Column-Logbook for the Algemeen Dagblad
Thursday, September 16, 2010

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Each week in her column-logbook for the Algemeen Dagblad Laura Dekker will relate her journey around the world aboard her sailboat Guppy on her attempt to become the world's youngest circumnavigator.
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It's almost my birthday and then on Route


It is still sweltering hot here, but a fresh breeze is blowing now. Not bad of course... if I only didn't have to sit inside the cabin so I don't have to eat the desert sand that comes blowing in with the wind. Even though I really like it here in Lanzarote I will be sailing out again very soon. I still have some weeks to take my time going on but I am eager to see Las Palmas. I had planned to sail out next Monday but it will be my birthday, and even though I won't give a party it still would be too odd to leave. So I will be going on Tuesday afternoon but depending on the weather I might still leave on Monday and I hope to arrive [in Las Palmas] on Wednesday afternoon. I have a free place at the harbour for two weeks and then I will go to anchor in a bay for a while. Most sailors do it this way since a place at a marina costs 100 Euro a day while lying at anchor and with a "dinghy" (rubber boat) one can easily go to shore. This week I skated to the hardware store to buy some paint and then I marked each 10 meters [30 feet] of my anchor chain with a yellow stripe of paint. In this way when I drop anchor I can see how much of the chain has ran down in the water. On calm weather most boats run 30 meters [90 feet]. Letting go more and if the wind changes direction you might get tangled with other boats. Except for the painting there was not much else to do. Before I'm leaving I have to inspect the rigging and if all the openings and hatches are water tight. Forget about this and chances are that once at sea you will be lying in a wet and salty bed. This happened to me on my first trip to England [in May 2009], haha... I don't have plans for the coming days but tonight I have something nice happening - I am having supper with a Dutch couple who also wants to sail around the world. I'm looking forward to hear about their plans. See you soon from Las Palmas.

Laura