Jessica Watson - The Opinion Poll

[DennisM]

Jeezus H.

That's all I gotta say.

[rtbates]

I vote for:

"It was/is a stunt so who gives a big rats ass?"

[Wotname]

Thanks everyone for the responses; I am bowing out of the conversation as I will be without internet access for the next few weeks (off-shore, working not sailing ).
Thanks again

[slomotion]

I cannot vote until I resolve the following questions:

1. Was it irresponsible for Jessica to set sail without guns?

2. Has anyone checked her birth certificate?

3. Has Floyd Landis accused Jessica of doping?

[Hirophant]

I went for the slightly (intentionally?) dyslexic "JW and her RTW solo unassisted voyage was a a good thing."

If she hadn't gone on her voyage I would have had a desparately boring time in the blogosphere in recent months, let's face it there is more than a ring of truth to Stuart Lee's inadequately famous remark "Blogging encourages the worst kinds of people to put up descriptions of nothing to fill up cyberspace." In contrast Jessica Watson put up an engaging everyday account of a life that was anything but an everyday life, encompassing everything from the marvels of an ocean that one day turns you upside down and on another is an eerily silent mirror of the stars, to one girl's struggle with what to do with tins of unwanted vegetables and the horror of running out of lollies in mid-ocean.

Originally Posted by slomotion

I cannot vote until I resolve the following questions:
1. Was it irresponsible for Jessica to set sail without guns?
2. Has anyone checked her birth certificate?
3. Has Floyd Landis accused Jessica of doping?

No.
No. But there is a picture of her skipper's licence on her blog.
Who's Floyd Landis?

[Hirophant]

Actually, I take it all back. What's wrong with this picture:

Many parents attended with their children and praised Jessica as a terrific role model for young girls, and even pulled their kids out of school to meet Jessica.

(from her news page)

So it seems that thanks to Jessica's benevolent influence, children no longer need to go to school....

[gbanker]

i vote for "I am tired of the subject...."

[osirissail]

We have a saying in aviation - "any landing you can walk away from is a good one" - so I would vote for "none of the above" as the factors of luck and pre-planing and boat preparation have more or at least as much to do with her success than the girl herself.

[BubbleHeadMd]

Originally Posted by rtbates

I vote for:

"It was/is a stunt so who gives a big rats ass?"

+1.

I heard that there's a pregnant woman who's circumnavigating in under 9 months so that her fetus can claim the "youngest child to circumnavigate" record.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by BubbleHeadMd

+1.

+2

she's demonstrated all the wrong reasons for making a passage.

any passage.

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by osirissail

We have a saying in aviation - "any landing you can walk away from is a good one" -

And the corollary is "any landing after which the aircraft is still flyable was a GREAT landing".

There is a whole bundle of them at Good advice for pilots - North Wales Gliding Club

Number 8 seems pertinent to almost any "risky" activity

"Learn from the mistakes of others or else you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself."

[paradix]

Originally Posted by osirissail

We have a saying in aviation - "any landing you can walk away from is a good one" - so I would vote for "none of the above" as the factors of luck and pre-planing and boat preparation have more or at least as much to do with her success than the girl herself.

Interesting, since Jessica herself had a very large role in directing the pre-planning and boat preparation - I know, I was watching her...

You may not be able to "plan" luck, but you can certainly make your own luck, as they say.

[paradix]

Originally Posted by Bash

+2

she's demonstrated all the wrong reasons for making a passage.

any passage.

In my philosophy, the only "wrong" reasons are the one's you don't believe in. We're all different people, with different passions and different drivers. And the world's a wonderful place for that diversity. Just because they're the wrong reasons for you to make a passage, doesn't mean their the wrong reasons for everyone...