Laura Dekker and her dog, Spot
There’s something captivating about the story of 14-year-old Dutch girl Laura Dekker. Her dream to sail around the world began early, and she was ready to launch her 38-foot sailboat, Guppy, last year at age 13. When her mother—and subsequently the Dutch courts—said no, Laura ran away from home. Instead of hiding out at her best friend’s house, Laura booked a flight to the Canary Islands. The resulting media blitz turned her into a celebrity and the latest subject of the ongoing debate over “How young is too young to sail around the globe alone?”
Last week, Laura finally got her chance to set sail. Dutch authorities—and more importantly, people, her mother—gave the OK to her adventure. Her launch location was initially given as Portugal but the BBC reported that Laura actually launched from the port of Gibraltar in southern Spain to avoid the media glare. Laura’s trip is scheduled to take about 2 years. It will include around 20 stops at various ports all over the planet. And if all goes as planned, she will complete the voyage before turning 17 and take the title of youngest solo circumnavigator from 17-year-old Jessica Watson of Australia.
It may seem crazy for such a young person to attempt such a dangerous voyage. But here’s the backstory: Laura was born at sea. She learned to sail as a toddler, and got her first boat at age 6. Her father says she “has salt in her veins.” If anyone is qualified to attempt this journey as a 14-year-old, it’s her. Still skeptical? Here’s an excerpt of Laura’s most recent blog post: “Yesterday I discovered that the steering wheel was very heavy to move so I’m going to
open the whole stern compartment so I can clean the pulleys. I think one of the control
cables running through them is the problem, so now I am busy fixing things up.”
Despite Laura’s experience as a sailor, any mistakes or mishaps during the voyage will be subject to intense scrutiny and criticism by the media and the adventuring world. We’ll be checking in on Laura periodically as she makes her way around the globe.
The brazilian wandering spider's preferred mode of travel
While researching this month’s dangerous animal, we learned two things: first, spiders make humans hysterical; and second, spiders are woefully misunderstood. Apparently most of our fears about spiders are myths, from “the average person swallows four spiders per year in her sleep,” to “My neighbor was bitten by a brown recluse and his leg nearly had to be amputated!” (Read spider mythbusters
here). The intensity of our angst about spiders is nearly matched by spider experts’ exasperation with us for being so irrational. In truth, it turns out spiders really aren’t as dangerous as we think they are. Except for one. Yes, there is a spider that justifies at least some of our fears: the Brazilian wandering spider, also known as the banana spider (its common name is based on the its nomadic habit of hitching rides out of Central America on bunches of bananas). While a few other arachnids have deadly bites, they don’t kill as many people as this one. Check out this creepy National Geographic
video to see why. But be prepared: it’s not for the faint of heart.
