Blog - Laura Dekker World Sailing Foundation

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

Back in the Pacific Ocean

We’ve been on the Pacific side now for two days. The transit waswonderful. We didn’t have a drop of rain and had to wait less than […]

10th May 2012

Photo’s of the Panama Canal Transit

Panama City skyline Lake Gatun Our litte Kitten ”Kiwi” Crew member Shaoul

1st May 2012

Photo’s of adventure’s in Panama

Panama City Camping in the jungle Playing some Ukele while discovering Panama City

27th April 2012

More lightning, no wind and lots of mosquitos!

We left the San Blas pretty fast, as there was really no wind and the bugs and mosquitoes were just eating us alive, while at night […]

26th April 2012

Pictures Bonaire – San Blas

San Blas Islands. Baking pancakes on a friends yacht San Blas Islands, amazing sunset Bruno playing the Ukulele

20th April 2012

Being chased by lightning and thunder

Yesterday morning we arrived in the San Blas Islands. The last two days to the San Blas we had little wind and the speed was going […]

17th April 2012

Sailing with a crew member

Everything is going very well since I left Bonaire last Saturday. The first day we didn’t have much wind so that was a good start for […]

13th April 2012

Setting sail again

The last few days I’ve been busy getting Guppy ready for the next trip, going to the San Blas again. I have been checking the rigging […]

9th April 2012

I’m back on Guppy, but it wasn’t easy!

After doing my last interview in the Canary Islands for a German tv-show, I finally returned to Guppy. My return didn’t go as smoothly as planned. […]

19th March 2012

Into the cold air of Europe

I’ve already been fourteen days in what is for me still really cold Holland. But in these fourteen days, I haven’t exactly been sitting still. The […]

1st March 2012

A little break from writing

Thanks a lot for all the title suggestions for my book. In the meantime I’ve made my decision and will let everyone know when I’m at […]

15th February 2012

Starting to make a book from diary

I’m already in Bonaire for a while now. But time is flying, I’m really busy trying to make something out of my diary’s that I can […]

7th February 2012

Photo’s of my arrival into St.Maarten

Big thanks to my dad, who always supported me and thought me all the things I needed to know! A beautiful welcome from the St.Maarten Yacht […]

6th February 2012

Sailed to Bonaire

A quick update after sailing into Sint Maarten, 366 days after I saw it disappearing behind the horizon. It was really nice to spend some time […]

25th January 2012

Pictures Cape Town – St.Maarten

Flying fish everywhere!! This is where I spend Christmas Nightly visitors. Squalls, lots of them! Crossing the equator What squalls look like on the radar Like […]

23rd January 2012

Reflection and a crazy and very special journey.

The dark and starry night sky slowly vanishes its floating lights sprinkling to dust as small islands appear on the horizon. I can see Sint Maarten […]

20th January 2012

Land in sight!

Only 160 nautical miles left to go and today I saw the first of many small islands I’ll be sailing by. Guadeloupe is still hidind over […]

19th January 2012

280nm to go!

Today is a beautiful sunny day with less wind than yesterday which makes sailing quiet and easy. Still Guppy is going fast enough for us to […]

18th January 2012

Lots of thoughts going through my head

Reaching the end of my circumnavigation, I look back with joy at the adventures of the past year. I am also thinking hard, and trying to […]

17th January 2012

Squalls keeping me awake

Squalls have kept me awake all night and Guppy had a good shower of fresh sky water. It washed away most of the salt from ‘Gup’ […]

16th January 2012

St.Maarten is coming closer fast…

Waves are smaller today and especially longer so my life aboard is much more easier. Small squalls have kept annoying me all day with their strong […]

15th January 2012

Getting slapped in the face by a.. fish

The wind has calmed down a little and the hatch to the cabin can stay open. Also I can sit on the deck and easily check […]

14th January 2012

Waves & Flying Fish

The wind keeps pulling us ahead. Happily the waves are longer now so less of them end up in the cockpit which makes my life aboard […]

13th January 2012

Getting sloshed around like in a wash-machine

Within no time the waves have built up, becoming high and steep. The sea has been changed into a cooking pot and aboard of Guppy it’s […]

12th January 2012

Back in the trade winds

The waves are rolling nonstop over deck now that Gup and the Trade Wind have found each other… And so between the closed hatches and the […]

11th January 2012

Only 12days to go, I’m not ready to arrive yet.

All night and today we had good wind and the shining sun made for a very hot day today. But the worst of the doldrums is […]

10th January 2012

I think we made it out of the Doldrums

The gusty and heavy squall that brought 40 knots winds and pouring rain finally dissolved with the night. Today the wind has settled to a nice […]

9th January 2012

Wild Water, Pooring rain and Dancing Dolphins

To a windless night with squalls followed another cloudy day with even more squalls. And the rain has not stopped all afternoon. Even after I had […]

8th January 2012

Going through the doldrums

Today was overcast with squalls bringing rain and wonderfully refreshing showers to me, at first… But the squalls intensified and the showers turned to strong, heavy […]

7th January 2012

Back in the Northern Hemisphere

Guppy and I have crossed the equator again so we have now left the southern hemisphere and jumped from summer to winter in the northern hemisphere […]

6th January 2012

A bit of Dolphin company

Like on the previous two nights my nocturnal visitors have kept at whistling their songs from their favorite stage, the solar panels of the Targa frame. […]

5th January 2012

Singing birds and Flying Fish

Yesterday’s dark clouds only brought some rain and once they finished raining they just hung around not bothering me. The wind eased again but it is […]

4th January 2012

Loud tjilping birds!

As expected the wind is still blowing straight from behind, but it decreased in strength a little. Happily it still is enough to keep us going […]

3rd January 2012

Over halfway

Waves behave nicer now and the wind is blowing from behind so Guppy still keeps rolling back and forth. Yet the wind is pulling at 15 […]

2nd January 2012

Making good progress

The wind and the waves have become a bit too enthusiastic and are making my life aboard less comfortable… But the great weather and our good […]

1st January 2012

Happy New Year Everyone :)

I spent a great New Year’s Eve listening to music with light sticks glowing and the shining moon and the stars were a very good trade […]

31st December 2011

A bumpy ride into the New Year

The wind is still very kind to Guppy and me – not like the waves that apparently lack some good education and are bullying Guppy… Last […]

30th December 2011

It’s getting hot

I was kept busy all morning because of shifting winds coming in with a few squalls and rain.That made for a very entertaining course line on […]

29th December 2011

Back on the ssb radio

Another nice and sunny day here. The water is getting warmer so it was my chance to take a shower today… The temperature rising the conditions […]

28th December 2011

Welcome Trade wind!

It’s really great that the Trade Wind still keeps me company on my way. Today I finished reading “Maya’s Notebook” [‘El Cuaderno de Maya’, 2011] by […]

27th December 2011

Good Sailing

With a nice wind coming diagonally from behind, Guppy is tirelessly pulling ahead under full sails. Today the sun was shining again, which really was great. […]

26th December 2011

Attacked by Flying Fish

I had just jumped in my warm bunk and fell asleep when a strange noise brought me back to consciousness … something inside the cabin was […]

25th December 2011

Christmas at sea

We had a nice 20 knots wind today that pulled Guppy at a good 6,5 knots towards the horizon. My Christmas gift was the sun shining […]

24th December 2011

Dropped a bag of rice.. Oops

At dawn today the sunlight promessed a cloudless day. I should have touched wood because Guppy is now surrounded by curtains of rain and dark clouds […]

23rd December 2011

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas

This morning the dark clouds had their cup full and just dropped everything they had of winds and rain – the winds shifting madly and as […]

22nd December 2011

Found the Tradewinds :)

For the second time on our journey Guppy and I have crossed, coming from the West, the line between Eastern and Western longitude. The first time […]

21st December 2011

Compared to the Indian Ocean it’s so quiet here

Thinking back on yesterday I realized that two special things happened. I went over the Netherlands’ longitude line and December 20th is the day when the […]

20th December 2011

We sailed over all longitudes!!

Today Guppy came in line with the Netherlands’ longitude [5° E], which means that I have now crossed all of the earth longitudes … that’s pretty […]

19th December 2011

Leaking oil..

To my surprise a nice breeze came in yesterday evening that got even stronger during the night. With the strong wind coming diagonally from behind we […]

18th December 2011

Staring at the endless empty horizon

Another clear and sunny day with little wind but still enough so Guppy can skate ahead which is all there is to it … today. It’s […]

17th December 2011

A beautiful night

The alarm clock wakes me up, lying in my warm, dry and not salty bed, as I listen to all the familiar sounds Guppy makes… the […]

16th December 2011

Looking forward to warmer weather

After a good start Guppy’s speed has dramatically dropped today… From 5 knots to 4 knots, to 3 knots and down again to a small 2,5 […]

15th December 2011

Bobbing around in a grey bubble

Guppy and I have been at sea for three nights already. And now the wind is gone… We had a promising start with lots of wind, […]

13th December 2011

Left Cape Town behind

After waving goodbye to the sailing out Volvo Race boats as they headed south, Guppy and I left Cape Town and Table Mountain behind us. We […]

10th December 2011

Sailing on Camper in the Pro am Race!

Yesterday I was invited onboard Camper to join them in the Pro Am Race of the V.O.R. It was AMAZING! She is definitely the fastest sailboat […]

9th December 2011

Guppy on the yard

Early this morning after a short flight Guppy was back in her natural element,the water. I would like to thank the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s shipyard […]

6th December 2011

Climbed Table Mountain

I have found the time to write a new blog so … After being told at least one hundred times that I really had to go […]

4th December 2011

A visit to the Cape of Good hope by land

Today I went up to the Cape of Good Hope not with Guppy but by car with my Dad at the ‘helm’. From there I could […]

1st December 2011

Welcomed Groupama into Cape Town

In the few days that I’ve been here, I’ve already done a lot. I finally slept for a long time, ate well, and cleaned most of […]

27th November 2011

A very heavy night and day, but arrived into Cape Town safe and well

This last leg to Cape Town was really tough. On the last night coming in I reefed the mainsail three times and we rounded the Cape […]

26th November 2011

Getting into rougher weather

For the first time since our departure from the Netherlands Guppy is sailing on a northerly course. With a 25 knots wind coming from behind we […]

25th November 2011

Rounding Cape Agulhas

The wind quickly faded yesterday so it gave me a chance to put things back in order inside Guppy. I also filled the space around the […]

24th November 2011

On route to Cape Town – got a leak..

Another blog from the open sea. Early this morning the meteo called for a good weather window so Guppy and I decided to cast off the […]

22nd November 2011

Waiting for a weather window

Today a strong wind is blowing over the recently renovated harbour of Port Elizabeth. Some time ago a major storm destroyed the marina and the people […]

21st November 2011