UPDATE: St Maarten Island Time.com 21 December 2009 16:39

PHILIPSBURG – Laura Dekker, a well known 14 year old Dutch sailor that went missing and was discovered on St. Maarten, was flown to Curacao on Monday morning.

She travelled to Curacao on board a InSel Air flight after which she boarded a KLM flight, headed for Holland.

When quizzed about the reason for her decision to travel to St. Maarten, the young sailor who is now in the custody of the Dutch Child Protection Agency, stated that she would just like to travel around the world.

from the Radio Netherlands website

Laura Dekker, the 14-year-old Dutch girl who caught the world’s attention with her plans to sail solo around the world at the end of last summer, has been found in Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. She went missing on Friday.

She was detained after police recognized her from an international alert photograph. Police have refused to say how she is or how arrived on the island but did say that every effort was being made to return the girl to Netherlands and her family as soon as possible.

Maybe the Dutch weather had gotten to her and she just wanted a holiday in the sunny Caribbean.

From England’s Guardian

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, 14, missing

_{Photograph: Corne van der Stelt/AP}

Laura Dekker, the headstrong 14-year-old Dutch girl who wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, has gone missing.

Dekker’s boat, Guppy, is still moored at its usual berth and the teenager appears to have left her father’s home on her own. “We do not believe this is a crime,” said Utrecht police spokesman Bernhard Jens.

The Dutch broadcaster NOS cited a family spokeswoman as saying that Laura left a letter for her father before disappearing. NOS did not reveal what was in the letter.

A spokeswoman for the family, Mariska Woertman, did not return calls seeking comment.

It would appear that young Laura isn’t as prepared to sail around the world as her compatiots, Jessica and Abby. Running away from home is not the response of a person facing adverse circumstances. There would be no running away from problems if she were offshore.

Interesting facts found in a Chicago Sun-Times article

(Police spokesman Bernhard) Jens would not comment on a report in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that Dekker withdrew euro3,500 ($5,000) from her bank account a few days ago.

Dekker has joint Dutch and New Zealand citizenship because she was born on a yacht in New Zealand waters. She said earlier this year she might try to go there if Dutch authorities refused to let her sail.

16 year old Abby Sunderland, sister of Zac Sunderland, is readying the Open 40 Wild Eyes for her attempt at a solo circumnavigation. In typical American fashion, Abby is having problems getting sponsorship.

Sure, the locals in Marina del Rey are pitching in with labour and parts but so far her only corporate sponsor is Shoe City, a California shoe store chain, with UK Halsey Sailmakers providing sails and Mountain Home providing the necessary freeze dried food. Compare with Jessica Watson’s sponsorship by a multi-national cosmetics company.

Abby’s blog is here, the corporate website is here.

When Abby gets underway, her boat should allow her to quickly catch up to Jessica, IF she chooses to sail the same non-stop route south of the four capes. However, Abby seems to be having some second thoughts about the non-stop record and mentions in her blog posting on Dec 8, that “Cape Horn is not for sure”.

Small world connection, the rigger working on Abby’s boat at Marina del Rey is Allan Blunt, who I once worked for in the distant past.

She’s still sailing in relatively calm waters, calm as opposed to the Southern Ocean conditions she will meet in a few weeks. She does however have some tough times ahead as she navigates by the various islands of French Polynesia.

Jessica Passes 5000 Miles

Tuesday, 1 December, 2009 (7.00pm AEDT)

After 44 days at sea, Jessica Watson and her boat Ella’s Pink Lady this afternoon passed the 5,000 nautical mile (nm) mark of her 23,000 nm solo around the world voyage.

Back in February, I posted about racing boats capsizing. That post focused on monohulls that had lost their keels. Multihulls flip over for other reasons.

Last night the 50ft trimaran Actual flipped in the English Channel, a few hours after starting in the TransAt Jacques Vabres. Both crew are safe, although one suffered a minor injury during the flip. The boat was doing 20+knots when it pitch-poled, the bow goes down and the stern flies up and over.

photo (c) ThMartinez/Sea&Co.

The TJV, as its known, is a double-handed race from Le Havre, France to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. This year there are two classes, the Open 60s and the IMOCA 50s. One can follow the race at the website – Jacques Vabre 2009 and one may also participate in a virtual regatta by logging onto TransAt Jacques Vabre Virtual Regatta.

After you’ve signed up for the virtual race, you get to pick your boat’s colours and a name for it. During the race you set your imaginary boat’s heading while choosing which sails to use. As I post, there are 76,474 signed up for the race.

At 11:45 EST, (1645 UCT), there were 4635 results for the Google query “Jessica Watson”+sail when I narrowed it down to blogs, in the general web category there were 94,300 results and 542 under News.

I’m sure that makes her sponsors happy but it certainly does bring out some crazy comments by people who don’t have a clue about sailing.

and in the states, the sister of Zac Sunderland, another teen who has circumnavigated has recently managed to buy a boat for her attempt to sail around the world.

Abby Sunderland, Obtains Boat

Wild Eyes leaving Newport RI with Zac, Abby and Dad Sunderland, L to R

while in the Netherlands, a Dutch court has ruled that Laura Dekker cannot set off on her voyage at the age of 13,

Dutch girl banned from solo sail

_{Laura Dekker (c) BBC}

Thursday, 5 November, 2009 (3.00pm AEDT)

Jessica Watson today passed the 2,000 nautical mile mark of her 23,000 mile journey, where she is attempting to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and unassisted.

Today marks day nineteen of the voyage, so Jessica is slightly ahead of the predicted schedule of 100 nautical miles per day. She is presently passing the Tongan Islands heading north east towards American Samoa. – JessicaWatson.com

So far – so good for the kid. You can read more of her daily musings at youngestround.blogspot.com and follow her progress around the world at Jessica’s Journey

People are interested in this trip, with each of her blog posts eliciting 200+ comments. If she gets into trouble, there will be a media uproar.

Following up on the Laura Dekker post, we have news about Jessica Watson, 16, who hopes to not only circumnavigate but to do it non-stop, unlike Mike Perham and Zac Sutherland who stopped several times on their voyages.

Her craft is an S&S 34, an early 70s design that has been used in many successful voyages including a double non-stop circumnav by Australian Jon Sanders aboard his Perie Banou

The design is still being built in Australia by Swarbrick Brothers with a few mods from the original design; more hydrodynamic keel, slightly larger rudder, option of a taller rig and a completely different deck moulding, all built using foam core and resin infusion techniques that provide a stronger but lighter structure.

On Sept 8, Jessica left her home port of Mooloolaba, Queensland for a shakedown cruise to Sydney before the official start of her attempt to circumnavigate nonstop. That night she collided with a cargo ship and her boat was dismasted. Uninjured, the young skipper motored into port where repairs immediately began in an effort to get Jessica underway as soon as possible.

Pink Lady as she left Mooloolaba Sept 8, 2009

Jessica entering Southport after the collision

More info available on her website – Jessica Watson

So, what happened? How did she run into a large (225 metre LOA) cargo ship?

I don’t know but I have some thoughts about the situation based on a few close calls in my past.

Although she has radar and AIS on the Pink Lady, Jessica may not yet be completely familiar with them. Radar will tell you how far away another vessel is located but one does need to pay attention to the scale that has been set on the unit. Once upon a time, I was at the helm as we were approaching a vessel to be boarded. A senior officer insisted on controlling the radar during the approach – that is he stood right in front of the screen so I couldn’t see it. Radar was poorly located on that boat, I would have to hold the wheel with my left hand and move about three feet to the right to see the screen during normal operations. As it was night and misty, the first sight I had of the ship was looking UP at the bow as it steamed toward us. I was not happy, nor was the rest of the crew. Words were said when we got back to base the next morning. The point being, if one is not familiar, really comfortable with toys, one can make novice mistakes on reading the information.

At night, physically and emotionally worn out by the events of the days leading up to her casting off, Jessica may have misjudged distances and speed, not only of the ship but also of her own boat. Such things happen to so-called grownups also. I’ve successfully taught adults all aspects of sailing from the basics, including vocabulary, to offshore cruising and astro navigation. I’ve also been unsuccessful in teaching some adults those skills because they simply couldn’t grasp the complexity, the totality of living in a small capsule that is bouncing around in a way that is unknown to the vast majority of humans. Any one ability may be easy to learn but when you combine them as you must when voyaging across oceans, then some people have problems dealing with the reality.

I wish Jessica all the best in her endeavours. From what I have read about the young lady, she has the capability and the drive to succeed; once she is away from the Australian coastline I think any problem that might cause her to fail will be one of those that no one – adult or juvenile – could plan for. As the saying goes, “Shit happens!”

Once away from land, I have always felt safer than when I am amongst non-sailors. After spending a couple weeks on passage, a drive along a high speed motorway usually scares the crap out of me. When people have asked about the dangers at sea and why not build a really strong steel boat, I ask them if they drive an armoured vehicle/tank to work everyday.

My earlier post with the title Where are the young people? isn’t really answered by the recent news about Mike Perham and Laura Dekker – teenagers, one who has successfully circumnavigated and the other who wants to get underway.

My original question was focused on those in their early twenties who have either finished university or who are taking a couple years off to explore, not only the world but also themselves.

A small boat, 27 to 30 feet LOA, can be bought for less than $10,000. With another $10,000, the boat can be made ready to cruise – maybe not around the world but if you are on the East Coast of North America, you have the Bahamas and the Caribbean in reach with only an occasional overnite sail. On the West Coast of the US, there is Baja California and other parts of Mexico also within easy sail.

Sure you need money to keep going but if your own boat is kept in good condition and you are willing and able to do any work on other boats, from cleaning toilets to varnishing or acting as delivery crew, then a couple of young people should be able to manage a year away from the ‘normal’ world.

So why aren’t young Americans doing it?

Mike Perham, earlier today crossed the line between the Lizard and Iles d’Ouessant, officially finishing his solo circumnavigation as the youngest sailor ever to accomplish the feat. He is just four months younger than Zac Sunderland, the American who sailed into Marina del Rey on July16th of this year after completing his voyage around the globe.

But the boys have someone else after their records as circumnavigators, 13 year old Laura Dekker wants to set sail on her 8.2 metre boat, Guppy in an attempt to break the record for youngest sail to successfully sail around the world single-handed.

_{(c) Telegraph}

But, there is a bit of a snag in her plans, a three judge panel in Utrecht has put Laura into the legal custody of the Dutch Council for Child Protection, although she is allowed to continue living in her home she will not be allowed to set off when she wished. She must undergo psychological evaluations and examinations by professional sailors as to her capabilities and the preparedness of her boat.

Laura was not in court to hear the judgement. She was out sailing. Her father, Dick Dekker, was in court but declined to comment. The family’s lawyer, Peter de Lange, said the ruling was “acceptable” because it allowed Laura to live at home and did not rule out the possibility that she could eventually make the voyage.

Personally, I have to agree with Mike Perham’s assessment of the young lady’s capabilities

He argued that Miss Dekker can do the same if she meets three criteria: technical sailing ability, physical and mental strength.

“I think if Laura meets these three thresholds then she should go for it. And good luck to her,” he said.

“Is it ok for a 13-year-old girl to sail around the world on her own? Is it ok to climb a tree? Both questions have no right answer. How young is too young? Age is only a number, it’s what makes the person that is important.”

From my own experience, I think the matter of ‘mental’ strength will be the quality that makes or breaks her during her attempt – IF she ever gets to set off.

The psychologists report will be presented to the court in October.