Solo Teen Girils

Laura Dekker (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlʌuraː ˈdɛkər]; born 20 September 1995) is a New Zealand-born Dutch sailor. In 2009, she announced her plan to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed. A Dutch court stepped in, owing to the objections of the local authorities, and prevented Laura from departing while under shared custody of both her parents. In July 2010, a Dutch family court ended this custody arrangement, and the record-breaking attempt finally began on 21 August 2010. Dekker successfully completed the solo circumnavigation in a 12.4-metre (40 ft) two-masted ketch named Guppy, arriving in Simpson Bay,[2] Sint Maarten, 518 days later at the age of 16.[3][4]

solo teen girils

Dekker spent the first five years of her life at sea and sailed often with her father after the family's return to the Netherlands. She has owned several boats, all named Guppy. The first was an Optimist dinghy she received for her sixth birthday, and which she promptly learned to sail solo, initially accompanied by her father on a windsurfer.[10][11]

In August 2009, Dekker announced her plan for a two-year solo sailing voyage around the globe in the Dutch national newspaper, Algemeen Dagblad. Her father was in support of her plans.[14] Dekker planned to sail a seagoing 38 ft (12 m) Jeanneau Gin Fizz ketch,[15] also named Guppy. The boat was equipped for long-distance sailing and adapted for solo-circumnavigation. The planned route started from Portugal westwards, to cruise the Caribbean and then to go through Panama and past Indonesia. She then planned either to go past Somalia to the Mediterranean, or around Africa, should piracy become a serious concern.[16] Her plan was to make around 26 stops.[17] The original plan called for Dekker to be met at some locations by family, which also would help her along difficult spots such as the Panama Canal.[18] In actuality, for cost reasons, people from home (mostly family members) met her only two times, although she was given some assistance by other leisure sailors she met, for example through the Panama Canal. The plan said she would not be sailing for more than three weeks between stops. However, after Australia, she decided to skip some stops, which meant completing two 6- to 7-week-long legs.

From the beginning of her solo circumnavigation in late August 2010, Dekker wrote a weekly column for the Algemeen Dagblad of Rotterdam. English[19] and German translations of her columns are available.

According to Dutch inland shipping regulations, it is prohibited for a captain younger than sixteen years to sail a boat longer than seven meters in Dutch waters; thus Dekker would not be allowed to use the boat for any solo excursions within the Netherlands until 2012.[28] She still did so, with the effect that the police required her father to come and sail the boat home together with her. The circumnavigation, however, would not start in the Netherlands, thus Dutch naval regulations do not apply to her voyage.[17]

Preceding Dekker's journey, the sailing press appeared rather sceptical, but became more positive during the journey, and acclaimed her after the Indian Ocean crossing and the Cape of Good Hope passage.[42][43] General media in countries she visited have often also been impressed, at least on later stages.[44] General media in the Netherlands mostly avoided writing about her during the journey, since the journey went mostly as planned. An exception was the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad which had a weekly column about her[45] and displayed a standing link on the front web page to a collection of articles about the teenage sailor.[46] However, on 4 January 2012, Dutch and German press started to write much more about her,[47] both about the fact that she soon was expected to finish the circumnavigation,[48] and about the fact that she did not want to return to the Netherlands, but to settle in New Zealand.[49] After the arrival on 21 January 2012, there were articles in newspapers all over the world.[50]

Take it up a notch and book a solo trip across the country or better yet, across the world. Getting outside of your comfort zone is key. Plus you never know, you may find your future partner on a solo trip to Vietnam.

All alone on her crippled sailboat, the teenage American girl huddled with a space heater and lots of hope as rescue vessels steamed to her aid on a frigid stretch of southern Indian Ocean yesterday.

The Center for Ventures in Girls Education based in Wellesley, Massachusetts is a program designed to help teenage girls keep their self-esteem. And as guest host Laura Knoy discovered, its organizers believe one of the keys to self- reliance lies in the outdoors. About 30 girls from metropolitan Boston journeyed to Sandwich, New Hampshire for the first week of a two year long commitment in which they experience the challenges, fears, and pleasures of close contact with Mother Nature. 041b061a72