Jessica Watson, crosses the finish line of her unassisted solo voyage around the world in her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady S&S (Sparkman and Stephens) 34 at Sydney Harbour.
One 16 year-old girl, weighing about 100 pounds, just sailed a heavy 34′ cruiser around the Southern Ocean – alone – without stopping. She stood up to rogue waves as she stood up to critics, taking the shot, rolling back upright, and continuing on her way. Her pictures and notes were always cheerful and bright, and she seems incapable of a frown, and her accomplishment blows away those 99% of the population.
Posts tagged Tasman Sea
06
Mar 10
Mar 10
Surf Boat
Manly, New South Wales, Australia 33º47’80″S 151º17’41″E
A surfboat is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in life saving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach. 
03
Mar 10
Mar 10
Paddle Board
New South Wales, Australia 33º47’63″S 151º17’86″E
Paddle Board training at Manly Beach.
03
Dec 09
Dec 09
Onboard Alfa Romeo
Tasman Sea, New South Wales, Australia 33º50’85″S 151º24’46″E
Onboard Alfa Romeo during a test sail in Sydney, Australia in preparation for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart 2009.
‘Alfa Romeo’, the second yacht built by New Zealand skipper and owner, Neville Crichton, to carry the name of the Italian car maker, was penned by leading American yacht designers, Reichel/Pugh and built in Sydney by McConaghy Boats.
08
Jun 09
Jun 09
Galapagos Shark
Middleton Reef, Tasman Sea, Australia 29º25’24″S 159º03’35″E
The Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis) is a species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. This species favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species. A large species that grows to 3.7 m (12 ft), the Galapagos reef shark has a typical fusiform “reef shark” shape and is very difficult to distinguish from the dusky shark (C. obscurus) and the grey reef shark (C. amblyrhynchos). An identifying character of this species is its tall first dorsal fin, which has a slightly rounded tip and originates over the rear tips of the pectoral fins.
Galapagos sharks are active predators often encountered in large groups. They feed mainly on bottom-dwelling bony fishes and cephalopods; larger individuals have a much more varied diet, consuming other sharks, marine iguanas, sea lions, and even garbage. As in other requiem sharks, reproduction is viviparous, with females bearing litters of 4–16 pups every 2–3 years. The juveniles tend to remain in shallow water to avoid predation by the adults. Galapagos sharks are bold and have behaved aggressively towards humans, and are thus regarded as dangerous. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened, as it has a slow reproductive rate and there is heavy fishing pressure across its range.
07
Jun 09
Jun 09
Middleton Reef
Tasman Sea, Australia 29º26’52″S 159º05’01″E
Shipwrecks aground on Middleton Reef.
Middleton Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. It is separated by a deep oceanic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the coast of New South Wales. In 1997 the Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 1996 included Middelton Reef in Australia’s Coral Sea Islands Territory.This island is included also in Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs
Middleton Reef is a platform reef and is among the southernmost platform reefs in the world. However, despite its relatively high latitude, a wide variety of flora and fauna exists both on the island and in the surrounding waters. This is due to its location where tropical and temperate ocean currents converge.
Middleton reef is about 8.9 km long by 6.3 km wide and is usually submerged. However, at low tide most of the reef flat is exposed. At high tide only one cay on the reef is visible, at one metre above sea level. The cay is called The Sound and is 100 m by 70 m.
The reefs form the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve managed by the Government of Australia under the Natural Heritage Trust.
Surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science have highlighted healthy number of Black Cod Epinephelus daemelii which is now a threatened species in NSW waters. The survey in 2003 highlighted some 111 species of coral and at the same time identified 181 species of fish. The total number of recorded fish species on the reef is 311 across several surveys. High numbers of Galapagos sharks Carcharhinus galapagensis were observed at Elizabeth Reef.
18
Oct 08
Oct 08
Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club
Bondi Beach, New South Wales, Australia 33º53’24″S 151º16’47″E
Photo assignment for Lexus magazine.
The Swimming Club’s origin dates back to 1929 and owes its origins to the desire of a band of dedicated local lifesavers who wished to maintain their fitness during the winter months. They formed the Bondi Icebergs Winter Swimming Club and drew up a constitution and elected office bearers. Included in the constitution was a rule that to maintain membership it was mandatory that swimmers compete on three Sundays out of four for a period of five years. The Icebergs became licensed in 1960 and the members moved from a tin shed into comfortable premises with Bar and Poker Machines. A further update took place in the 1970s enabling the Club to operate on two floors. In 1994, female members were admitted and in 2002 the Club opened their new premises. 
20
Dec 07
Dec 07
Rosebud
Tasman Sea, New South Wales, Australia 33º50’83″S 151º21’97″E
Onboard Roger Sturgeon’s Farr design Transpac 65 Rosebud during a training session in Sydney, preparing for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2007. The American yacht, won the IRC handicap race and, thus, the Tattersalls Cup as the overall winner of the 2007 race. Roger Sturgeon had to leave before today’s formal prize giving at the yacht club. But at yesterday’s dockside ceremony where the divisional winners were formally announced, Sturgeon was awarded a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece, the keepsake to the Tattersall’s Cup perpetual trophy for the overall handicap win and promptly handed it to his bowman, Justin Clougher. Hobart-born Clougher – known as “Juggy” in the sailing community — now based in Newport, Rhode Island, has built an international reputation sailing on around-the-world races and in the America’s Cup. But he remains very much a Tasmanian boy. Clougher has sailed in eight previous Sydney Hobart races with the best result aboard Larry Ellison’s Sayonara for her line honours win in 1998.Local family members and his American wife Kerry, children Zoe and Graeme, were in the crowd of several hundred at Constitution Dock, when Sturgeon passed on the watch to a completely surprised Juggy, with the acknowledgement that he had been the most valuable crewman on his STP65′s Australian campaign. Juggy’s role as a wind spotter, high up the mast — as the boat negotiated the calm that slowed her for two hours just outside the mouth of the Derwent River — contributed to her win. “This is a huge shock to me,” said Juggy. “I love sailing, I love Hobart and being able to race home is fantastic, I just love it. And to bring the boat home in a strong position is just such a good feeling. I was so excited.”“I have no idea what the watch is worth, but to me you couldn’t put a price on it and I think every other sailor in this whole fleet would be the same. You can take the watch off the front but you leave me that back plate with the words on it (2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race).”From weather reports Rosebud knew there was a northwesterly breeze blowing in Hobart. “We just had to hope it would fill in down the river. We wanted to keep the boat moving towards the Iron Pot in any way, shape or form so we could get into that new breeze. We got it…just.”The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race marked the end of Rosebud’s Australian campaign’s unbeaten record. Earlier in December, Rosebud won the IRC handicap division of the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour and IRC Division 1 in the Rolex Trophy Rating Series.
Words: KPMS
31
Oct 07
Oct 07
Lord Howe Island
Tasman Sea, Australia 31º31’64″S 159º03’58″E
PARADISE #3
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, 600 kilometres (370 mi) directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about 900 kilometres (560 mi) from Norfolk Island. The island is about 10 km long and between 2.0 km and 0.3 km wide with an area of 14.55 km2, “of which only 398 hectares is in the lowland settled area”. The first reported sighting of Lord Howe Island was on 17 February 1788 when Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply was on its way from Botany Bay to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return journey Ball sent a party ashore on Lord Howe Island to claim it as a British possession. It subsequently became a provisioning port for the whaling industry, and was permanently settled in June 1834. When whaling declined, the worldwide export of the endemic kentia palms began in the 1880s, which remains a key component of the Island’s economy. The other continuing industry, tourism, began after World War II.The Lord Howe Island Group is recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance. Most of the island is virtually untouched forest with many of the plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Other natural attractions include the diversity of its landscapes, the variety of upper mantle and oceanic basalts, the world’s southernmost barrier coral reef, nesting seabirds, and its rich historical and cultural heritage. The Lord Howe Island Act of 1981 established a “Permanent Park Preserve” (covering approximately 70 per cent of the island). The surrounding waters are a protected region designated the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.
28
Dec 98
Dec 98
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 1998
Tasman Sea, Australia 42º33’93″S 148º50’17″E
“Et j’ai vu quelquefois ce que l’homme a cru voir !”
“And sometimes I’ve seen what men have imagined they saw!”
Arthur rimbaud
Le Bateau Ivre
Drunken boat
