The character arc of Laura Dekker
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 20 September 1995 in Whangarei, New Zealand, during a seven year sailing trip by her parents. Between then and now sit five years spent at sea, a dinghy for her sixth birthday that she learned to sail alone, a book for her eighth birthday about a round-the-world voyage, a borrowed boat at ten, a six week tour of the Wadden Sea at eleven, a solo crossing to England in May 2009 that ended in a children's home, a court that blocked her plan, a family court that ended the arrangement in July 2010, a departure on 21 August 2010 and a finish 518 days later. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Laura Dekker?
A court said no, so she waited and went anyway.
She was born in New Zealand, during a seven year sailing trip her parents were in the middle of, and spent the first five years of her life at sea. Her parents separated in 2002 and she lived with her father, sailing with him often. For her sixth birthday she was given a dinghy, which she promptly learned to sail alone, her father following on a windsurfer. For her eighth she was given a memoir of a round-the-world voyage. At ten she borrowed a boat in exchange for cleaning and maintaining it, and at eleven she took it on a six week tour of the Wadden Sea with her dog.
In March of her fourteenth year her father told her to get some open sea experience by sailing to England, partly in the hope of putting her off, because the Channel is one of the hardest stretches of water for a small boat. She spent eight weeks preparing, left on the evening of 1 May 2009 without saying where she was going, and crossed. When she docked in Lowestoft, the local authorities asked her father to come and fetch her. He said she could sail home on her own, so they placed her in a children's home until he came. She sailed back on 11 May.
That August she announced a plan to sail around the world alone. A Dutch court intervened, at the urging of local authorities, and prevented her from leaving while she was under shared custody. In July 2010 a family court ended that arrangement, and on 21 August 2010 she left. She finished the solo circumnavigation in a twelve metre two-masted ketch, arriving in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, five hundred and eighteen days later, at sixteen.
The moments
Laura Dekker's timeline.
The 1990s
Born mid voyage
Everyday. Her parents were seven years into a voyage. She arrived in the middle of it.
The 2000s
A dinghy at six
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Six years old, sailing her own boat, with her father alongside on a board.
Her parents separate
Setback, and it changed her direction. The family split in two, and the sisters went to different houses.
A book about a voyage
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A birthday present at eight that turned out to be a plan.
Six weeks on the Wadden Sea
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Eleven years old, six weeks at sea, one dog for company.
England, and a children's home
Setback, and it changed everything. She crossed the Channel alone at thirteen and was put in a home for it.
A court blocks her
Setback, and it changed everything. A judge, a newspaper announcement, and the whole thing stopped.
Fight the court
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: wait it out, taken, or give it up. She left on 21 August 2010 and completed the voyage five hundred and eighteen days later.
The 2010s
The arrangement ends
Milestone, and it changed everything. Eleven months of hearings, and then she was allowed to go.
She leaves at last
Milestone, and it changed everything. Fourteen years old, off at last, in a boat named after a fish.
Five hundred and eighteen days
Milestone, and it changed everything. Five hundred and eighteen days alone, and she was sixteen at the end of it.
The boat was always called Guppy, every one of them, and the sea has never stopped being where she lives. What it has set moving is a question that outlasted the case: who decides what a fourteen year old is capable of, and on what evidence, given that she then went and did it.
Your turn
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Laura Dekker: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Laura Dekker's life come from?
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Sources
- Laura Dekker, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Dutch family court proceedings as reported in 2009 and July 2010.
- Voyage records for the Guppy, August 2010 to January 2012.