Her trip

Laura set sail August 21 from Gibraltar on a red 37.7 feet (11.5 meters) long 33 year old Jeanneau Gin Fizz ketch. With an average speed of 250 km per day, she sailed to Lanzarote, Canary Islands (about 1100 km from Gibraltar), where she stayed until September 21 (she turned 15 the day before), waiting for good weather to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Then she sailed to Gran Canaria, a trip of about 350 km, where she stayed from September 22 to November 9. On November 10 she sailed to Cabo Verde, a distance of 1700 km, where she arrived November 16, first Sal, then São Nicolau, 160 km westward. On December 2 she started the big cross towards the Caribbean. On December 18, she arrived in St. Maarten, a trip of about 4100 km. She spent a few days sailing on the Stad Amsterdam to Dominica and Guadeloupe. On January 20 she sailed to Îles des Saintes (300 km) where she arrived January 21. Then to Dominica on January 26 (40 km). Then to Bonaire (800 km), where she arrived February 5. February 26 she flew to The Netherlands to attend the Hiswa. March 9 she was back in Bonaire. March 15 she left for San Blas Islands near Panama (1200 km), where she arrived March 19. March 29 she sailed to Shelter bay marina in Colon, Panama (150 km). April 10 she crossed the Panama canal. April 17 she sailed to Las Perlas (150 km). April 19 she sailed on to Galapagos (1700 km), where she arrived April 26. May 8 she sailed to Marquesas Islands (5400 km, an average of 300 km per day) where she arrived May 25. June 2 she sailed to Tahiti (1450 km), where she arrived June 8. On June 17 she sailed to Bora Bora (250 km). On June 26 to Tonga (2500 km) where she arrived July 8. July 13 she sailed to Fiji (800 km), where she arrived July 17. July 27 she sailed to Vanuatu (1100 km), where she arrived July 30. August 9 she set sail for Darwin, Australia (4300 km), which she reached August 25. September 25 she left Darwin westbound. After almost 47 days of keeping her almost exact route across the Indian Ocean a secret (to avoid pirates), she arrived November 14 in Durban (11000km). On November 17 she sailed to Port Elizabeth where she arrived November 19 (900 km). She set sail on November 24. She arrived in Cape Town November 27 (900 km). She left on December 12. She arrived in Simpson Bay near Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, on January 21 (11000 km). Total distance traveled over 27000 nautical miles (50000 km).

About Laura and her voyage

Laura Dekker is a now sixteen-year-old girl with Netherlandic, New Zealand and German citizenship. She was born on a boat. She once said that in her then 15 years she has only lived one year on land. She likes to sail a boat. By herself. Around the world. This attracts press. She's famous.

Why is this relevant? Because few have encountered so many people who felt it their mission to make sure her plans would fail, many did not allow her success with her goal. Of course you have your authorities who went of of their way to interfere. There are also quite many people who felt she should be in school like everybody else. There are pupils who wish her the worst, rather than the best. There are even people who try to sabotage her trip by hacking her computer or hacking into her site.

These people in fact behave themselves as petty, narrowminded, judgemental creeps, who are in all respects just plain wrong. At best, they are downright pedantic. The truth of the matter is that she does most of her schoolwork during her trip and then some. She is experienced, and therefore old and wise enough, to do what she does.
She has proven this. Even after more than a year of fighting the bullies, she has shown immense perseverence and resilience.

Her sailing trip builds a wonderful person. At home, or at sea, she might be a bit of a loner, but during her trips she meets more nice people than many do in a lifetime.

Even after she has successfully finished her trip in a record time, many continue to nag and lie that she is not old enough to do this! In fact, she was forced to decide not to come back to The Netherlands, because some assholes just won't get off her case. And that "Guinness" won't acknowledge her world record because they feel she was "too young" (which clearly she wasn't), says more about them than about Laura...

At three times her age, I have deep respect and admiration for this girl. She has justifiably earned the adjective "COOL". As a matter of fact, the world could use a lot more of these remarkable people!