Dozens of individuals leaped and cheered as Dekker waved, wept and then strolled across the connect associated with her mom, dad, sis and grandma and grandpa, who had welcomed her at sea previously.
Dekker came in St. Maarten after having difficulties against ocean and hefty gusts of wind on any, 41-day leg from Cpe City, Southern African-american.
"There were periods where I was like, 'What the terrible am I doing out here?,' but I never desired to quit," she informed journalists. "It's a fantasy, and I desired to do it."
Dekker statements she is the newest sailor man to comprehensive a round-the-world trip, but Guinness Community Information and the Community Cruising Rate History Government did not confirm the maintain, saying they no more identify records for newest mariners to suppress risky efforts.
Dutch government bodies tried to prevent Dekker's vacation, fighting she was too youthful to possibility her life, while university government bodies reported she should be in a educational setting.
Dekker said she was created to mother and father existing on a vessel near the shore of New Zealand and said she first traveled the world single at 6 decades of age. At 10, she said, she started thinking about traversing the planet. She famous her Sixteenth wedding during the vacation, consuming raspberry braid for morning meal after a bit of your time at interface with her dad and associates the evening before in Darwin, Sydney.
The youngster protected more than 27,000 maritime distance on a vacation with prevents that seem like a look at through a journey magazine: the Canary Destinations, Little, the Galapagos Destinations, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Sydney, Southern African-american and now, St. Maarten, from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.
"Her tale is just awesome," said one of Dekker's lovers, 10-year-old Jody Gong of Burglary. "I can't think about someone her age going out on sea all by herself."
Bell was in St. Maarten on a function vacation with her mom, Deena Merlen, an lawyer in New york, who desired to see Dekker comprehensive her voyage. The two used T-shirts that read: "Guppy stones my world."
"My child and I have been following Laura's tale, and we think it's awesome and impressive," Merlen said.
Unlike other youthful mariners who lately entered the planet, Dekker regularly attached at slots along the way to rest, research and maintenance her 38-foot (11.5-meter) boat.
During her vacation, she went browsing, going, ledge going and found a new hobby: enjoying the flute, which she said in her webpage was simpler to perform than a instrument in rainwater.
Dekker also reported about customized clearings, vessel examinations, attractive sails, hefty squalls, a wet and higher sodium bed, a near-collision with two freight delivers and the use of some chronic stowaways: pests.
"I became individuals with my vessel," she said. "I acquired a lot about myself."
Highlights of her vacation involve 47 periods of sailing the Native indian Beach, which eventually left her with unsteady feet when she docked in Durban, Southern African-american, where she strolled up and down the connect several periods for exercise.
While in Southern African-american, she also saw her first whale.
"It dove right before side of my vessel and got all this water on my vessel, and that wasn't really awesome," she said.
Dekker released her vacation two several weeks after Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old U.S. sailor man, was recovered in the center of the Native indian Beach during a identical effort. Jessica Watson of Sydney accomplished a 210-day single trip at age 16, a few several weeks mature than Dekker.
Dekker had said she thought out to switch to New Zealand after her trip, but she said Saturday that she wants to complete university first. If she goes to New Zealand, she said, she would like to cruise there.
