Dutch Court Bans 13-year-old's round world sail - but not the first

by BW Media roundup on 29 Aug 2009 The Dutch Court that has taken 13-year-old Laura Dekker into court custody to prevent her from sailing solo round the world is not the first court to have done so - when Laura sailed from Holland to England alone, British authorities put her into a children's home.

On Laura's arrival local British authorities judged it too dangerous for a 13-year-old to be at sea alone and they sought to scupper the return leg. They telephoned Mr Dekker and asked him to accompany his daughter on the trip home.

When Mr Dekker refused, the English authorities in Lowestoft placed Miss Dekker in a children's home. Ultimately, Mr Dekker travelled to the UK to collect his daughter.

But when he allowed Miss Dekker to sail back on her own anyway, the British police contacted their Dutch colleagues, who alerted the social services' youth care bureau.

And with the family then firmly on the radar of social services in the Netherlands, the next step was Friday's ban by the child protection board.

Laura Dekker, who was reportedly born on a yacht during her parents' own round-the-world trip, told Dutch television before the court handed down its decision that she simply wanted to 'learn about the world and to live freely.'

'The crucial question is whether it is wrong for parents to allow their child to indulge in her passion,' the Dekkers' lawyer told Radio Netherlands. Dekker will continue to live at home, but her parents will not have the right to make decisions on her behalf for two months, at which time the case will be reviewed.

Had her plans not been put on hold, Dekker, whose trip would have taken two years on her 8 metre yacht called Guppy, would have been on track to shatter the world record for the youngest solo trip around the world, which was broken on Thursday by Mike Perham, 17, from the U.K. But now, the Dutch court will have to judge just how young is too young to face the physical and emotional strain of setting out alone on the high seas.



British Michael Perham,17, who has just taken the world record as the youngest circumnavigator from American Zac Sunderland, told Time that he doesn't think he could have made the trip when he was 13, nor would he have gone for two whole years.

'You have to be incredibly head-strong — it was difficult for me now,' he laughs. On his nearly 30,000-mile (48,000-km) journey, Perham subsisted on freeze-dried food and faced large waves, high winds and equipment failures.

Along with the physical strain, he also faced mental exhaustion, brought on by isolation and sleep deprivation.

'It was a very difficult decision,' says Peter Perham, Mike's father. 'What's different with Laura is that by being away from home at such a young age, I would worry she's going to miss out on lots of important social interaction. Not to mention what the reception will be like when a 13-year-old shows up on a boat by herself in foreign countries.'

About Laura Dekker:
Miss Dekker was born on a boat - in New Zealand - and when she was just 6 years old, she had already mastered control over her single-handed Optimist dinghy and was criss-crossing lakes back in the Netherlands.

Aged 10, she moved up to a 7m boat and was honing her skills in the waters of Friesland. It was here that she encountered her first problems with the outside world, with lock-operators not always willing to allow passage to such a young girl in charge of a boat on her own.

Unperturbed and supported by her family, she spent the following summer sailing in and around the islands on the Wadden Sea and shortly after she revealed her big dream to take to the high seas and become the youngest person ever to go around the world.

Supportive but sceptical, her father told the aspiring record-breaker that she would have to prove herself first.

Intensive lessons on navigation and safety followed and then her father, Dick Dekker, dropped the news that Miss Dekker would have to sail to England and back on her own first to show him what she was capable of.

'So long on the open sea with wind, rain and waves - that will soon end any ideas of sailing the world,' recalls Dick on his daughter's website.

Then followed the Channel crossing which was to put Laura in a children's home for a period until her father arrived to collect her.

The channel crossing meant that the compulsion for Laura to take on the biggest sailing challenge of all was stronger than ever, despite the fact that Miss Dekker was only 13.

New Zealand departure?

Miss Dekker has indicated to reporters that she may emigrate to New Zealand and set off from there. Having been born there, she has a New Zealand passport.

Reportedly there are no legal obstacles there to minors embarking on lengthy sea journeys, although children in New Zealand, too, are required to attend school.

But emigration does not seem to offer a way out. Ms Dekker could expect to be treated by New Zealand's child protection bodies in the same the way as she was treated in the Netherlands, New Zealand authorities were quoted as saying in Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant on Friday.

The deputy chief executive of the New Zealand Child, Youth and Family agency, Ray Smith, said he did not think it was sensible for a 13-year-old to sail solo around the world.

'I think most people would share that view,' he told the New Zealand Herald.

Let's watch what happens in two weeks when the case is due to be reviewed.