If you want to see the other side of the world, you
can do two things:
turn the world upside down or travel there yourself...
...which is exactly what 14
year old Laura Dekker did.
One Girl, One Dream is her incredible story.
New Zealand-born Laura was 14 years old when she started her solo
navigation around the world in her 12 metre yacht, Guppy. She was just 16 when
she completed the journey in 2012, making her the youngest person to single-handedly
circumnavigate the globe.
If Laura had had
it her way, however, she would have set out from Holland when she was only 13
years old, straight after she sailed her 22 foot yacht across the English
Channel alone. Publicly announcing her
intentions immediately landed in her in the custody of Dutch child services and
sparked a massive international media debate about parental responsibility. For
over a year, at a time when most 14-year-olds worry about what other people
think or what to wear, Laura doggedly pursued her dream against all the odds.
The debate was
still raging when she slipped out of port to sail via the neutral British
territory of Gibraltar using on her New Zealand passport and on to St Martin in
the Caribbean where she would begin her journey.
One Girl, One
Dream is Laura’s own remarkable account of her
journey and what it is like to
sail the great
oceans of the world solo, and the determination it takes to do this at such a
young age. Exciting, awe-inspiring and infinitely
inspirational, One Girl, One Dream is a real-life adventure for readers of all
ages.
These days Guppy is berthed in the marina at
Whangarei. Laura lives on board when she isn’t travelling the globe sharing her
story and having other – sometimes – more land-based adventures.
Harper Collins $29.99
No comments:
Post a Comment