Teen Girl Sails Around the World

A 16-year-old Australian girl finished sailing around the world. Jessica Watson sailed 23,000 nautical miles (42,596 kilometers) in seven months. She became the youngest to sail around the world without help from others. It was a solo and nonstop sailing.
Her 34 foot yacht was knocked over several times. She fought 40 foot waves, homesickness, fear, loneliness, and tiredness.

Thousands of people gathered around Sydney Harbor as she arrived in her pink yacht.

After she came to the Sydney Opera House, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told her she was ¡°Australia¡¯s newest hero.¡±

¡±I¡¯m actually going to disagree with what our prime minister has just said. I don¡¯t consider myself a hero. I¡¯m an ordinary girl who believed in a dream. You don¡¯t have to be someone special or anything special to achieve something amazing. You¡¯ve just got to have a dream, believe in it and work hard,¡± Watson said to the crowd.