Jessica Watson's 'True Spirit' Tale: One Of World's Youngest To Sail Solo

Netflix's latest movie, 'True Spirit' based on a book of the same name has led to some questions buzzing around. True Spirit was an autobiography written by Jessica Watson and gives a detailed experience of her journey sailing around the world in eight months. 

Netflix Movie 'True Spirit' Inspired by Real Event

For many people, this came as a surprise since the movie depicts the protagonist (Teagan Croft) being challenged several times by the adversities on her sailing journey. Her story is inspiring and adventurous as she overcomes every obstacle and becomes the youngest person to sail around the world in eight months. Jessica Watson started her journey on October 18th, 2009 and sailed for 8 months, returning on May 15th, 2010, sailing approximately 23,000 nautical miles. She was never officially recognised as the youngest person to sail around the world due to some guideline issues yet she has earned the title rightly so.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jessica Watson mentioned how not being recognised by some councils doesn't seem important since she sailed around the world for her love of sailing. To have that experience and explore the sea across the world. 

Watson Meeting Croft, Battling Dyslexia and Decoding the Movie

While Jessica talked about the movie, she decided on several things that depicted her real-life adventure more closely. Choosing the actor for her role was not an easy task but when Teagan Croft was signed, the actor was immensely satisfied to play an Australian role as she is one and wanted to act in her real, natural accent for quite some time. Their first meeting was a dinner where they talked about the role and then following days also went to sail and explore. Teagan Croft mentions how she felt, "It was so weird and awkward at first. I felt a weird guilt, like, 'Hello, I'm playing you.' But she was so lovely about it, and we get on really well now." 

Certain things come to light after watching the movie which are hilarious and even daunting. A fun anecdote that Watson told was how she had forgotten to pack her hairbrush with her during her voyage so she used two forks taped together and used them to brush her hair. Other facts that we got to know were that Jessica Watson is dyslexic and the depiction in the movie is real. She mentions, "So many people can relate to this, and it's not far off from my reality, I mean, I like to think that I was never that bad with my lats (latitude) and longs (longitude) and getting muddled up. But at the same time, it's also based on the truth that mum did used to call me out when I'm tired or flustered, and I was getting stuff like that wrong." 

7 Knockdowns And A Grand Welcome In Australia

We also witness in the movie how her boat temporarily sank and she experienced many traumatic hits along the way. Watson decides that there were 7 knockdowns and the worst was when she drowned 15 ft underwater. What she explains is that even though they've depicted in the movie that she went down for several minutes in reality it was only actually a few seconds. She then adds that the depiction in the movie is from the perspective of her character and the lengthy depiction is because she felt as if she was down for quite some time. 

The most ecstatic moment was when Jessica Watson made a return from her voyage to Sydney Harbour on May 15th, 2010 and she felt like the entire Australia was there to welcome her. In the movie, we see large crowds of people gathered to celebrate her victory and journey. Teagan Croft who plays Watson has confirmed how she and her parents were there too, "I was there in Sydney Harbour when she came in, but I'd forgotten since I was only six when I came across this script, my parents were like, 'We were there!' I've been trying to figure out where we were in the crowd to see if you can see me in that footage. Maybe I'm there in a little pink skirt or something ridiculous."

In the end, all one can take from the movie is how courageous, dedicated and hopeful Watson had been in the entirety of her journey and more than that, she was in love with what she was doing- sailing.