC does not recognize records achieved by sailors who are not yet eighteen, so their input doesn't matter. He argued that it was never stated she would be going for a world record, simply that she would become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, nonstop, and unassisted ( Brisbane Times).