By Judy H. Fitzpatrick
SIMPSON BAY--Dutch teenager Laura Dekker stood on the front of her red boat Guppy and pumped her fists into the air to signal the completion of her solo sailing trip around the world just after docking at the St. Maarten Yacht Club (SMYC) on Saturday.
Her gesture caused roars of applause and excited screams from the large crowd of residents and visitors who had gathered at the Yacht Club to watch Dekker sail through John Sainsborough Lejuez Bridge (the Simpson Bay bridge) around 3:00pm to complete her circumnavigation at the same spot from which she had started exactly one year and one day ago.
Her circumnavigation makes her the youngest person to sail solo around the world, although her effort is not recognised by Guinness Book of World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council, which no longer recognise records for youngest sailors.
It was an emotional moment when Dekker jumped off her sailboat and stood in a long embrace with her little sister Kim. She also hugged her father Dick Dekker, her mother Barbel Muller and grandparents Rienk and Dick Dekker before greeting friends and acquaintances.
Only a select few from the Dutch press were allowed close up to capture the arrival scene. At one point the reporter from The Daily Herald was physically pushed off the dock by a young man wearing a St. Maarten Yacht Club T-shirt.
Dekker was showered with flowers by youngsters in the Yacht Club's youth sailing programme, listened to a speech by Education and Sports Minister Rhoda Arrindell (see related story) and received a large SMYC flag at the opening ceremony.
"I enjoyed it a lot. I'm really happy that I did it," Dekker, clad in short cuffed blue jeans and black top, told reporters at a brief press conference held shortly after her arrival. "Of course there were moments where I was like 'What the hell am I doing out here?' but I never wanted to stop. It's a dream and I wanted to do it."
Asked when her next big sailing challenge will be, Dekker responded: "I first have to let this calm down and then I'd like to go to New Zealand, but it's not a huge challenge, I didn't really think about it."
She arrived in St. Maarten after the final leg of her journey: 41 days at sea from Cape Town, South Africa.
For now Dekker wants to complete her education. "I just want to finish it [school, ed.],
probably in Holland."
She said she would "really like to [go to New Zealand, ed]. It's not sure. Nothing is sure, but I'd really, really like to and why? I like the country and I'd like to do something with sailing later, so New Zealand or Australia or just good countries. Europe is nice."
Dekker, who turned 16 recently, celebrated her birthday quietly in Darwin, Australia. "I didn't really do a lot. It's okay and that was it. But it was really nice."
One of her scariest moments was encountering a whale while in South Africa. "It dove right in front of my boat and got all this water on my boat and that wasn't really nice.
During her journey she "saw a lot of water and waves and I did see some dolphins, but not as much as I had expected, but it was always nice to see them and a lot of birds. Not too much sea life. ... The whale really scared me off, so I'm not really sure about that one, but the dolphins, they were nice."
The trip was enlightening for the teenager, who started her trip in a wave of controversy when the Dutch government tried to block her on the grounds that she was too young to sail solo, while school officials believed she should be in school.
"I definitely learnt a lot. I learnt better sailing, and ocean sailing. I became good friends with my boat, I learnt a lot about myself, how to feed myself and other little things that you have to learn eventually, I learnt in this one year that I lived and travelled alone."
As for her immediate plans, Laura says, "I honestly would just like to sit and rest and clean the boat; get some fresh fruits, food and drink; shower."
At the end of the press conference, Laura enjoyed a meal on her boat, which included a Coca Cola, French fries, salad and other goodies. "I don't really realise it yet," she said when asked how she felt about her accomplishment.
Her manager Gerard van Erp said Laura would be relaxing in St. Maarten for about 10 days, following which she would sail to Bonaire and then head back to The Netherlands. Van Erp told this newspaper that Laura also was working on a book, but declined to give further details.
Laura's father and grandparents declined to comment on her journey when asked how they felt about her successful solo circumnavigation.
The teenager began her trip in St. Maarten on January 20, 2011, and covered more than 27,000 nautical miles sailing to the Canary Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia, South Africa then back to St. Maarten in her 38-foot (11.5-metre) sailboat Guppy.
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