Nanny State in Denmark
From
MarineBuzz:
Laura Dekker: Too Young to Sail Solo Around the World
Laura Dekker, 13 year old Dutch girl, is too young to sail solo around the world. Though her parents have given consent for her two year trip around the world from September 01, the Dutch Council for Child Protection has objected to her sailing adventure.
The Dutch court is also right in banning her voyage, and has placed her under state care for two months, till psychologists assess her suitability to sail solo around the world.
Good lord -- I could see if it was a six year old, that is too young but 12 is old enough to have the ability to carry this off.
Her website (English version not online yet but Dutch is not that hard to figure out) is here:
Laura Dekker
Her parents are avid world sailors, Laura was born on a sailboat and hold dual citizenship with New Zealand (her parents were there when she was born) and is planning to emigrate to NZ if the Dutch hassle her any more. The youngest man to do this was 15 when he started.
The Guppy looks like a nice and capable boat -- I had one very similar to it when I lived in Seattle. Spent a lot of time cruising in the San Juan islands and up to Canada.
Posted by DaveH at August 29, 2009 8:23 PM