Sometime you can’t even escape oppression by boat, as a teenager in the Netherlands learned when she decided she wanted to sail solo round-the-world. Laura Decker filed for permission to miss two years of “school.” The local courts responded by allowing the gestapo child protection services to supervise her, citing that she didn’t have a safety plan and lacked sleep management skills, and-heaven forbid-might not continue her mandatory state-enforced “schooling” during the trip. Evidently sailing round the world and meeting people from different cultures is not worth missing calculus class and the local regime’s version of history.
In 2010, the courts reversed their ruling, potentially Decker’s persistence. Pursuing a court case might be proof that one can indeed sail round-the-world.
Decker recently completed her journey in January 2012, arriving in St. Maarten harbor, one year after leaving.
She battled the seas for one year and the local government for two. She is a libertarian rockstar.
Related articles:
- Dutch girl’s solo voyage banned
- Dutch sailor girl put under care
- Court says Dutch teenager Laura Dekker can set sail
- Teenager Dekker completes around-the-world sail
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