Laura Dekker's Circumnavigation

[Multihull]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Ha! Maybe all the Dutch with the right spirit have emigrated and now live in places like NZ, AUS, CAN, USA etc. ... Laura isn't the first...

cheers,
Nick.

I consider at least a few that have not left (yet) :-)

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by 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.

Reading her perspective on her experience calls to mind Lisbeth Salander from the Stieg Larsson's books. For her oppression by the youth authorities, her strength of character to follow her dreams and succeed despite them, and her joy in the solitude of her own company. But Ms. Dekker is not a fictional character. Well done, Laura.

[Astrid]

I think, that we at CF, as a community, should tip our hats to the young lady for her perseverence, daring, fortitude, and resourcefulness. Early on in her planning and at the start of her voyage of self-discovery (for that is what it really has been rather than the mere setting of an unofficial record), many of us were whole-heartedly behind her; others had doubts that she should attempt it; and still others were completely against her plans to solo navigate the globe. Now with her goal literally in sight, she has justified the faith of those who were behind her, and ultimately shown all of us how indomitable the human spirit can be even in one so young. Her skill and determination in achieving her goal deserves our praise and and we as a community of sailors, cruisers, and mariners--professional or otherwise--should join together to applaud someone, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

As a community, I think it might be appropriate to offer her a special membership in our community for the honour she has done us all.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Multihull

I consider at least a few that have not left (yet) :-)

potverdorie! schiet op man, het wordt hier steeds drukker in het paradijs, straks is er geen plek meer

ciao!
Nick.

[speakeasy]

+1, Astrid. A fine idea.

[deckofficer]

+1 also Astrid.

I will even remove my hat and get in my dress whites to salute your accomplishment Laura. You posses a natural sailing ability that I wish I did. You have my total respect and I'm even listening to a St. Maartin radio station on the Internet waiting for your arrival.

[MacG]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

potverdorie! schiet op man, het wordt hier steeds drukker in het paradijs, straks is er geen plek meer

ciao!
Nick.

Ik heb mijn eigen paradijs, mss niet zo spec als in the Carib, maar toch ......

Ga het toch hogerop zoeken, de echte kou in .........

En Laura? Ach die vindt haar eigen weg wel. Daar heeft ze ons als auditorium niet zo bij nodig. Of misschien wel?
Altijd goed als er een achterban is waar ze op terug kan vallen.

[callmecrazy]

Apparently she's officially in port. Awaiting the english version...

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Apparently she's officially in port. Awaiting the english version...

Went to the link. Did I miss something? It wasn't about Laura.

Never mind, the link was yours. Me dumb!!

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Went to the link. Did I miss something? It wasn't about Laura.

Sorry, I wasn't referring to the above posts. I'm seeing this on her Facebook support page.

[deckofficer]

She has arrived.............

Laura Dekker, Teen Ends Globe-Circling Voyage In St. Maarten

[bengtinge]

I like this article from today:
BBC News - Schoolgirl sailor triumphs after battle with authorities

saying that the Dutch authority apologises for what they did to her, and say she has shown extreme strength of character. They motivate their previous action that they by principle have a responsibility to protect the children.

Laura has previously written about this "protection": "they don't know what boats are, and they are scared of them".

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

I like this article from today:
BBC News - Schoolgirl sailor triumphs after battle with authorities

saying that the Dutch authority apologises for what they did to her, and say she has shown extreme strength of character. They motivate their previous action that they by principle have a responsibility to protect the children.

Laura has previously written about this "protection": "they don't know what boats are, and they are scared of them".

Thanks for the link, BBC did a good and impartial story.

[MacG]

It is funny that these so called "officials" - just capable of driving a car down the road - judge Laura' s capacities as a sailor. The world turned topsy turvy. And I do not think they will ever apologise, actually nobody can understand what this organisation is doing, neither do they know themselves as it is a remnant from the "Regententijd". There are on an annual basis hundreds of courtcases against this organisation called Youth Care as far as misuse of children and pedophilia.

What I discovered in Laura is the urge for freedom and more and more she becomes the kind of a Moitessier, a Brel, a Slocum to me, although there are certainly more like her who are trying to shake off the plagues of a condensed society with it's false pretenses.
Laura is vulnerable because she is still a minor. Not in the eyes of the real sea-people, no, they understand quite well the drives of the kinds of Laura.

She better stays away from Holland because the mob is still after her.

[salticrak]

Wat 'n wonderlike ding om te doen,sy is een meisie met a hart en wil van iemand dubbel haar ouderdom.Goedgedaan.