Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has praised the spirit of "remarkable" teenage sailor Jessica Watson during his Australia Day address in Canberra.

Mr Rudd said he spoke with 16-year-old Ms Watson over the phone last night, while she sailed "in the pitching seas off South Georgia, somewhere in the South Atlantic".

"Jessica Watson is no ordinary young Australian. She is an extraordinary young Australian ... a remarkable young Australian," he said.

"And some 5,000 nautical miles west of Cape Town, she wanted me today to wish you all a very happy Australia Day."

Mr Rudd said he asked Ms Watson if she would like him to relay a message to the nation.

"Her message was simple. Her message was, live your dream," he said.

Mr Rudd said Ms Watson also aimed to finish school and obtain a drivers licence and a skippers certificate on her return to Australia.

Ms Watson is likely to spend Australia Day battling storms in the South Atlantic, with a low pressure system expected to cross her path and forecasts of gale-force winds.

She is still recovering after being hit by a raging storm on Friday that damaged some of her equipment and activated one of her emergency signalling devices.

Mr Rudd said Ms Watson's parents had been scared after the emergency device was activated.

"Her parents told me they lived through the anxiety of being phoned by search and rescue because Jessica's emergency beacon had gone off," he said.

Writing on her blog, Ms Watson described the storm as "worse than those of the terrible 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race".

"We experienced a total of four knockdowns, the second was the most severe with the mast being pushed 180 degrees into the water," she wrote.

"Actually pushed isn't the right word, it would be more accurate to say that Ella's Pink Lady was picked up, thrown down a wave, then forced under a mountain of breaking water and violently turned upside down."

Ms Watson wrote she felt bruised and battered after the storm, which had her questioning her reasons for attempting the voyage.

"Physically, my arms and legs are all heavy and pathetic and of course I have a lovely collection of bruises!" she wrote.

"Mentally, I feel like I've aged a good 10 years, but I'm back to normal now."

Ms Watson has now passed the halfway mark in her attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

She has approximately 11,000 nautical miles left to travel.

Source:  Copied from abc.net.au