Laura Dekker has been in the news locally and overseas, as she has just finished a round the world sail on her own yacht (Guppy) all alone – a feat that is unusual for an adult and very unusual for one as young as Laura who did this solo navigation during her 15th year.
Laura was born when her parents were sailing around the world on their own yacht. Then the family lived in the Netherlands for a short time while they built a bigger yacht. They then went sailing again. Laura has lived on a boat almost her whole life.
When Laura was only eight years old, she was already able to sail a cruising yacht all on her own. She often sailed with just her dog.
Laura was 10 years old when she told everyone that she wanted to sail around the world on her own. Her Dad helped her to fulfil this dream, but Laura also did small jobs to earn money to build a boat for her to sail around the world in.
Setting sail from St. Maarten one year ago, Laura did not know what was ahead, but as she had been sailing for so many years in the deep blue sea far from land, she knew what to expect. Laura is now planning to write a book about her sailing alone around the world.
