Blog - Laura Dekker World Sailing Foundation

17th June 2013

Being sandblasted in the Sahara and more..

The past three weeks I’ve been in Morocco for a Dutch tv game programme wich will be on television from August. For a change it had […]

21st May 2013

My book ”Een Meisje, Een Droom” is out! :D

I’m very proud to announce that my book ‘A girl a dream’ will be published tomorrow, sadly only in Dutch so far. ‘A girl a dream’ […]

10th May 2013

A Stormy Cape Reinga & Sailing Adventures

On the way from Auckland, the rain started pounding against the windscreen. ‘Welcome back to Whangarei,’ I thought while driving on familiar roads again. The weather […]

2nd May 2013

How getting stuck on the beach leads to discovering forgotten Hippie villages.

We spent a whole day cleaning and repacking ‘Joy’. We washed, cleaned, and made a For Sale sign for ‘Marta,” my girlfriend’s car which we left […]

18th April 2013

South Island New Zealand.

Well I haven’t been writing much, but a lot happened since the last blog. I’m back in civilization again, after spending a while traveling in places […]

24th March 2013

New Zealand Road trip

Life’s been quite adventure’s since the last update. I decided to go traveling a bit and explore New Zealand on wheels. So once the Fanworm problem […]

7th March 2013

A haul out for Guppy because of Fanworm..

Because of the Fanworm feeling a bit to well on Guppy’s hull I had to take the boat out of the water, which I could only […]

26th February 2013

Northland from a birds eye view!

My life continues to be really exiting and very busy! In the past week I have taken Guppy out two times to the Poor Knights, flown […]

16th February 2013

Working at Dive! Tutukaka

15th February 2013

Little Adventures

It’s been quite a while since my last blog. Even though I don’t travel as much as I used to, there’s still so much happening and […]

24th January 2013

I bought a car!

My first car! Guppy in the marina of Tutukaka

20th January 2013

Back on Guppy and sailing again

After a week on the farm, poor Guppy wanted to see me again. After all, I had only spent one day with her after the trip […]

12th January 2013

delivery of Akatea, Hobart – Auckland

The delivery trip on Akatea back to Auckland from Hobart was really good. We left a day later than planned because Akatea hit something during the […]

4th January 2013

Happy New Year!

To everyone, the very best wishes for 2013! This New Year’s was a bit different from last year. I did spend it on a yacht again, […]

21st December 2012

Sydney – Hobart race

I’ve spent more than fifty hours on airplanes over the last few weeks, not even including time in airports. It feels great to finally be back […]

14th December 2012

Recent Interviews

Germany Film: Film: Menschen Bilder Emotionen 2012 Introduced 1:53 to 3:40. The interview starts at 25:04. Tokio TV Interview

9th December 2012

From Tokyo to Germany and in between.

I’ve been traveling all over the world again, but this time by plane, leaving Guppy on her own at the Maritime Museum where she will be […]

8th December 2012

Challenger of the year Award in Tokyo

27th November 2012

First place in Classic yacht race

We got in first in the classic yacht race in Auckland, Sailing on the beautifully restored Waitangi. First place! http://classicyacht.org.nz/sites/default/files/Round_the_Buoys_Results.pdf

26th November 2012

Auckland Life

Living on Guppy in the Maritime Museum has been great. It can be a bit rolly at times with the passing ferries, and noisy on the […]

13th November 2012

Sailing down to Auckland

Since yesterday, Guppy and I have been moored at the Maritime Museum in Auckland. There is a little swell here in the harbor which is not […]

4th November 2012

More Sail races & moving to Auckland

Exciting news! I am moving to Auckland next week. Guppy will have a great berth right in the middle of the city at the Maritime Museum, […]

23rd October 2012

Coastal Classic race

I am finally back on my beloved Guppy, after more than one month away from her. The Coastal Classic turned out to be a good sailing […]

16th October 2012

Meeting with Tania Aebi!

I have arrived safely back in Auckland after a great time in New York. One big highlight of the last two weeks in the states was […]

2nd October 2012

Working as crew on Clipper City

I’m still enjoying New York a lot. I don’t think I could ever live in a big city like this, but for a visit it’s a […]

24th September 2012

New York Photo’s

Spent my 17th Birthday on the water, sailing in front of Manhattan 🙂 Clipper City

22nd September 2012

Just landed in New York!

New York is amazing. We arrived after traveling for 28 hours, so needed a good rest before going out to explore this amazing city. We went […]

14th September 2012

Passed for my Learners Driver License

My time in Whangarei has been really busy so far. The first couple days, media and people kept walking up the dock to Guppy, which didn’t […]

12th September 2012

Picture update

7th September 2012

Making lots of new friends

I have really been enjoying the past few days in Whangarei. I’ve mainly been busy sorting out things like getting my driver’s license and doing media […]

4th September 2012

Photo’s of the crossing: Tahiti – New Zealand.

The Whangarei heads laying ahead mysteriously. Pumice floating all around us. Great sailing! Living at an angle 😉 Town basin marina, very muddy because of the […]

3rd September 2012

Already love it here!

Yesterday as I came in there was a boat with cameras aboard filming my entrance into Whangarei and then some media, all really nice people. As […]

2nd September 2012

Hoping to be in before the next storm

Yesterday was another interesting day, sailing close hauled at 25-30 knots of wind, I heard a loud flapping in the afternoon. The top of Guppy’s mainsail […]

30th August 2012

Cold massive waves

It was a pretty rough night. The winds turned around to west south west, blowing at about 25 knots. We are beating against waves and wind […]

29th August 2012

A whole sea of floating rocks!

We had a pretty slow night, only doing 100 miles in the last 24 hours.The depression seems to be slowly falling apart so it looks like […]

27th August 2012

Moving out of the tropics the weather is changing

At the moment, we are doing a good 7 knots and the clouds have takentheir darkness elsewhere, leaving us with a beautiful blue sky and awarm […]

25th August 2012

New Zealand, here we come!

Yesterday I thought we were going to have good winds and then it dropped back down entirely, so I ran the engine for a few hours. […]

23rd August 2012

Still have shifty, little wind

Winds have been pretty variable yesterday and today. One moment we’llbe doing 5 knots and then other moments just 2 knots. Over the lastfew hours, it […]

21st August 2012

It’s getting colder!

We’re still making good progress but the wind dropped down last nightand Guppy has been doing 3 knots ever since. The temperature is slowlydropping and last […]

19th August 2012

Halfway between Tahiti & Tonga

We have sailed close hauled for a while, but now the wind is turningback south again and we are making pretty good progress. Last night acouple […]

17th August 2012

Enjoying the nice weather while we can

We don’t have much wind but it is a beautiful sunny day with very fewwaves, which made it possible to cook a nice meal, play some […]

16th August 2012

We miss Kiwi

We had good winds yesterday. Last night the wind dropped down, about halfway through the night. Tranquility,the 52-footer, left two days ago also but is taking […]

14th August 2012

Still a long way to go

The wind dropped down after we hada good sail to start. Hopefully it will be back soon. Bruno is alittle sick. I don’t know if it’s […]

12th August 2012

Finally on the way to New Zealand

We left Tahiti at noon today after getting our last fresh food and saying goodbye to some friends we made in the three weeks we have […]

11th August 2012

Dinghy Surfing :)

I’ve been waiting for good waves to surf but since there weren’t any last couple days this was the first test of my new surfboard.

10th August 2012

A rough ride from Moorea to Tahiti

We are back in Tahiti after a rough ride against the wind coming backfrom Moorea. It was a fun trip despite the conditions. Jillian had herfirst […]

7th August 2012

Photo’s Moorea and Surfboard Repair

Fixing the surfboard Our friends on s/y Wet Lady

6th August 2012

Surprise visit from a friend :)

My friend Jillian surprised me with a visit for a whole week. So wedecided to sail to Moorea, which is where we are now. We are […]

3rd August 2012

A broken board

We’re still anchored in front of Marina Taina. The last few days Ihaven’t been surfing as much but I did fix a broken surfboard, whichnow I […]

31st July 2012

Some more photo’s

Our anchorage with Moorea on the background Marina Taina

29th July 2012

Meeting lots of old friends :)

Still enjoying Tahiti, and I really love the surfing. Tonight there’sa party on a boat I met last year. It’s the grey catamaran I partiedwith in […]

28th July 2012

Photo’s from our circus friends

Photo’s from the circus artist on their boat which is also a Jeanneau Gin Fizz in Marina Taina last friday.

27th July 2012

Moved to another anchorage

We have moved over to Marina Taina on the west side of Tahiti. Guppyis now anchored on almost the same spot as last year. It’s nice […]

24th July 2012

Learning to surf :)

Right now I’m in Papeete and ran into friends from Wet Lady as I waswalking around the city. I’m really enjoying myself on this beautiful island. […]

22nd July 2012

Gin Fizz with a circus family onboard

Everything is really nice here in Tahiti. The welcome given by theYacht Club of Arue and the Tourism Board was amazing, with a lot offlowers, locals […]

19th July 2012

Lots of photo’s from the past weeks!

Welcome ceremony in Tahiti Me and Kiwi 🙂 Stormy weather in Rangiroa The pass in Rangiroa Rangiroa The island of Tahuatu The locals love music On […]

18th July 2012

Friendly people, nice surprises :)

We arrived in Tahiti this afternoon. We had a nice trip down withreally good winds. I even took out the reef from the main in themiddle […]

17th July 2012

Tahiti, here we come!

After all the bad weather cleared, we finally departed Rangiroa thismorning, back through the Tiputa pass where we came in. It’s great tofinally be headed for […]

16th July 2012

Waiting for the stormy weather to pass.

Guppy is still rocking behind her anchor, although it looks like theworst of the weather has passed. I’m thinking about leaving tomorrowmorning. Last night the wind […]

13th July 2012

I love watching nature in it’s element!

So we are still in Rangiroa. After a couple sunny days and a nice timesnorkeling in waters as clear as glass, we are now waiting for […]

10th July 2012

Made it into Rangiroa

The wind died down a little yesterday which was perfect, because itmeant that we went through the pass of Rangiroa this morning, whichwasn’t bad at all. […]

8th July 2012

Sailing in between Reefs!

Today we finally got “normal” weather: sun, clear skies, and goodwinds. It looks like we are going to arrive in Rangiroa sometimeduring the night, so I […]

6th July 2012

Reefs, fog and rain

Guppy is making good progress but the weather is not very nice. It hasbeen rainy and drizzling since just after we left, and with it havecome […]

5th July 2012

Set sail to Rangiroa

We had a good time with our sailing friends and enjoyed celebratingthe birthday. We are full with delicious fresh fruit, and so isGuppy, as we stocked […]

2nd July 2012

Soaking in the peacefulness of Tahuatu

We’ve moved over to another bay, still on the same island, but twobays further. There is a little town and the people are very laid backand […]

30th June 2012

Moved to a more quiet bay.

We decided to leave Hiva Oa and go a few miles further to Tahuatu, aslife was getting pretty uncomfortable with the big swell coming intothe bay. […]

28th June 2012

Some Island explorations I didn’t get to do last year

After a year away, seeing the island of Hiva Oa appear on the horizonwas magical for me. It felt just like I had never left. And […]

26th June 2012

It’s so good to be back!

We arrived in Hiva Oa after I don’t know how many days at sea, since Ididn’t count them. We went to the little town and I […]

25th June 2012

130nm left to Hiva Oa

The wind has totally dropped down over the last day so we’re runningthe engine, as expected. We still have 130 miles to go. And just likeevery […]

23rd June 2012

The weather certainly isn’t as peaceful as last year!

Last night, a lot of squalls came over us. The rain poured all night,at times with as much as 30 knots of wind coming from every […]

21st June 2012

Racing a long at 7knots!

Last night we had 25 knots of wind and really confused cross seaswhich made life uncomfortable and sleeping very hard. But it’s alreadya whole lot better […]

19th June 2012

Reflections on whats gone and what’s to come

There’s about 15 to 20 knots of wind now, occasional rain with morewind and it’s exactly from behind. The waves got a little higher soit’s more […]

17th June 2012

Dolphins and big schools of fish

We are slowly getting there. There’s already a little bit more windand it has shifted to east, so it’s from behind now. The wind forecastsounds a […]

15th June 2012

Where has the wind gone?!

Last night we saw dolphins. But with no moon and almost no phosphorescence in the water it was hard to see them jumping in front of […]

13th June 2012

I don’t think Bruno is made to be a seafarer

The wind has come back a little and Guppy is doing 5 knots again. We’re just over halfway, with 1490 miles still to go. I love […]

11th June 2012

Time to keep writing my book

Blegh…the wind has dropped down the past few days, leaving usrolling at 3 knots over the calm blue empty sea. With the remainingswell, it makes things […]

9th June 2012

Making good progress

Yeah! We’re making great progress, doing an awesome 7 knots. The wind shifted a little more to the southeast so I poled out the Genoa last […]

7th June 2012

Caught some flu while on land..

I’m finally recovered from my cold. Mweh, I felt so bad. But at leastthe weather is good. The winds have been awesome. We’ve made prettygood progress […]

4th June 2012

Saw a whale!

I totally forgot to mention that we saw a whale the first day out! Itwas not as close as the one in South Africa, so that […]

2nd June 2012

Next stop: Hiva Oa

Our last evening in San Cristobal, we had a nice dinner aboard ourneighbor boat Donna with Kris and then pulled up the anchor and setsail towards […]

29th May 2012

Our dinghy got stolen, but we found it back!

The dinghy got stolen last night by one of the locals who asked $300to give it back again the next morning! We of course didn’t pay, […]

27th May 2012

Sea lions everywhere!

We enjoy sitting on the beach with the sea lions, but trying to keep them off Guppy and out of the dinghy–well, that’s not really so […]

25th May 2012

Photo’s from Panama – Galapagos Crossing

He could smile sometimes ( although it wasn’t a lot) Big Dolphins! We had headwinds most of the trip It’s certainly a lot messier with three […]

24th May 2012

A visit from Mr. Sealion

So far I really like the Island of San Cristobal. It’s quieter than Santa Cruz last year. There are fewer boats and the town looks really nice. […]

23rd May 2012

Finally arrived in San Cristobal

Crossing the equator was fun. We had awesome weather and good winds.It’s already the fourth time I’ve crossed the line. Of course I madepancakes again and […]

22nd May 2012

Hammerheads and hungry cats

It just got light out and we have about 110 miles to go. We made suchgood progress the last few days it’s unbelievable, and we’re stilldoing […]

21st May 2012

First day Shaul is not terribly seasick :D

Things are a whole lot better over here now. The annoying crosswavescalmed down and so did the wind. So we’re sailing full main, mizzen,genoa, and jib […]

20th May 2012

Wet, salty, wavy and messy – that’s sailing

Still really rough out here. The course is a little bit better. We can go the right direction now, sailing closehauled into 20 to 25 knots […]

19th May 2012

More wind but still right on the nose!

The cat enjoys the sailing so far: sleeps, plays, eats, and gets fatter by the day. I made a little harness for her so she lives […]

18th May 2012

Slow progress..

Meeh, progress is so slow…There is just enough wind to sail but right against us, so we can either go south…or west. We’ve come about 50 […]

17th May 2012

Kiwi is finding her sea legs

There is still a lot of rain and squalls and sometimes a lot of wind because of the squalls like right now.. argh! Okay, the squall […]

15th May 2012

Seasick Crew & fouled propellors..

Saturday afternoon we left Panama City heading towards the Galapagos. So far progress has been really, really slow. And the trip has been pretty interesting too. […]

11th May 2012