nuke_houston Are we to believe she sailed around the world, without a support team? Why are there no news articles around January 2012? Why does she always have clean hair in her videos? I am sorry, but something is not quite right. David Blaine street magician can live under water for 100 days without oxygen, and make the Statue of Liberty disappear...Served as crew member for ten days on the tall ship Stad Amsterdam, departing from St. Maarten on 5 January 2011. Departed Sint Maarten on 20 January; visited the islands of Îles des Saintes, Dominica, Bonaire and San Blas Islands, all located in the Caribbean.Flew home on 27 February; stayed to 10 March to speak at a boat show and other places, now a figure of considerable media attention in the Netherlands.Completed the passage of the Panama Canal on 11 April 2011;[59] visited Pearl Islands thereafter.

Leftbanker This documentary brought me back to that summer sitting on a beach in Hawaii. I was 16 and I read Dove about the voyage of Robin Lee Graham who started his around-the-world sailing when he was 16. I had never been on a boat and didn't have much desire to do anything similar, neither then of ever since. I have spent a little time on sailboats and I've always thought—if not dreamed—of crossing the ocean on a sailing vessel. I would only do it with someone with a lot more experience and knowledge than what I have gleaned after a couple summers of crewing on a racing yacht. Her bravery is the most inspirational aspect of Maidentrip.What this film represents, at least to me, is the sense of adventure in all of us, whether we have acted on it or not. I've never done anything like this but I haven't exactly been paralyzed with fear, cowering inside a locked room. I just like to read, hear, and watch other people's ideas on the subject. I think that I have acted to fulfill a few of my dreams in life and that has made all the difference, as Frost put it.

TxMike I remember a few years ago when news of this planned trip was going around and, knowing nothing else, I too was one of those who said "The girl and her parents must be crazy." Now, after seeing this excellent film and learning more about the girl I have changed my mind completely. She was born on a boat, spent the first 5 years of her life sailing with her mom and dad, she has been sailing solo since she was 6, and even though she is small she is sailing-strong and sailing- wise. The trip she made certainly isn't for everyone but it was just right for her.Laura Decker announced her intention when she was only 13. Right away the Dutch government tried to stop her, even taking the case to court. But after almost a year of haggling the court finally did the right thing and said it was a decision Laura and her parents had to make.The yacht might seem large to some, but for sailing the mighty oceans a 40-foot boat is pretty small. But she and her dad, a boat builder, outfitted it specifically for the trip and sponsors gave instruments for her navigation. But I was impressed to see that she also had old-fashioned charts and a sextant so that she could navigate even if the instruments with GPS guidance failed.All the filming at sea was done by Laura herself. Often she would mount the camera at a strategic spot to film what was going on but the camera was not mounted rigidly and the slight to-fro movement added a lot of the sense of being there. Much of the filming was done in her cabin and kitchen area and in most respects what we see is your typical teenager, acting goofy like a typical teenager, but on a fantastic trip. And relishing the alone time.At times the water and winds were too calm for days at a time and boredom set in. At other times windy storms came up things get real exciting but Laura simply sailed smartly with no time for fear. And when she was on deck she always had on her harness and safety rope. It is very clear that she knew what she was doing.The other nice touch, she didn't try to sail around the world as fast as she could, instead she took almost 2 years and stopped along the way many times to spend time and enjoy the local sights and culture. By the time she got to Darwin, Australia her sails were ripped and several parts of the boat were damaged. Her dad flew there to meet her and together they spent most of 4 weeks completely renovating the boat for the rest of her journey.Laura Dekker is not your ordinary teenager, and as she was nearing completion of her trip at St. Maartens she decided she didn't want to return to Holland. Instead she kept going, until she arrived in New Zealand, a country she already had citizenship by virtue of her birth there. Getting a job to earn money and continue to become a better sailor.My thoughts would have been quite different if she had perished at sea, but she didn't. Some people are just born to do things that others would not. It reminds me of a young Charles Lindbergh who flew solo across the Atlantic in 1927, or a young Mozart who was composing before he was 10. Quite a nice film, I found my self watching it twice on Netflix streaming films.

clarkj-565-161336 Just saw this at Hot Docs in Toronto last night. If you want to know what sailing around the world is like, this is the movie for you. Not so long ago, we didn't have the technology to make filming a journey like this so easy. We are shown a pretty complete set of film documenting the various legs of the journey, from sunny becalmed days, to hair raising stormy seas rounding South Africa.I guess like everyone I wondered how someone so young could make such a journey. We follow the back story of Laura's life as she spends her first 5 years at sea around New Zealand and as a very young girl helping her single dad restore their boat, the Guppy. When you see her on the boat sailing, you immediately grasp that this person is at one with the boat and with the sea and any doubts disappear. The boat is exactly made to order, everything in its place, strong, simple. Restoring and basically rebuilding the boat from scratch was probably the best thing for someone undertaking such a journey. You must be totally aware of absolutely everything on a boat, how it works, and how to repair it.This doc reminded me of a film I saw about the Golden Globe race in 1968, called Deep Water. Laura refers to Bernard Moitessier and how he fell in love with the sailing and forgot about the race he was on, continuing on into the south pacific.The animation sequences showing the path of the boat on various charts of the world are very imaginatively done, you get a real sense of the journey. What a way to see our beautiful planet and all the various life forms.