Laura: Courtesy New Zealand Herald
New Zealand children are taught water wise at a very young age. Seen in the photo, are young children learning to sail. My school which is a primary school, sends our ten and eleven students for sailing lessons.
New Zealand born Dutch fourteen-year-old Laura Dekker hopes to become the youngest person to sail around the world by herself. Yesterday the schoolgirl finally set off from Den Osse harbour for the start of a two-year odyssey which will see her journey for months on end without support or company through some of the world's toughest seas.
For the opening stages of her voyage to Portugal she will be accompanied by her father. "We want to be sure that the boat, 38ft yacht Guppy, is completely ready, so this is the last test sail," Laura explained. "From Portugal I start officially by myself, sailing towards the Canary Islands."
She will not try to circumnavigate the globe in one go, opting instead to take regular stops to meet her family. She will also avoid the ocean during stormy seasons. Her route will take her across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific, past Malaysia and Thailand, around the southern horn of India and through the Gulf of Aden, a stretch of water notorious for piracy.
We are proud of Laura and wish her every success.
6 comments:
It sounds like she has a better plan than the last teenaged girl who tried this trip. I wish her well.
I hope she will make it! But the oceans are not easy to put it mildly. My father had been a sailor for almost 40 years and could tell you how difficult it was. You are apparently a greater fan of hers than I am. I shall become a fan as soon as she is halfway. That doesn't mean that I am not interested!! She will learn to deal with loneliness and hardship. Good luck Laura!
I have seen this on the news. Her parents must be besides themselves with worry, but at least she has modified the trip. I don't think it is wise fo any one person to be alone sailing for so long, what if she gets very sick or something? I think two would be so much better. And the pirates!!! Well, at least people will know her course and come after her if she doesn't turn up somewhere. Does she have a way to communicate with any one? No cell phone towers in the sea!
she's so brave!
They didn't teach sailing at my school.. How neat
Hi Ann
Thanks for your comment.
RE: How much free photo storage do they give you.
That depends of the provider, I run wordpress on a hired server, I have 5000 Mb for storage (cost $35 USD for one year including domain name)
Have a nice wekend
Bram
Post a Comment