Blog

8th January 2020

What makes a boat seaworthy?

What makes a boat seaworthy? You’re out shopping for a blue water cruising boat and people keep telling you it needs to be seaworthy, but what […]
25th December 2019

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

17th December 2019

Is a small boat much more dangerous to sail around the world’s oceans?

Is a small boat much more dangerous to sail around the world’s oceans? This is a question I have been asked many times. There is the […]
30th October 2019

Looking for a place to build GuppyXL

We still need to raise a large proportion of the required funds to build GuppyXL. We have received some generous donations from sponsors and individuals – […]
22nd August 2019

Victron Energy steps onboard as a supporter.

We are really excited to welcome a new sponsor and a partnership established with Victron Energy.  On my round the world voyage I also had Victron […]
7th August 2019

Atlantic Ocean Crossing delivery West – East.

It was just around midday when we stood in line waiting for the security check of the airport. Tim was sitting happily with Sander in the […]
26th May 2019

Laura Dekker Sailing Regatta

Besides working on the project and raising a little crawler I am also still doing motivational speeches and presentations all over the world. Even though I […]
13th May 2019

Getting some Vitamin Sea

This last year has been crazy, so much has happened yet in some ways I felt like I was standing still and not getting anywhere. I […]
30th March 2019

A new chapter in my life :)

I have heard that people go through big changes about every 7 years in their lives. I don’t know if that’s true but it did kind […]
30th March 2019

Mail conversations between LifeSail and me since Guppy’s stranding

I was sick of all the lies, twisting of the truth and the back and forth of accusations and writings of blogs. So I decided to […]
6th February 2019

BOOT Dusseldorf has been over for a while, but life continues at full speed.

BOOT Dusseldorf has been over for a while, but life continues at full speed. There has been a lot of interest in the project and I […]
1st February 2019

Mails that make me smile :)

Everyday I get lots of mail, And of course also lots of nice mails, that really make me smile. This is one of them, I remember […]
19th January 2019

Great first day on BOOT Dusseldorf

We had a great first day on BOOT Dusseldorf, lots of visitors and great talks.  Big thanks to the Handling Company & Your Identity for the […]
18th January 2019

We are ready for BOOT Dusseldorf!

After two long days of working we are very happy to present our stand at the upcoming BOOT Dusseldorf, I’m super excited to be telling all […]
24th December 2018

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year! We will be sailing for Christmas this year 🙂
21st December 2018

My interview at the ZEIT wirtschaftsforum in Frankfurt

12th November 2018

A new adventure

We want to invite you to have a look into our goals and step in to become a part of it. Our goal is to have […]
9th November 2018

Getting lines into the computer.

The first steps are made.   We are officially a trust now & have been able to accept our first donations ( big thank you to […]
9th November 2018

5 tips on achieving your dreams

8th October 2018

The loss of Guppy, a deep scar that may fade but will never leave

It’s been two months since Guppy’s stranding, not a day goes by that I don’t think about her being smashed up and down on the reef […]
11th September 2018

Confirmed a total loss :'(

Picture’s from three weeks ago.. by now she is fully submerged and confirmed a total loss :'(
31st August 2018

Initial Damage Report Guppy

Initial Damage Report of Guppy’s grounding in Manihiki Isl. Based on information gathered from different sources. Vessel Particulars when leaving Whangarei Harbour May 2018 Build in […]
30th August 2018

Photo’s of Guppy’s stranding

Place of initial stranding. Guppy having been thrown further unto the reef after another squall – the place of initial stranding is drawn into the picture. […]
24th August 2018

Still no word on Guppy..

17th August 2018

Guppy stranded on a reef :(

Dear followers, This last week has most likely been one of the saddest times in my life so far. My dear Guppy, my first home, my […]
1st April 2018

Trofeo Princesa Sofia – Mallorca

To follow some of the work I’m doing in Mallorca over the next week with the Trofeo Princesa Sofia go to: https://www.facebook.com/TrofeoPrincesaSofia/ Or https://www.youtube.com/user/Trofeoprincesasofia Laura
17th March 2018

Learning as a Marine Electrician

Hello Everyone, It’s been a while since the last update, I didn’t write because for my standards I haven’t been on a crazy awesome adventure lately. […]
6th January 2018

Drawing, designing and some minicat sailing

Drawing, designing, making plans – the project is evolving Minicats ready for a sail Because I sail almost everyday I leave the minicat inflated, stored with […]
25th December 2017

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! I wish that you will get the best gift of all: The company of people you love, […]
4th December 2017

A new home for Guppy

Sometimes it’s good to let go of things and start with something new. And this is one of those moments. I’m ready to let her go, […]
6th November 2017

Den Osse

Dad up his mizzen mast, getting ready to hang in another stay: Putting boats up the yard for winter. With Dad & Spot in the forklift […]
22nd October 2017

Singlehanded on a Mini 6.50

Had the honour to sail singlehanded on a Mini 6.50 for the last week – was so much fun! 😀 Little boat – huge mast 🙂 […]
9th October 2017

Meeting old friends

Yesterday we visited an old Dutch friend I met along my circumnavigation. I had last seen him in Darwin, so 6 years ago! It so great […]
28th September 2017

Vitamin Sea

9th September 2017

Life on the famous side & Lessons I’ve learned

Life on the famous side & Lessons I’ve learned Lesson 1,The Pressure More and more often I see young people striving to be famous, posting every […]
8th September 2017

Childhood Memories

I just got back online after two beautiful weeks of sailing trough Holland, showing some family & friends my sailing life and why I love it […]
16th August 2017

Minicat Meeting Lake Como

Here are some nice video’s from our Minicat Meeting in Italy last June. Mum, dad, and I drove from Holland and spent the weekend with 50 […]
15th August 2017

Masts for the Havorn

Another super exciting thing happened last month. Havorn finally became a sailboat! Her masts are stepped! And even though it’s without booms, gafs and only thin […]
8th June 2017

A New Adventure

A new adventure Over the past years I have had many people ask me “Whats next?” – probably expecting me to start with some other adventure […]
22nd February 2017

Great Barrier Island Part I

Beautiful early morning start – Great Barier Isl. in the distance. Hiking up to Mt Hobson views from the top of Mt Hobson Kim’s game day […]
22nd February 2017

Great Barrier Island Part II

We go ashore the following day to hike to the peak of Mt Hirakimata which – with 627m – is the highest point on Great Barrier […]
20th February 2017

Family visits

Taking dad on a big hike on his birthday 🙂 Not sure if this was a great birthday present as hiking isn’t one of his favourite […]
20th February 2017

Sailing & friends

Once home again we got busy hosts – Dad and some friends from the US flew in to visit us over Christmas and New Years which […]
18th February 2017

Old old Guppy – Hurley 700

Imagine my surprise when I was checking my mails this morning and read in a newspaper article that Guppy has been sold?! It took me a […]
31st January 2017

Anna Rose delivery Photo’s

Approaching Jervis Bay. Beautiful sunset above the heads of Jervis bay. Filling up with fuel in Ulladula. Crossing a sleepy Tasman sea. found Tasmania! 🙂 On […]
31st January 2017

Anna Rose delivery part II

Along the way dad sends us weather-updates via satphone text. It’s looking like we are going to get some very gnarly weather soon. 30-40 knots of […]
18th January 2017

Photos

guadalcanal island Kids paddling around the shores in front of their villages. Big pig cooling off in a muddy pool next to the road. Not sure […]
18th January 2017

Anna Rose Delivery Part I

It’s about beginning November as the doors of the plane open and Honiara’s (Capital of the Solomon Islands) humid heat warms me instantly. I finally meet […]
3rd November 2016

Vancouver-New York-Victoria-Bellingham-Hong Kong

A lot has happened since I arrived in Portland three weeks ago. Lots of presentation requests came in while I was already in the area. I […]
2nd November 2016

Pictures

View of Washington state from Victoria Going for a walk, don’t worry there are no more trains driving on these tracks. Victoria, Goldstream park Crazy growing […]
10th October 2016

Europe and Portland

So about a month ago I left New Zealand on my own for a little tour around the world, by plane this time though.I stopped in […]
27th September 2016

Me sailing Minicat

Me enjoying Minicat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGqxQtauJc
26th September 2016

Interview BNR radio ( Dutch)

Interview BNR radio (Dutch) https://www.facebook.com/lauradekker.worldsailingfoundation/ https://www.facebook.com/lauradekker.worldsailingfoundation/videos/vb.1380334081994373/1397279046966543/?type=2&theater
14th July 2016

Dog Sitting and Boat Jobs

Chantal flew back home to Germany shortly after the end of our road trip. ‘Normal’ life kicked back in for us, finding little jobs to do […]
10th July 2016

Roadtrip Part II

Roadtrip Part II We soon arrived in Stratford which is at the foot of Mt.Taranaki. Thinking that it would be fun to spent the night at […]
7th July 2016

Roadtrip Part I

10 days later we picked Chantal up from the airport and escaped Auckland’s highways asap – heading for the Coromandel. Explorations there took us into its […]
10th May 2016

New Zealand Sailing Adventures

NZ summer was coming to a slow end: high time to take Guppy out for a sail again! …and besides that, it was a good opportunity […]
19th April 2016

Minicat Sailing Trip

Last week has been a very busy one – our days are usually filled with little adventures of some sort and sitting still doesn’t happen very […]
31st March 2016

Back Home

Back home! Our last two weeks in Europe were as always to short to do all the things that we wanted to and we never get […]
25th March 2016

Sea Fever

I just came across this lovely poem again written by John Masefield. A woman read it to me last year before the start of a presentation […]
4th February 2016

Building Masts and Towing boats

Josefien was released from the hospital and we all drove back together. Much rest and sleep were ahead for her, but quiet the opposite was awaiting […]
3rd February 2016

Building Masts & Towings Boats Photo’s

Making the feet from the spreaders around the construction for the stays and terminals. Bit by bit, day by day, the pipes are transforming into masts. […]
31st January 2016

New Years Eve in a Swiss Hospital

  So far Europe has been cold, wet, busy but also very nice. Well most of it anyway.. We spent New years eve at a rather […]
16th January 2016

Minicat on Boot Dusseldorf

On the 23-24th of January 2016 I can be found on the stand of Minicaton the Dusseldorf Boat show to present the Laura Dekker minicat edition
23rd November 2015

Boat Work

After 2 years in the water, it was time for Guppy to get a serious manicure done. We hauled her out and worked like crazy for […]
1st October 2015

Birthday & Meeting Jessica Watson

I want to start with saying thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes. I had a great day together with friends here in Whangarei. Daniel and […]
4th August 2015

Twizel – South Island.

Last weekend I had a presentation in Twizel which is on the South Island. Daniel and I both got to go down and have a few […]
25th July 2015

Next Big Thing Radio

Radio interview Next big thing radio ep. 23 (61 min.) Wenn not working on your pc trythis link an older one: Next big thing radio ep. […]
14th July 2015

Guppy Sail

Sorting and checking Guppy’s anchor gear. A gorgeous sunset accompanies us while sailing trough the bridge on our way out.   Last weekend Daniel and I […]
26th June 2015

WGHS Sailing Lessons

Here are a few picture’s of some sailing lesson’s I did a few weeks ago with some girls from Whangarei Girls High school. They are doing […]
29th May 2015

Varnishing Floor boards.

The days are getting shorter, darker and wetter. Winter has arrived and this year I am not escaping it. Since Daniel’s accident we have been staying […]
9th May 2015

Wharram Cat Delivery

I took on a delivery from Bluff to Whangarei on a Wharram catamaran. Well, that trip was ehm, interesting.. I flew down the day before the […]
20th March 2015

Restoring my sextant

Here’s a beautiful article about the restoration of my sextant, done by Bill Morris. He has done an absolutely fantastic job. http://sextantbook.com/2015/02/   For all my […]
8th March 2015

Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate

Well,.. lets see what I can write about this time. I kind of feel like those days at sea, where there was always so much happening, […]
30th January 2015

Delivery of Anna Rose from Vanuatu to New Zealand

Check out some pictures of our latest sailing adventure Here Excuse me for being so slack with my blog! I just realized that I didn’t even wish […]
10th December 2014

USA radio interview

USA radio interview. http://nextbigthingradio.net/?podcast=conversations-episode-3 Starting at 3.50
27th November 2014

Daily travel podcast interview

Another interview http://dailytravelpodcast.com/around-the-world-alone-at-16-with-laura-dekker/
5th November 2014

Radio NZ podcast

radio interview, http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20141105-1006-teenage_round-the-world_solo_sailor_laura_dekker-048.mp3 or, http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20141105-1006-teenage_round-the-world_solo_sailor_laura_dekker-00.ogg or, http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20156041/teenage-round-the-world-solo-sailor-laura-dekker
18th October 2014

Presentations & Family visits

The last 2 months I have been busy with some presentations and visiting family. Time in Europe flew by. I went to Spain where I was […]
31st July 2014

Havorn in the drydock

On the 31st of July we left New York and headed to Frankfurt with a stopover in Paris. I had decided that I actually wanted to […]
20th July 2014

USA East Coast

The last couple of days before flying to Europe, we stayed with old friends of Daniel. They live in Pennsylvania and have two kids. We spend […]
15th July 2014

California and the wild west

From the Redwood forest we kept on heading South, following the coastline. Compared to the temperatures further inland the west-coast was very cold and going for […]
11th July 2014

Redwood & Northern California

We have now come into the Redwood forest, which lay in the north of California. The trees are amazing and Daniel, being a tree lover, is […]
9th July 2014

Montana & Southwest bound

By now we had reached Montana and if anybody has done the math so far, this is very, very far away from the ocean… I had […]
8th July 2014

Teton & Yellowstone National parks

Just before reaching Teton, we got to a little town called Dubois. Dubois fascinated us by its beautiful log houses and cozy wild west atmosphere and […]
7th July 2014

Toronto & Westward bound

And so the fun begins 🙂 First stop, Toronto. I was presenting at Ideacity, a three-day conference that includes a lot of different speakers and topics. […]
6th July 2014

New York

Leaving the beautiful little town and the friendly people that we had stayed with in Tahiti, Daniel and I went through a massive culture shock. We […]
4th July 2014

Radio Interview

Link radio interview http://raddeviant.com/?p=48
3rd July 2014

Presentation Ideacity Toronto

Link Video Toronto http://www.ideacityonline.com/video/youngest-cirvumnavigator-sail-alone-around-world-laura-dekker/
21st May 2014

Sailed to French Polynesia

Well I suppose it really is time to write something again. Last month we where going for a day sail to Opua on Gizmo, a 60ft […]
20th May 2014

Sail to Tahiti on Gizmo

Arrival in Rarotonga for a quick fuel stop . Beautiful sunsets on the way First night sunset after leaving New Zealand. Gizmo under spinnaker in Light […]
16th March 2014

Yard Work

We’ve been doing some more work for Andy, on his boat Baltazar, which is still standing on the yard… One of the first times we met […]
15th March 2014

Hurricane Luci & Yard work

Cutting onions can be an emotional job, but there are good solutions available 🙂  Cleaning Guppy’s winches. Hurricane Luci passing Northland. Poles came out of the […]
27th February 2014

Picture’s from our trip to Norfolk Island

A curious Albatross checking out on Guppy. Moonlight while seas are calm, some days are simply magical and indescribable With the Spinnaker up Guppy lays straight […]
26th February 2014

Home again

We are all cleared in and sailing home to Town basin. Guppy with a big smile on her bow, doing another 1000 nm together. The wind […]
25th February 2014

Just a few more miles

Guppy went like a rocket for a couple hours and then the wind just turned straight south, south east again and we’re back to tacks… But […]
24th February 2014

The wind shifted, Yay!

The Wind turned! yeay! So we tacked. The last two rough days, Daniel says he was slowly turning into a vegetable not being able to do […]
23rd February 2014

Guppy is dancing

Well we’ve gotten into weather now. Guppy is dancing, two times reefed main, mizzen and storm jib. The speed has gone down quiet a bit as […]
22nd February 2014

Bread, Pancakes & a new batten

The wind picked up again fairly soon after I wrote and we didn’t end up motoring, so that was good. Been going to much east all […]
21st February 2014

Still bobbing around

The wind dropped last night after we had sailed a little. We had to start the engine again, but the 10 hp Yanmar can’t get into […]