Australian sailing hero Jessica Watson is expecting her first child, announcing the news five years after the death of her former partner, Cameron Dale.
The 33-year-old shared the pregnancy announcement on Instagram alongside a photograph showing her baby bump. A second image showed Watson with her new partner.
“We’re very excited to be expecting a little crew member at the end of the year,” she wrote. “Grateful, and acutely aware of how important it is to celebrate such a wondrous thing.”
Watson’s announcement comes five years after Dale died aged 29 following a catastrophic stroke caused by undiagnosed high blood pressure.
Confirming his death at the time, Watson wrote: “Cam passed away peacefully nearly six weeks after a catastrophic stroke.”
“We’ll be forever grateful for the dedicated care he received at the Gold Coast University Hospital.”
Messages of congratulations followed the pregnancy announcement, including one from Australian actress Teagan Croft, who portrayed Watson in the film adaptation of her life story.
“Oh my goodness!! Fresh deckhand!!!! So excited for you huge congratulations,” Croft wrote.
Watson became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world in 2009, completing the 210-day voyage at the age of 16.
She sailed through seven knockdowns on a 33-foot vessel and arrived back in Sydney three days before her 17th birthday.
Then prime minister Kevin Rudd described her as an Australian hero, although Watson said she considered herself “an ordinary person, who had a dream, worked hard at it and proved that anything really is possible”.
She was named Young Australian of the Year in 2011, received a Medal of the Order of Australia and was later included in the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame.
Watson’s story was published in her 2010 book, True Spirit, which was subsequently adapted into a Netflix film.
