Interviewer: 60 Minutes presents a live interview with Jesse Martin.
Interviewer: Jesse thank you for talking to us tonight, in our live online chat room.
Jesse Martin: Hi everyone, I thought the story was really good and interesting.
WickedWench asks: Jesse when did you start sailing and what got you into it to begin with?
Jesse Martin: I first got into sailing at 14 and left on my trip when I was 17, and the reason I first started was because I had suggested my brother and I do a family trip together, sailing. So we went to a course together and learnt for that reason.
YoHoHo asks: Jesse how old were you in 1999 when you sailed around the world solo?
Jesse Martin: I left when I was 17 and got back when I was 18.
Norm asks: Jesse, as a young man of 22, I am taken by your journey. I am a lone sailor in the sea of life. How did you deal with those moments of solitude when you felt completely alone?
Jesse Martin: Mostly I was just looking forward to getting home, so everything I did during the day which helped me get home quicker is what I focused on.
bobnelson asks: What was your biggest thrill when you did you circumnavigation?
Jesse Martin: I had a few, it was obviously a big thrill the first day to get out there. And then every time I saw land which was about 3 times, that was a massive thrill. Including seeing my family at the half way mark at the Azores Islands and then obviously getting home, the day I’d been looking forward to for so long.
Venturer asks: When did the loneliness start to set in and how did it effect your state of mind when you returned and how might it affect Jessica on her trip?
Jesse Martin: Everybody feels lonely in some way, even in a big city so I really don’t think it’s that different out at sea. It just makes your phone contact or email contact all the more valuable when you are physically on your own. I guess for Jessica, it would be really hard to answer. When she gets back and sees her family it will be the best day of her life.
bobnelson asks: How did you handle the sleep deprivation? Did you ever sleep walk?
Jesse Martin: No, I never sleep walk, but something people don’t realize is that you have to keep getting up to check the boat that means you can sleep during the day. So you can actually get enough sleep, it’s just often interrupted.
butwhy asks: Jesse did you fish on your trip to obtain food?
Jesse Martin: I didn’t need to fish for food because I had enough with me, but I did out of fun. I caught about six fish, one of which I only caught half of it because some other bigger animal had taken a bite out of it. I did end up eating those fish, with salad or dressing and a lot of oil, it felt like going to the fish and chip shop.
ninny asks: Jesse, what kind of food did you eat whilst you were sailing?
Jesse Martin: I had freeze dried meals, which meant I’d open the package and put hot water in and the meal would expand. I also had canned food, chocolate, noodles, muesli bars, things you’d find in your pantry. I used to actually make list of foods I’d cook for people at dinner parties. I’d imagine down to the detail how I’d cook a roast or buy food. The cravings changed all the time. When I crossed the finish line I had a hamburger.
sarah_x asks: Do you believe its sensible for such a young girl to take on the risks of the ocean?
Jesse Martin: I don’t think it’s unreasonable, I think it’s courageous that she’s following her dream. Obviously to a larger degree than most people would. And when have dreams ever been sensible?
nick asks: Hey Jesse, you're a great guy and an awesome Australian! Did you find it hard to settle back into life after your Lionheart journey? Was it hard to deal with the fact that people were (and still are) in awe of you?
Jesse Martin: No, my life changed dramatically when I got back but then my life had change when I started out on Lion Heart too. It offered me a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
ninny asks: What did you do to entertain yourself in your down time?
Jesse Martin: I spent a lot of time cooking and slow as I could so it would last as long as possible. I had my guitar, I read books and listened to music and then I also I spent a lot of time dreaming of other adventures I could go on. So I did a lot of planning in my head. Things I wanted to do with my life.
ramanki asks: Jesse, do you think the public response is more outraged because she is a woman?
Jesse Martin: I think most people are behind Jessica and there are just a few people who don’t get it and are voicing their opinions.
Samuel asks: Do you think people could get any younger if Jessica is successful? Did you have to worry about sailing into certain regions of the world?
Jesse Martin: It’s incredible that Jessica at her age was able to pull the trip together, so someone younger than her would be able to pull it together and would have a pretty good chance of doing it. Obviously the southern ocean has the worst weather, or anywhere down south was uncomfortable, cold and the chances of bad weather are much higher.
YoHoHo asks: Jesse what sort of physical preparation is needed for a journey of this type?
Jesse Martin: The good thing with this trip is that you can go at your own pace, so your body shapes up fairly fast within the first few weeks. Personally I didn’t do any extra training, or weights or anything. But it doesn’t take long out there to get pretty fit.
Felicity asks: Hi Jesse, I read your book recently- absolutely amazing. Someone mentioned that a TV series about your trip was made, is that right?
Jesse Martin: There’s just a one hour documentary called “Lion heart” and we’ve just finished a second documentary called “Five Lost at Sea” which is about the second trip I went on that fell apart. It’s going to screen sometime next year in February. There is a trailer on internet.
Random asks: Jesse, what is your opinion on the whole issue? I daresay a 16 year old is frankly unable to make correct decisions in life/death situations. It's all well and good while people just say "she's following her dreams", but how straining exactly IS the voyage, and in your opinion can Jessica do the same?
Jesse Martin: There is no one who can say 16 year olds can’t make life or death decisions. I’ve met Jessica and out of all the people I’ve ever known, I think she has the best chance of completing the trip purely because she really wants to do it.
sixyYEAH asks: Do you need to set an alarm clock to regularly check on the boat & how many hours can you comfortably sleep without risk of something happening?
Jesse Martin: Out at sea there aren’t hard and fast rules, like when you drive a car on the farm you don’t have to wear a seat belt. But two examples of the extremes are when it’s rough and the boat needs a lot of attention you’re obviously up a lot more often. You learn to wake up naturally when you feel the boat not travelling smoothly. And when it’s perfect sailing conditions, you can get a lot more rest. You can stick your head up; have a quick glance and its back into bed.
sappercole asks: What are the safety precautions against pirates you took on your journey and do you know what precautions she may have taken?
Jesse Martin: I didn’t take any precautions, yachts that fire arms. I know Jessica hasn’t, but the reports of piracy are few and far between. And those reports of those that happen are close to land. And Jessica’s, same as mine, she’s pretty much in the middle of no where. So it’s not really something you have to consider.
evej asks: Is it in the rules to stop for provisions en-route?
Jesse Martin: The non-stop record (unassisted) means you can’t stop your boat, or get off your boat and you’re not allowed to accept anything on board. I believe there is a sub rule where you can anchor your boat, but you’re not allowed to get off. This would mean you’d need to come close to land to anchor. Land is the biggest danger because you can crash into things. So aim to try and steer clear of land as much as possible.
janali asks: I am interested in the whole sleep thing. I know there is an auto pilot, but how do you prepare for what must have been short stints?
Jesse Martin: Unlike driving a car on the road, you’ve got a lot of room for error so if you wake up and the wind has changed and you’re heading in the wrong direction cause it doesn’t matter too much. For example, go 30 degrees going off the course you’d need to be on, you’d still be going forward. And sometimes it’s a battle of the will, do I get up to go on the right course or do I get some good sleep and change the course later on. It’s a constant battle I find.
iamsamiam asks: Hi Jesse how does a young man get into sailing or sign up for a sailing adventure? You have inspired me to try it out.
Jesse Martin: The best way is to learn on a small boat, like a dingy or a catamaran, which you can do with any boat clubs around Australia. And once you know the principles, then they pretty much apply to any boat, it’s just that the equipment you use will differ a little from boat to boat. And then you can get on websites that are advertising for positions on yachts that are travelling around the world. You might have to pay some money a week to cover fuel and food, but it’s a great way tot get on a real adventure quick.
Donnad asks: Jesse, 2 Q's - did your relationship become stronger with your parents. 2nd..We were there with our young family to watch you arrive back home in Melbourne and it was wonderful to see so many people there to greet you - do you remember it or was it overwhelming.
Jesse Martin: I think everyone involved in the trip were brought together, because it was us against people who didn’t want to help. So for sure, my parents, my brother and family friends who helped get everything ready it’s a time in our lives we’ll share forever. It was very overwhelming, there could have been 18 million at the yacht club and it would have looked like the same amount of people to me. But I do have lots of photos from the day which has now become my memory of it.
janali asks: What has sailing solo around the world taught you?
Jesse Martin: I think the biggest thing I learnt was having the concept of a dream and backing your belief when others think you can’t do it. The biggest things I learnt had nothing to do with sailing, but was about having a dream and having the guts to follow it through.
sappercole asks: One last question I noticed her boat didn’t seem fully enclosed like yours what was the type of boat you used and the type she’s using if you no just so I can do a web search for it?
Jesse Martin: Jessica and I had the exact same design, which is an SNS 34. Which is a very popular boat for doing these types of trips.
sixyYEAH asks: What would be the biggest swells you were in? Were you ever worried about the yacht capsizing?
Jesse Martin: The biggest swell I had was I estimate 10 metres and yeah I had 8 knocks downs on my trip, where the mast was knocked into the water. But I found that it wasn’t necessarily the wave height that made the ocean dangerous, but it was how steep the wave was. For example, a steep 4 metre wave can be much worse than a long 10 metre swell.
Christiana asks: Was there ever a moment in which you felt you couldn't go on?
Jesse Martin: No, my worse moments took me to a place when I just wanted it to get better. Because when it was beautiful out there, it was the best. And I knew that there was no way to just give in, because it would take me weeks to get to land. I knew that sooner or later the weather would get better and I’d love it again.
sixyYEAH asks: What do you do for a living now?
Jesse Martin: I have previously had a tourism business in Papua New Guinea and now I am getting into film production, which isn’t paying just yet.
sydneyvideo asks: hi jesse ,how much is luck and how much is good sailing in percentages to succeed in this trip ...30% luck?
Jesse Martin: It’s really hard to put a percentage on it, but one thing I do know is it depends a lot on how you sail the boat on the calm times, because you can look at your boat has constantly being stressed and worn down. The gentler you are from day to day, the most chance it has of standing up in the bad weather.
josie asks: Did you have contact with the outside world to receive support? What is the best way we can support Jessica?
Jesse Martin: My outside contact was really giving my position to my mum and getting a weather forecast sent to me everyday. I guess, it depends what you believe. You can support Jess by just wishing her well in your mind, who knows if it helps anyone, but that’s something you could do.
CraJen asks: Is this the right route, or should she have crossed the equator in the Atlantic? Pros/Cons?
Jesse Martin: The advantage for the way Jessica is sailing is that it allows her to spend some months in the sea without having been in the southern ocean yet because she gets down to Cape Horn, but the other advantage is the distance is shorter.
Venturer asks: Is there any worries that you have about the trip which may have been easier for you to deal with because of either your age or physical differences?
Jesse Martin: No not really, I think if anything Jessica has a better boat than what I have in regards to equipment and technology. And also another thing she has is a solid dodger so she can be outside in more comfort because mine got knocked off in the first wave. But having said that, this trip is hard for anyone, it’s the same.
janali asks: Once you have done this, what is there left to do?
Jesse Martin: Well you can try and convince other people that they can do it if they want to, but that’s a really hard thing to do. I heard Jessica say on tonight’s program that she’s already thinking of other adventures.
adam_reibel asks: Jesse, There's a lot of criticism surrounding the attempt, what do you say to those criticising and would you believe it is a sensible idea for a 16 year old? What is too young?
Jesse Martin: It seems like everyone wants a rule on what is too young, and I find it strange that people have an opinion of Jessica and haven’t even met her. So I think that it says a lot about her that she’s got this trip together, it hasn’t just been given to her. She has led every decision, people have helped for sure, but it was all driven by her. This all shows indicative and it takes that to survive out there.
Glenno asks: How much money would be needed to get this project underway. Any idea?
Jesse Martin: My boat before I left, the whole set up cost $175,000, but I think Jessica has more equipment on hers. But prices of equipment may have come down over time.
janali asks: Jesse, it's been 10 years and your record still stands. Why do you think it has taken so long, have people lost the sense of adventure?
Jesse Martin: I just think a lot of people don’t want to spend nearly a year at sea. But I get contacted a lot by people who are going on lots of different types of adventure, so I don’t think the sense of adventure is gone, just that people express it in different ways.
sixyYEAH asks: Did you ever get sea sick & what was it like when you stood back on land after your big adventure? Was everything moving still?
Jesse Martin: I had a headache for the first couple of days, and that was luckily for me as bad as it got. And when I got back, yeah things were moving a big. But there were so many new things and people that I couldn’t really pay that much attention. But I did find it was worse in closed areas like a shower.
nick asks: Hey Jesse! What happened to your yacht, Lionheart, after your incredible adventure? Do you still own and sail her?
Jesse Martin: I sold Lionheart quite a few years ago, but she still lives in the Sandringham yacht club. But her owner still races her weekly.
student101 asks: Has there ever been a time that you regretted doing the voyage?
Jesse Martin: Never! Even on my second trip that fell apart, I can’t bring myself to regret any part of it. It think it’s all worth while no matter what happens.
Interviewer: I am sorry we are out of time, do you have anything else you would like to share before we finish tonight?
Jesse Martin: Thanks for the interesting questions everyone, there is more info and photos on my website if you want to view them for whatever reason at http://www.jessemartin.net.
Interviewer: Once again thank you and goodnight.
Interviewer: This concludes our chat with Jesse Martin, Sunday October 18, 2009.
