Column-Logbook for the Algemeen Dagblad
September 14, 2011
Translation for Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker on Facebook
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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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Buy a boat and work your heart out


It made me anxious thinking of lifting Guppy out of the water. Using a crane would have meant a serious hole in my budget, but I found a much cheaper solution. Early in the morning we simply beached her and tied her to two posts. At high tide we moved her closer to the beach and grounded her. Then we worked very hard to remove all the marine growth from Guppy's underwater hull. In the tropical waters marine growth proliferates very fast, and the antifouling paint that protected her hull became ineffective with time and then I would have had to keep scraping forever... And so we applied a brand new antifouling coat. We finished our work in the middle of the night and we had to wait for the high tide to be back before we could move her to ther anchorage again – so we slept aboard Guppy as she stood aground. That was really odd. I am used to be lulled to sleep by her soft rocking movements but this time nothing was moving. Now Guppy is happilly lying at anchor between all the other yachts and my father and I are very busy with plenty of other little jobs to do aboard. The steering wheel that had too much play is now in perfect working condition and we repaired the exhaust of the auxiliary engine, too. We are now busy with a major overhaul of both the engines. I also cleaned the inside of my boat, I made the purchases to fill my empty pantry for the next long crossing, I refilled the diesel tank and my old sails are back from the sailmaker. And we still have a mountain of work to do. Seriously: buy a boat and work your heart out. Keep your fingers crossed that all works out fine before I sail off ...

Regards,
Laura