SYDNEY, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old girl set sail Sunday in Australia in her quest to become the youngest person to sail around the world solo and non-stop, her mother says.
Julie Watson says her daughter, Jessica Watson, will be alone on her yacht but mother and daughter will remain in regular contact, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. Julie Watson said her daughter set sail from Sydney Harbor Sunday after completing a multitude of tasks in preparation for her global excursion.
"She's had a fair bit to do over the last couple of weeks down here in Sydney, but nothing new came up so we said ... this is the day," she said.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered a bit of advice to the teen.
"If there is one message, it would be keep safe -- do everything she needs to do to keep safe," Gillard said. "If that means that at some point she has got to abandon the journey, then the most important thing here is a young person's life."
