First Portugal, then the world for teen sailor Laura Dekker

Part of me is afraid for Laura Dekker, but part of me is looking forward to her effort to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.

I guess that's because I've grown accustomed to following these types of odysseys since Zac Sunderland set sail at 16 in the summer of 2008, launching a teen adventure spree that so far has produced three successful solo-circumnavigations, and one unsuccessful voyage.

 It was Abby Sunderland's aborted trip -- caused by a violent rolling and crippling of her 40-foot boat -- that underscored the danger aspect of high-seas adventure and spawned a heightened level of criticism directed at the Sunderland parents.

Now it's Dekker's turn, at 14, to tackle the high seas in a planned two-year journey that many tried but were unable to stop. She'll set sail Wednesday from The Netherlands to Portugal, and from there she'll prepare her 38-foot, two-masted sailboat named Guppy, for the beginning of her circumnavigation effort.

The Dutch sailor would have departed a year ago had a court not intervened and placed her under the guardianship of  a child welfare agency. But the court released her from state guardianship last week and the spunky Dekker proclaimed on her blog:

"After a one-year 'battle' I am allowed to go!"

Dekker's parents are divorced. She lives with her father, who is the biggest supporter of her adventure. Her mother, Babs Mueller, initially was against the journey, but has changed her mind.

That doesn't mean she likes the idea. "Of course no mother on earth likes it if her daughter goes to sea alone," Mueller said in a letter published in a local newspaper. "I will have sleepless nights from the worry, but this is about Laura and how I can help her."

Dekker's latest blog post is next to a photo of the schoolbooks "that are all ready for my journey," she wrote.

Though it's mandated that she keep up with schoolwork, chances are the real education will come from the ocean and its whims, and from the people she meets along the way.

Here's hoping the ocean and the people are kind to the girl.

-- Pete Thomas

Graphic and photo courtesy of Laura Dekker

Comments

[White water rafting trip]

Haha I would agree with that too. She'll never be at the route without some weapon to defend herself for scary phenomena. Lols. But I truly had fun going through your interesting adventure.

[Mark]

Ryan, if she has an alternate route planned then where is it on the map?

I would think going through these waters, the Guppy and Laura would be safer riding on an American aircraft carrier.

I cringe for her life on this route; sounds like a suicide mission instead. I wonder if she pays attention to the news from this area.

[Ryan Wine]

She has an alternate route planned that avoids that place, but yea, i wouldnt go into the gulf of aden without an automatic weapon and sniper rifle

[Mark]

Yikes for the planned eastward route she's taking, especially through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden. I hope the Dutch Navy will escort her through these waters - the most violent on the planet. I can only imagine what the Somali pirates are thinking when they see her.