Welcome to LauraDekker.nl!

Born aboard of a boat off the coast of New Zealand, from a young age Laura Dekker has dreamt about sailing. But Laura is more a do-er than a dreamer. When she was six she sailed her Optimist dinghy across the lake where she lived. As she gets older, she wants to go further. – too far for some. She has already sailed her boat Guppy twice to Friesland, where she had a six week vacation, and now she intends to pursue her dreams far beyond local mudflats and waters. She wants to circumnavigate the globe – a massive aspiration for a young girl.

Guided by her father, who wrongly thought that her first single handed voyage from Holland to England would cure her of her wanderlust, Laura has studied tides, weather, navigation, regulations and safety.

At her thirteenth birthday, she considers herself ready for her first major solo voyage, and aboard Guppy she left the harbour of Maurik and set her course for England, returning a week later. “Such a long time at sea by herself, with wind, rain and waves, she will be cured”, her father hopes secretly.

“No, I have an appetite for more” Laura tells anybody who will listen.

So now Laura is ready for the adventure of a lifetime.