Laura Dekker's Circumnavigation

[Astrid]

Looks like Laura made it safely to Durban S.A.

LauraDekker.nl de Jongste solozeiler ter wereld! -

[deckofficer]

Yep, she had us all fooled, leaving from Darwin, I had assumed she was going to cross the Indian Ocean, turn north, head up the Red Sea, transit the Suez and cruise the Med. After listening to a lot of her interviews and reading her postings, I've come to the conclusion she isn't too fond of publicity, interviews, or a lot of people or other vessels. Sailing appears to be a Zen thing with Laura, and anything that hampers her ability to be by herself with Guppy and the sea, she avoids.

[SVAspen]

She is a very wise sailor. No one goes through the GOA these days.

[Noztradamus]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Yep, she had us all fooled, leaving from Darwin, I had assumed she was going to cross the Indian Ocean, turn north, head up the Red Sea, transit the Suez and cruise the Med~~~~

Not me. I had a suspicion she was going south by the begining of October, when she didn't put into Bali, and was worried about diesel useage so early in the leg.

Probable when she went off grid on the 6th, which made no sense if she was pulling into Singapore within the week. Oh well, we'll find out when she makes the Maldives (or Mauritius) at the end of the month.

When she made her first delayed report on the 24th Nov (for the 6th) it was clear she hadn't crossed the Java Sea, so if she was avoiding the Straits of Malacaa, it was likely she's do the same for the Red Sea

By Nov1 she hadn't put into anywhere, so it looked like she was going for the crossing in one jump.

On the 6th, she reports the sea was lot colder where she was on the 23 October, AND (here's the gripping hand) starts putting up 2 days reports/day. Obviously intended to bring the report/posting date in line at the end of the leg, but makes no sense in regard to the stated purpose of concealing her actual position when in bandit country.

ergo. She's not heading for the Red Sea.

[hummingway]

She's a sea sprite that's for sure.

[Astrid]

She apparently took the route I would have in her sea boots, and the one I had hoped she would take rather than risk the Red Sea. Laura is a wise and savvy young miss to be sure; a girl against the sea is one thing, but to add on men of a criminal persuasion to the that..........!

[deckofficer]

I just read her latest entry from Cape Town South Africa and it appears to me the racing bug has bitten that girl. From reading all of her past posts, I knew she was very competitive. She would almost become giddy in describing when she and other boats left the port how she would take the lead. Now in Cape Town, she is been seen crawling all over the race boats. She comments that one of the race boats even though twice as long as her Guppy, is about the same weight. Her uncanny ability to dial in to any vessel she sails, I would say she's a natural for racing. When she had gone back to the Netherlands to participate in the big boat show, she demo'ed for a manufacturer, a really cool inflatable Catamaran dinghy. Later she insisted on taking this Catamaran dinghy out in heavy weather to see what it could do. Of all the promotional pictures I've seen of this dinghy, I've never seen anybody fly a hull on it. Laura had no problem flying a hull on that dinghy.

[bengtinge]

Originally Posted by SVAspen

She is a very wise sailor. No one goes through the GOA these days.

There you are wrong. PlanetSolar, an expedition with power boat, fully electrical, powered with solar panels and batteries (PlanetSolar :: First Around The World With Solar Energy ::*Home* ) is planning to go through GOA / Suez Canal. They have been criticised but go ahead and are close to GOA now. They will not be criticised for their age and gender because they all are grown up men.

(GOA=Gulf of Aden)

[MacG]

Can we remember all the Nay-sayers? Just go back to our earlier discussions.

[deckofficer]

sounds good to me, the earlier discussions.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

There you are wrong. PlanetSolar, an expedition with power boat, fully electrical, powered with solar panels and batteries (PlanetSolar :: First Around The World With Solar Energy ::*Home* ) is planning to go through GOA / Suez Canal. They have been criticised but go ahead and are close to GOA now. They will not be criticised for their age and gender because they all are grown up men.

(GOA=Gulf of Aden)

being grown men, as you state does NOT make them smart. nor does going thru gulf of aden.

[MacG]

She has changed. Much more mature. I wish her the best of luck as I did in the beginning.

[deckofficer]

Yep, she has changed, changed her hair color twice, taught herself to drive a manual transmission car that was left in her care for a week, learned to surf and scuba, herded water buffalo on horseback, and probably has become a better cook and diesel mechanic. However, The Netherlands are hard core when it comes to schooling and I'm not too sure she is keeping up with her studies.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MacG

She has changed. Much more mature. I wish her the best of luck as I did in the beginning.

I reckon MarkJ gave her some useful bits of advise on what/how to manage things while she was in St Martin..
Be enough to make anyone mature fast....
Hey... just kiddin Mark... hope alls well...

[MacG]

@B61

Advice you say?
I heard some gossip that she didnot made her exams. Although, what she learns outside is still more valuable than whatever school might teach her.

At the WSV Merwede I had a discussion with one of the die-hard sailors who had supported her from the beginning. We admire this girl with her standfast mentality.