Jesse Martin Circumnavigation
Lionheart The Jesse Martin Story
Jesse Martin was the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo.
Six days after he left, he is just starting to get used to it. Leaving was just a blur for Jesse, he had no experience and maybe he could not do it. People thought he was just another nut case. He had not sailed out of the bay before he went. He did not know how the boat handled. The first month was very hard. He cried until New Zealand - a kind of relief that the preparation was over and all the frantic getting ready was done. He just sits around at the end of the day when the sun goes down and plays his guitar and sings (very badly). The wind has finally picked up and he is heading east at around 6.5 knots. Finally he is starting to move and can only shower when it is raining. It is a big deal to be able to shampoo his hair.
He nearly runs into a log floating around in the ocean and on New year's eve rings up his friends. He prepares a nice meal for himself - pancakes. While he was talking to the media, a stay comes undone, so he gets dressed and goes up on deck. He has to shorten sail and the swell gets huge from a big low pressure system.
A bird crashes into the boat and flaps around all injured. In the South Atlantic he hits a whale - he was just in his bunk and heard a thump, then went on deck and saw two whales following him. He cuts himself rather badly and has to stitch it up himself. He goes across the 43 degrees South and to get around Cape Horn he had to go a lot further South to get round. The weather when Jesse went round was pretty bad - previous sailors had capsized in similar conditions. He copped some very strong winds. He is knocked over a few times and gets very wet and frustrated.
He survives knockdown after knockdown and eventually the weather gets better. He was worried about losing the mast. Cape Horn is the holy grail to sailors - it is where all the oceans join up. Jesse Martin sights land and the weather improves and the dolphins play around his yacht. He started to really have confidence in himself and he knew he could do the trip. He fixes the wind vane, replaces the hanks off the old sail, and repairs some sails. A couple of weeks into the South Atlantic, the winds have been unfavourable and he is a bit annoyed overall. There is no wind, there is no sun - he cannot even charge the batteries. With no wind , there is nothing to do - he sometimes wishes he was back home. His friends are going out and having fun while he is stuck out on the middle of the ocean.
Half way through the circumnavigation
On the fifteenth of may, he is doing six knots and he is half way around the world on his circumnavigation. Going past the Azores, he is going to see his family. He spots the lighthouse at Fayal. His mum goes out in a rubber duckie to see him. He changed a lot of lives around him and taught a lot of people about courage and persistence. He shows young people that you can do what you want, be proud that you are human and can do amazing things. He turns eighteen while out in the ocean - there is not much wind so he does a few jobs.
His electrics start to pack it in and the batteries are not charging. He had no radar, lights, iridium phone, no email. The barometer has been dropping quickly, he thinks there is something brewing - so he is getting ready for the worst. It blows up to about sixty knots with swells up to fifteen meters. When a knockdown happens, it is usually unexpected - everything is wet inside and he is very scared. He cannot stop shaking. His bed gets soaked so he just goes to bed and curls up to get warm as he can. The people at home are waiting - they do not know how bad it is for Jesse and his mum is having nightmares about him.
From the mid-Indian Ocean to just under Australia he had storm after storm. One solar panel was ripped off. The only thing that cheered him up was that the storms were pushing him closer to Australia. He spots land and is seeing helicopters. There are about six boats heading out to see him. About eight hours before he is to get in, there is a front coming behind him. Jesse Martin sailed around the world because of his family and his support team. Parents have a role in supporting their kids through thick and thin. He is greeted at the Heads by a fleet of craft and he lands to give him mum a big hug on the wharf.
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