She did it! Dutch girl, 16, becomes youngest to sail around the
world on her own
Dutch teenager Laura Dekker finished her solo sailing
journey around the world in good spirits, despite endless debate
about the terms under which she is allowed to be at sea.
She completed her 518-day trek today after docking her
yacht Guppy in St. Maarten, ending a yearlong expedition that
supposedly made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around
the globe, though her trip was interrupted at several
points.
Ms Dekker, 16, faced several court cases from the time she
announced her intentions to travel the world at the age of 14. She
said government organisations tried to deter her from her journey,
and because of that, she may not return home to the
Netherlands
Around the world in 518 days: Laura Dekker arrived in St.Maarten
Yacht Club today after sailing around the world solo, the youngest
ever to do so, she claims
Land ho! The strong-willed 16 year old looks happy to
touch down on dry land
Nothing but blue skies: The port of Simpson Bay, Saint
Maartin was a scenic way to end the journey
Dutch authorities tried to block Ms Dekker's trip, arguing
she was too young to risk her life, while school officials
complained she should be in a classroom.
She once said she wanted to move to Australia after her
voyage was over, the Associated Press reports, though it’s unclear
what she’ll do now that she’s finished.
She may sail to New Zealand or Bonaire, Dutch News says.
Or perhaps finish her schooling.
The strong-willed teenager made it clear that she didn’t feel
like returning to her home country of the Netherlands. ‘Over a
period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that Youth Care would
lock me up,’ she wrote on her blog.
‘It was all a frightening and traumatic experience. So often
these terrible memories come to me. I can’t ignore them. It is
painful.’
Unhappy: She wrote on her blog that she is deeply
unhappy with how the Dutch government handled her desire to travel
the world and said she may never return
At home at sea: A 15-year-old Laura Dekker poses for a
photo upon arrival in Kralendijk, on February 9, 2011 on the
Caribbean island of Boanaire
Sail away: Laura Dekker, then 14, sails away from the
port of Den Osse for world solo sailing bid, on August 4, 2010 on
her yacht Guppy (centre)
She continued: ‘Now, after sailing around the world, with
different port approaches, storms, dangerous reefs, and the full
responsibility of keeping myself and Guppy safe, I feel that the
nightmares the Dutch government organisations put me through, were
totally unfair.’
'After sailing around the world with
the full responsibility of keeping myself and Guppy safe, I feel
that the nightmares the Dutch government organisations put me
through, were totally unfair.'
-Laura Dekker
In all, she sailed 27,000 nautical miles, on a trip with stops
that sound like a skim through a travel magazine: the Canary
Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora,
Australia, South Africa and now, St. Maarten.
Dozens of people jumped and cheered as Ms Dekker waved, wept and
then walked across the dock accompanied by her mother, father,
sister and grandparents, who had greeted her at sea earlier.
She arrived at the port after struggling against high seas and
heavy winds on a final leg from Cape Town, South Africa.
There and back again: A map on Laura Dekker's website
shows the dizzying journey she completed by herself
