Teen sailor Jessica crosses the equator
Teenage adventurer Jessica Watson has crossed the equator one month into her bid to sail solo around the world.
The 16-year-old Queenslander is currently navigating her way through Kiribati island chain in the Pacific Ocean aboard her 10m yacht, Ella's Pink Lady.
Jessica, who set sail from Sydney on October 18, crossed the equator on Thursday morning (AEDT - Wednesday local time).
She is attempting to be the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world - crossing the equator at least once is an essential requirement of her estimated eight-month trip.
Currently two days ahead of schedule, she is expected to reach her next major milestone - Cape Horn, the most southerly mbt lami point of South America notorious for its wild seas - in another 36 days.
But Jessica will be out of the danger zone before the cyclone season begins, her publicist, Andrew Fraser, has told AAP, adding that she remains in good spirits.
She says on her blog that she even attended her first equator crossing party - via satellite phone.
"Some of my aunties, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandad and all their friends got together in Cromwell in the South Island of New Zealand to celebrate Ella's Pink Lady and I crossing the line - but they were a little early!" she wrote.
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