MY VISIT TO LAURA
Prologue
"Het is geweldig dat ik nu oficieel weg mag en dat gaat gebeuren op woensdag 4 augustus om 9 uur."
"It's so great that I can officially set sail and that will be on Wednesday, August 4 at 9:00 AM."
That‘s what Laura wrote in her blog on Saturday afternoon, July 31 th. I had been following Laura for almost a year and it had become pretty clear to me: when she gets the permission to set sail I will wave her goodbye at her departure from Den Osse, Netherlands. This meant that I would have to travel five hours by car, stay in a hotel for one night and drive back home after Laura‘s departure. Getting a hotel room was not so easy during vacation-time but after writing many mails I managed to get one. In Scharendijke, only three miles away from Den Osse.
A few month ago I made friends with Gerard, another follower of Laura, via the Dutch "Hyves"-network. He visited Laura many times during the refit of her boat. He also gave her the bottle of Champaign that was used -smashed- at the launch of "Guppy". I made an appointment with Gerard to meet at Den Osse harbour on Tuesday evening. A special tip from him: bring some chocolate for Laura!
Meeting there would also mean missing an organ concert at Cologne Cathedral on Tuesday night that I was looking forward to for a month. However!
I spent the next two days with packing and searching, cleaning and recharging my photo and film equipment. I wanted to take many pictures and shoot some film, too. Would I be allowed to do so? Maybe there will be no access to the dock except for the press, I thought. My equipment: a Nikon SLR camera for 35mm films, an older HP digital camera, a Samsung digital camera and a Beaulieu Super-8 camera.
The road to Laura
3 August 2010
My schedule for this day: Departure at ten, arriving at Scharendijke at 3:00 PM. Due to some little incidents I departed at eleven. First I had to buy batteries and two slide films for my Nikon camera.
Heading for Cologne, then Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach and over the border to the Netherlands. No problems until Eindhoven. There I missed the correct highway and I didn’t notice it! Later I realized that I was on a road to Antwerpen, Belgium. The route planner I used suggested this route, but for some reason I wanted to avoid it. Of course it’s impossible to read a map and to drive a car at the same time. U-turn? Too late! OK then, Antwerpen! Then there was the next problem: the needle of the fuel gauge moved continuously to Empty. And there was no gas station in sight! In between I reached the Netherlands again. I took the next exit I could find, searching for a gas station. After many, many miles I found one - and realized that the German term "Super bleifrei" (Super unleaded) is not common in the Netherlands! Of course I lost the route again. Well, that’s what I thought. While driving through villages and little towns searching for a gas station I spotted the sign "Zierikzee". I could not believe. I was on the right way! For the next 20 miles there were no problems at all! I got closer and closer and finally reached the Schouwen-Duiveland island. I followed the sign "Brouwershaven". Then the name appeared on a sign: "DEN OSSE"!
Guppy
I arrived at Den Osse at about 4:30 PM. I left my car in the parking place near the diving-jetty (Duiksteiger Kerkweg), took my Nikon and my HP and headed towards the harbour. After a walk of nearly 10 minutes I reached the jetty near the parking area of the harbour and I looked for the Dekker´s living-family boat. Gone! And "Guppy" was also not there! Well, not where I expected them. "Guppy" was moored at the dock to my right. Needless to say that my excitement grew while I walked down the path to the dock. There was a German family walking up the path talking about Laura: "When she makes it she’ll be famous. Such a nice girl!". While walking through the gate to the harbour I spotted the Dekker’s boat. "There is still much work to do, Mr. Dekker", I thought.
Slowly I walked towards "Guppy". She looked so beautiful in this bright, soft afternoon sunlight that the photographers love so much. With this blue fleecy clouded sky in the background it was the perfect scene for taking pictures. Then, there she was! Laura stood on the deck of "Guppy", chatting with another girl. It may sound paradoxal but my excitement was completely gone at this moment. Laura wore the same "Sea shepherd" t-shirt from the photo in her blog of August 2nd. I looked around. There was one cameraman taking pictures of the Dekker’s living boat. I noticed a car from the RTV-Utrecht TV-station at the parking earlier. I also spotted the presenter of the NOS-Jeugdjournaal (Youth-TV-Magazine), Tako Rietveld, sitting at the dock talking to his cameraman. After taking pictures (slides and digital) for more than half an hour it was time to drive to the hotel. I hadn´t lunch and I hoped to get a dinner.
Luxury
Unfortunately the hotel was more difficult to find than I expected. I missed the right road and then I completely lost the way. I’m still wondering how I managed not to overrun one of those many cyclists in those narrow roads. After an odyssey of nearly one hour I found my hotel. In fact I only had to follow the road from Den Osse to Scharendijke...
I asked for my reservation. Did I expect too much? Maybe. "This is your key, can you pay right now, Mr. Weber?" Of course I could. Did they show me the room? No. "It’s over there, outside" the young lady explained to me showing me the direction with her finger. Did someone help me with my bags? No. My room was overheated with no air-conditioner installed. "Luxury-room" with tea and coffee" - Ha! Just two tea-bags, some instant-coffee and a water boiler. Oh, and two cups. Anyway, the room was clean and very new. There was also a little balcony with two chairs (no table!). They said that you could see the north sea from there. Maybe if you used a ladder. After I got all my stuff to my room I took a shower, dressed up and drove to Den Osse again. No time for dinner! It was 6:45 PM and I wanted to meet Gerard at 7.
Laura
This time I had no problems getting there. After parking my car I fixed the shoulder tripod to my Beaulieu and started to take some scenes. Then I noticed a man walking towards me. Was it Gerard? Indeed it was him! Handshakes, the usual formalities "did you have a good journey?" and so on. He is a very friendly man. But at this point I realized, that I had overrated my knowledge of the Dutch language. I can read Dutch and I am able to write it, but I cannot speak it! Well, we managed to understand each other. Gerard told me that Laura had gone for lunch.
We reached the dock. There were some people standing around, taking pictures and discussing about Laura’s plans. The team of the NOS-Jeugdjournaal was still there, preparing for an interview with Laura. Suddenly someone climbed out of the hatch of the Dekker’s living boat. It was not Laura but the unknown girl Laura was talking to at my first visit. She looked very similar to Laura and some people thought that she was her. Then another person stepped in the main deck - Laura! She carried some clothes with her. Both girls walked down the little ladder to reach the dock. Then it all happened very quickly: Laura stepped closer to us. Gerard addressed her: "Hallo Laura!" She turned to him. "I’d like to introduce someone to you." He pointed at me. "That’s Thomas, your translator". I cannot say that I was nervous but this situation was very strange to me. There she was! The one and only "Zeilmeisje"! Little, fragile, lovely. And I didn’t know what to say to Laura. "Hallo!" she said. I replied "Hallo!". That was it. I think Laura wanted to shake my hand. She gave the clothes to the other girl. "Don’t drop them into the water" she gave order to her. She wore some kind of gloves and took them off. Unfortunately my right hand was attached to the security strap of the Beaulieu - no shakeing hands possible! Gerard said something that I couldn’t understand that fast. Something like "She is very little, isn’t she?". Damn, Thomas, say a thing, anything. WHATEVER - TALK TO HER! No such chance! Hopeless. Gerard asked Laura if it was OK for her having a photo with me. She accepted. "Look at each other" he said. We did and she gave me a x qualificatif smile. Gerard took two photos with his camera. "Please take my camera and take another photo" I wanted to say to him. But Laura was already walking towards a group of kids who also wanted to take photos with her. I shot that scene on Super-8.
Then Laura walked towards "Guppy" for the interview with NOS-Jeugdjournaal. I thought "Wooow! That was her."
There were still some people taking pictures of "Guppy". Someone asked me (first in Dutch, then in English) when Laura will depart. "Tomorrow at 9 o’clock in the morning" I answered.
An older gentleman from Germany talked to me. Some general thoughts (negative ones, too) about "Guppy" and Laura’s plans. Then Gerard and I walked towards the Dekker’s living-boot. Spot, Laura’s dog, was on deck - with his life-jacket on! He barked at us. Indeed, the Dekkers don’t need a doorbell. In the meantime Laura had returned from her interview. There was something I had forgotten: the chocolate. Of course I took two bars with me ("Milka" alpine milk). Shame on me: I was too shy to give it to her. I asked Gerard to do it for me. "Dank je wel!" - "Thank you very much" she said to him. Gerard told her that it was from me. Laura then went at a party that was given for her at the clubhouse. Even Laura’s lawyer, Mr. de Lange, appeared on the scene.
After that I noticed a German couple next to "Guppy", obviously sailors, who talked to each other. I stepped closer to them, they noticed that I was interested and we had an interesting discussion. Someone told them about Laura’s plans and they got it completely wrong. They thought, Laura would do a non-stop circumnavigation and would spend the whole two years permanently on board of "Guppy". I told them about Laura’s plans. Then we went into a discussion about kids and their dreams, the couple’s own (sailing) kids and so on. I cannot deny that they were critical and doubtful about Laura and her plans. I had to answer a lot of questions. Laura’s mother? Yes, she exists, I replied. They were also curious about me. I told them that I - we, of course! - do the translations of Laura’s blog. I also explained our method of work. The husband told me that he is British (I didn’t notice that) and that he also does translations for German companies. They wished success to me (!) and then we said goodbye. Gerard also had to leave. Unfortunately it was not allowed to walk on the wooden jetty where "Guppy" was moored. I’d have liked to give him a pat: take good care of Laura! No chance for this.
I took some photos and drove back to my hotel.
Hungry
When I arrived at the hotel I was looking forward to a nice dinner. It is then I realized that the restaurant was already closed, it was after 9 PM. Drive around and searching for another restaurant? NO! Enough for today! I had one bar of chocolate left; that will have to do! And I made some tea, too. I recharged all my cameras. What a day! Was it real or was it a dream? I checked my digital images. It was real!!! Fortunately, I had a cigar with me, that I smoked at the balcony until midnight. I could see the Westhoofd lighthouse, even without using a ladder! Then I went to bed. About 2 AM I fell asleep. Hungry but happy.
Den Osse Harbour - for the last time
August 4, 2010
I awoke around 5:30 AM, hungry! No chance for breakfast. In this hotel you can get breakfast from 8 AM to 10 AM. But I had to be at Den Osse before 8 AM, so no breakfast.
At 7:30 AM or so I was on the road to Den Osse. The weather had changed over night. The sky was cloudy and it looked rainy.
I arrived at Den Osse, parked my car and walked towards the dock. There was also security-personal. Damn! No access to the dock except for the press. Gerard was already waiting for me at the gate. The security-guys let us pass. Great! There were at least ten teams of journalists from all over the world, even Russia! We walked around a little bit. The people from NOS-Jeugdjournaal were also there.
Suddenly there was action at the Dekker’s living boat. Several people climbed through the hatch to the deck, family-members I presume. This boat must have very much room in it, I thought. Then also counselor de Lange climbed on deck and walked over the ladder to the quay. It seems that he has only striped ties! He addressed the press about the procedure of Laura’s departure. Obviously he enjoyed the attention to his person.
I moved closer to the living boat. Within a short time I found myself surrounded by the film teams all of us waiting for "Zeilmeisje" Laura. One of the professional cameramen was interested in my Beaulieu-camera. He said that he also had one, a 4008, but is not using it anymore. Questions about film stocks, batteries etc. - and about my client. No client, just me, for fun!
In between Laura also appeared on deck. "Which one is Laura, the girl on the right?" "No, that’s not her" "Take that dog!". Laura wore again the "Sea shepherd" t-shirt and the sponsored Imhoff clothing with her name on the back. I also noticed a girl, a close friend of Laura also on Hyves.
Then the show began. Laura stepped forward onto the little ladder to the quay. All cameras in action, mine also! Very difficult to handle three cameras at the same time: the Beaulieu, the Samsung and the Nikon. I’m still wondering how I managed not to break one of them. Laura gave us time to take our pictures. On a cue from de Lange she stepped down from the ladder. Later I realized that this was a very big step for her - leaving her home for the next two years! And then she was by my side. I followed her very close, so close that I almost touched her with the lens of my camera. I let the Beaulieu running the whole time when not looking through the viewfinder. All the press teams followed her, people applauded!
In front of the wooden jetty where "Guppy" was moored Laura and Mr. de Lange gave a press-conference. He first addressed the press in Dutch, talking about the past year. He cited a very common Dutch saying: "The best captains sit on land". He talked about the book by Laura’s grandmother. In contradiction to the announcement of the publisher he declared that it would be released in October. It also might be published in English and eventually in German. Then Mr. de Lange repeated the whole speech in English. A Q + A followed. I’m still wondering that no one of the reporters fell into the water! Laura was very patient. She answered questions in Dutch and in English. But you could see that she didn’t like the situation; that was eager to set sails. I managed to take good photos of her. Gerard used a ladder to take his pictures!
I noticed Dick Dekker walking towards "Guppy" with a bag. There were also two other persons, Peter from Nimbus Kunststoff (he wrote an interesting article about sailing with Laura) and someone from the "Sea shepherd"- organisation.
Then the Q + A was over. Laura moved towards "Guppy". Again applause! Laura turned around and waved to us. Then she stepped aboard "Guppy". She sat down for a group-picture with her father, Peter and the Sea shepherd-guy. The press-people were not amused about this.__"De twee ander maannen er weg!!!" ("The two other guys away!!! Just Laura and her father"
they yelled to them. Then Laura received a phone call from Captain Watson (no, not JESSICA Watson), the founder of "Sea shepherd", as I was to find out later. Another photo with Laura and the Sea shepherd-flag. She hoisted it at the bezan-mast. Some kisses to Peter and the Sea shepherd guy. Dick Dekker also stepped on board. I can remember that a fisher boat sailed out and the guys on it yelled something to Laura; it sounded like__"Don’t do it, Laura!" to me, but I might be wrong.
Then THE moment came. While her father worked on the bow cable Laura loosed the stern one. The engine was already running. I filmed the whole scene. I must confess that I got a bit emotional during it! Impossible not getting deeply touched by this scene. It was so symbolic. On the other hand I thought: "Hurry up, Laura! I got only 15 feet left on the film roll yet". Then "Guppy" was free. Laura steered to starboard heading for the Grevelingen-lake. "Guppy" was escorted by many boats, sailboats and motorboats. It was really impressive. The cameramen ran through the harbour gate up to the dike to take some final pictures. I followed them but soon realized, that it wouldn’t make sense to take pictures from there. So I went back to the dock. Then it got really difficult for me. "Guppy" was gone, Laura was gone! I had to fight against some overwhelming emotions. I had to be alone for a few minutes.
Then I catched up with Gerard. He was chatting with the parents of Laura’s friend. Gerard presented me an expert about Laura. Counselor de Lange was still giving interviews. Also Laura’s grandmother also gave an interview to the Russian team in English! Spot was not allowed to accompany Laura and her father. Grandma took him with her. By the way: Laura’s mother and her sister did not show up. According to a newspaper they were on vacation in the Czech Republic.
About 9:40 AM Gerard and I left the scene. We went to our cars. Then we said goodbye.
I drove back to my hotel.
Titanic
Breakfast? I wasn’t interested; I was still too agitated. So I took my bags, put them into the car and gave the room key back. Believe it or not: when I entered the hotel lobby there was a famous song sounding over the PA: "My heart will go on" from the movie Titanic. That was enough for me! Out! As quickly as possible! The time: 10 AM.
The final act: the Roompot-lock
Before I left him at Den Osse I suggested to Gerard to wait for Laura at the Roompot-lock. He said to me that he has not been there before and that he was not sure if he would go there. Fortunately the hotel gave me a map of the Schouwen-Duiveland island. I figured out how to get to the lock.
It was not too difficult. Guess who I met there. Correct: Gerard! It was 10:30 AM at my watch.
Then we had to wait, walking up and down the lock. Thirty minutes. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Four hours. There were around one hundred persons waiting for Laura. I waited in my car. At 3 PM Gerard came running to me and said that Laura has been spotted. I took my cameras and an older woman lend me her binoculars. There she was. No, Madam, I’m not working for a TV-station! Strange: right ahead of Laura another red sailboat, also a ketch, sailed into the lock. Some people behaved irrationally. The lock-master had to address them over the PA: "For your own security: Watch those barriers!" But no one fell into the water - a miracle. Impressive to have a look at Guppy from 30 feet above. Then the lock gate closed. The gate to the sea opened. Applause! __ "En behouden vaart toegewenst!" "Have a good trip!". "Guppy" was sailing out of the lock, heading to the open sea. I let the Beaulieu run. Through the tele-lens I could see Laura waving to us. Then she set the main sail. In retrospect, THIS was the most impressive and most touching moment. After a year of sorrow and desperation Laura was free! No one will hurt her anymore! "Mach´s gut, kleine Laura, und pass auf Dich auf!" I thought.
About 3:15 PM "Guppy" got out of sight.
Heading home!
After saying goodbye to Gerard for the second time I headed home. To keep it short: I had no lunch and no dinner, I missed again some roads, I had to find a way through Tilburg, when I reached Cologne there was heavy rain but I would reach my home safe and sound.
Two absolutely crazy days! Great success! Results: 140 digital photos, 72 slides, five exposed Super-8-cartridges.
Not need to say when I got back home I was very hungry ... but very happy!
My visit to Laura, August 3rd and 4th 2010
they yelled to them. Then Laura received a phone call from Captain Watson (no, not JESSICA Watson), the founder of "Sea shepherd", as I was to find out later. Another photo with Laura and the Sea shepherd-flag. She hoisted it at the bezan-mast. Some kisses to Peter and the Sea shepherd guy. Dick Dekker also stepped on board. I can remember that a fisher boat sailed out and the guys on it yelled something to Laura; it sounded like__"Don’t do it, Laura!" to me, but I might be wrong.