Laura Dekker's Circumnavigation

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

But, she did something, really early in the game, that will making living her dreams a whole lot easier for the rest of her life

I wish I was raised like that...

Tell me about it... and having the personal fibre to follow through...
When I look back I could have done a helluva lot more than I have on the water... considering I enlisted at 15 for a life on the sea... but I pi***d it away one way or another.. even as a kid..
Too easily led astray....

[deckofficer]

Ms. Dekker is back in the northern hemisphere again, crossed the old 0 lat today. Still enjoying 10~15 kts wind in the doldrums, I think the wind gods like this young lady. Plucked from her blog..................

Guppy and I have crossed the equator again so we have now left the southern hemisphere and jumped from summer to winter in the northern hemisphere - not that the temperature really feels like winter here in the tropics ... Sadly I ran out of eggs so I couldn't bake Neptune his pancake but I did a short speech thanking him for the great sailing weather we enjoyed in the South Atlantic Ocean. And so we are still pulled by a 10 to 15 knots wind blowing from the South-South-East. It was cloudy this morning with only a few scattered raindrops falling. As a result the air got even hotter so that I spent all day showering with buckets of water ... Of course the birds were still there last night but I guess they felt the camera flash was something annoying so they didn't whistle a single 'cheep', not one came out of their tiny beaks for the whole night. Well, I can't say I felt like I missed their performance ;-)

Laura

And since her people reminded me on my forum to give credit when pasting, here is where the above came from......

LauraDekker.nl de Jongste solozeiler ter wereld! -

[deckofficer]

About 1500 nm to Sint Maarten and the completion of Laura's solo circumnavigation. The way she can lay down the miles in that old Gin Fizz, my guess will be arrival and completion on January 26th. Any other guesses out there?

Some nice father-daughter shots from Cape Town.














All pictures courtesy of LauraDekker.nl de Jongste solozeiler ter wereld! -

[deckofficer]

Anyone care to help set the general public straight about a post with comments on the Today Show web site. I have always wondered about all the comments that any news story can generate, but these astute folks that are commenting think she comes from a wealthy family and her old Gin Fizz is "at least $ 1/2 mil", well lets say they talk a lot for not knowing what they are talking about.

Girl, 16, close to completing solo sail around the world - TODAY People - TODAY.com

[MacG]

Bob, they F****** crazy. Tabloid style The Sun. Her father lives in a half finished boat, her mother remarried, living in Germany. Rumour goes that her grandma payed her trip to St Maarten and that is it. Her father lives in Wijk bij Duurstede on the northern bank of the river Rijn. Who financed Guppy III (her present Gin Fizz) is not known. It might come from one of her sponsors. Value of the boat is somewhere between 40-50 K euro' s. I know that she has a close knit club of sponsors/admirers who keep her going. I believe that Jedi knows much more. Zwaansails is (I believe) one of them. A good product BTW.

[SaucySailoress]

Bob, thanks for keeping us up-to-date with what's going on in this very interesting cirmnavigation

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

Bob, thanks for keeping us up-to-date with what's going on in this very interesting cirmnavigation

My pleasure, as a grad of the California Maritime Academy and retired Merchant Marine Deck Officer with an Unlimited Tonnage-Open Ocean license, she has my total respect. She has the truly uncanny ability to totally dial-in to what ever boat she sails, from her Hurley 700 & 800, the Gin Fizz she is in now, the Amsterdam Tall Ship, and flying a hull in the Fastcat inflatable dinghy, the girl is a natural that I tip my hat to. I read that her sailing history dates back to her first boat at age ten that she sailed as far as the confines of the lake and what she enjoyed most for all of her day sails was to go out in heavy weather to see what her boat could do.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

[...], but these astute folks that are commenting think she comes from a wealthy family and her old Gin Fizz is "at least $ 1/2 mil", well lets say they talk a lot for not knowing what they are talking about.

Girl, 16, close to completing solo sail around the world - TODAY People - TODAY.com

All part of the general citizen brain washing program. Oh the day that the people realize they do not need to be multi-millionaires to just leave and let governments wave their powers and get their tax income from... emptiness. We can't have that. Laura's story must be countered so that people will ridicule it as a snobbish exception that is impossible to do for the masses so that it doesn't become a dream or worse, reality.

ciao!
Nick.

[ZeilmeisjeonFB]

Please find all relevant information about Laura here

Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker | Facebook

and here

Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker

[ZeilmeisjeonFB]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

About 1500 nm to Sint Maarten and the completion of Laura's solo circumnavigation. The way she can lay down the miles in that old Gin Fizz, my guess will be arrival and completion on January 26th. Any other guesses out there?

Some nice father-daughter shots from Cape Town.

All pictures courtesy of LauraDekker.nl de Jongste solozeiler ter wereld! -

The proper credit is SAIL WITH LAURA DEKKER | Facebook

[deckofficer]

ZeilmeisjeonFB, Welcome to the Cruiser's Forum. I believe you are part of Laura's support team and you do a fine job.

[callmecrazy]

[edit] It should be official by Saturday

Google Translate

[deckofficer]

I can't wait to view the news coverage of her arrival. I have nothing but the highest respect for Laura, how she dealt with her government for a year prior to departure and of course her seamanship displayed during her voyage.

[Astrid]

Yes, indeed. She has done marvelously throughout the voyage.

[deckofficer]

It sounds like Laura is dreading all the media attention when she arrives in Sint Maarten this Saturday. She sure did enjoy all the really long passages, this girl enjoys her solitude and the sea. From today's post................

Reaching the end of my circumnavigation, I look back with joy at the adventures of the past year. I am also thinking hard, and trying to come to terms with the year prior to my voyage. The Dutch government was not kind to me. As a 13 year old girl, it was never my intention to be the center of world news. From the moment my plans became public, Youth Care and other government organizations tried to stop me. During the first court case, in August 2009, (even before Youth Care had ever seen me, or had spoken to me…), they asked the Judge to take me away from my father and to lock me up in a secure clinic! By doing this they tried to stop me from sailing. Another five court cases followed and another five times Youth Care asked the judge to lock me up. I only wanted to go sailing! Fortunately the judge never honored this terrible request. Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that Youth Care would lock me up. Also during this period, there were intimidating interviews with Youth Care workers. It was all a frightening and traumatic experience. So often these terrible memories come to me. I can’t ignore them. It is painful. Now, after sailing around the world, with difficult port approaches, storms, dangerous reefs, and the full responsibility of keeping myself and Guppy safe, I feel that the nightmares the Dutch government organizations put me through, were totally unfair. I think that the nightmares will follow me for the rest of my life... At sea, I feel comfortable and I come to rest. I especially enjoy the long passages over the Indian and Atlantic Ocean. I hear now that the Dutch government organizations have started causing problems again. I am seriously thinking about not returning to the Netherlands. Of course I will discuss this with my parents. We will make decisions carefully, such as finishing my high school education and making plans for my future. Last but not least, I would like to say that I realize my voyage would not have been possible without the support of all my fans from around the globe and my sponsors. I am very grateful to them and I would like to thank them all! I can’t be negative about the Netherlands, a country with so many good people. Because of my past experience with the Dutch government organizations, I have the feeling that it will be very difficult for me to return to the Netherlands. I will complete my solo circumnavigation on the island of Sint Maarten. I am sorry if I disappoint my Dutch fans. What a party it would have been if Hoek van Holland or IJmuiden had been my port of arrival…!!!.. Who knows, it might still happen one day…

Laura

Snagged from LauraDekker.nl de Jongste solozeiler ter wereld! -

Anybody think she might blow off the media circus and quietly slip over to another port for provisions before heading off to New Zealand? I hope she doesn't for the selfish reason of wanting to see her through the video and pictures the media will generate.