Mon, 28 May 2012
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Laura Dekker says she’s more of a doer than a dreamer but with her plans to become the youngest ever person to solo circumnavigate the globe now in tatters, she’ll be left to ponder what might have been.With the Dutch child protection agencies declaring her trip too dangerous she and her eight-metre yacht Guppy will be confined to dock.
A devastating blow for the teenager who lives her life for sailing.
“My parents have sailed around the world, they know what can happen and that it’s not always fun, but because I want to do it so much they agreed and supported me. They’ve taken good care of me for 13 years so I don’t why people suddenly think they are not doing a good job,” Laura told Dutch TV earlier this week.
She wasn’t at the hearing that torpedoed her hopes on Friday – advised to stay away as the constant media pressure was taking its toll, she, of course, spent the day sailing instead.
Born on board
But it’s not as if she needed to prove her commitment to the sport.
Laura was even born on a boat – in New Zealand – and when she was just six-years-old she had already mastered the control over her single-handed Optimist dinghy and was criss-crossing lakes back in the Netherlands.
Aged ten she moved up to a seven metre boat and was honing her skills in the waters of Friesland and here she encountered her first problems with the outside world with lock-operators not always willing to allow passage to such a young girl in charge of a boat on her own.
And with the family then firmly on the radar of social services in the Netherlands the ball started rolling, the next step seeing the Child Protection Board action, which resulted in Friday’s ban.
Reportedly there are no legal obstacles there to minors embarking on lengthy sea journeys, although children in New Zealand, too, are required to attend school.
But emigration does not seem to offer a way out. The New Zealand authorities told Dutch daily de Volkskrant on Friday that Laura Dekker could expect to be treated by New Zealand's child protection bodies the same way as in the Netherlands.
The deputy chief executive of the New Zealand Child, Youth and Family agency Ray Smith said he did not think it was sensible for a 13-year-old to sail solo around the world. "I think most people would share that view,” he told the New Zealand Herald.
For the time being then it looks as though all avenues have been exhausted and Laura will have to join her 13-year-old Dutch counterparts returning to school after the summer break.
Andy Clark
Radio Netherlands
Sad to see The Netherlands becoming such a nanny state... What happened with letting people decide themselves what it's achievable or not? Why do we have to measure everyone with the same stick?
Child Service should better go after parents who DON'T let encourage their kids to stand on their own feet. No wonder we see "kids" in their twenties who can't survive without mum and dad.
Laura's parents are divorced and dad is a strong character with ambitions of his own. What 13-year-old wouldn't want to please daddy? Whether it is subconscious or not. Laura probably could do it alone, but her motivations might be questionable. Mum isn't so enthusiastic. Let's wait till she's sixteen and see if she still has the will to do the world trip. At least then her motives would more surely be her own.
Sad to see The Netherlands becoming such a nanny state... What happened with letting people decide themselves what it's achievable or not? Why do we have to measure everyone with the same stick?
Child Service should better go after parents who DON'T let encourage their kids to stand on their own feet. No wonder we see "kids" in their twenties who can't survive without mum and dad.
Laura's parents are divorced and dad is a strong character with ambitions of his own. What 13-year-old wouldn't want to please daddy? Whether it is subconscious or not. Laura probably could do it alone, but her motivations might be questionable. Mum isn't so enthusiastic. Let's wait till she's sixteen and see if she still has the will to do the world trip. At least then her motives would more surely be her own.
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