Closed court hearing on 14-year-old Dutch sailor but no result
by Nancy Knudsen on 22 Jul 2010
Laura Dekker - now with a newly acquired Jeanneau Gin Fizz, Guppy SW
On Tuesday a closed court hearing was held by the Children's court in Middleburg to determine whether Laura Dekker, 14-year-old sailor who wants permission to sail away from Holland solo with the intention of completing a circumnavigation, was to be allowed to depart.
Laura has been a ward of the court since last year, and had been given fourteen conditions to meet by July this year to be allowed to depart. In June, although her lawyer claimed she had met all the conditions, the ban on her sailing was extended for a month, until Tuesday.
In an about-face just before the vital hearing, her mother, Babs Müller, who had earlier not wanted her daughter to depart, had given her approval for the journey. She wrote an open letter to the authorities to allow her daughter to make the two year long trip. She described the child protection bodies as 'criminal organizations' which want to break her daughter's spirit.
Social workers in Utrecht, who had last year appealed to the court to prevent her departure, also asked the court to remove their ban.
In spite of these good signs, other authorities did not agree. The National Child Protection Council wants to keep her under state supervision for another year, which means that her voyage, for which she has prepared her yacht, would also have to be put off for another year.
Now, yet another court session will be held next week, on July 27th, and the Court will use the intervening week to decide Laura's fate.
In the meantime, her Jeanneau Gin Fitz called Guppy sits bobbing and waiting, fully prepared, for a voyage that may yet never happen.
Laura was born on a yacht in New Zealand, during her parents' own circumnavigation, and holds dual New Zealand and Dutch citizenship. They are now divorced, but both approve of their daughters planned voyage.
Laura's journey will not resemble that of Abby Sunderland, whose late streaking attempt at a non-stop circumnavigation took her in winter into the south Indian Ocean where she was dismasted. Laura will be embarking on a cruising circumnavigation, making many stops, staying mostly in tropical waters clear of hurricane seasons. Her journey is expected to take around two years. The longest she will be at sea will be around three weeks.
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