MEETING LAURA AT THE HISWA 2012
March 11, 2012
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Laura at the HISWA 2012 Photo & collage: Thomas Weber |
On the road again to Amsterdam
After
a short night sleep and a very good breakfast I started on my voyage to
Amsterdam at about 5:30 in the morning. The trip itself went without any
problems or incidents and I arrived in Amsterdam at about 9:30. Of course, I
missed the sign Amsterdam RAI, and so I had to find a different parking this
time. Unknowingly, I took the road to the VIP parking area. "Good
morning" a friendly man said to me. "Do you have a special parking
card?" "Err.. no." "OK, then it's straight ahead"
"Bedankt (Thank you)!" I came to – luck helping - a less frequented parking spot in the RAI fair
area, a little further from the HISWA. After that I bought my ticket and there
was nothing and no one that could hold me back.
A well known dog
Well,
I was held back. "Doors open at 10:00!!!" I was told by a less
friendly man as I was heading for the hall. Hum!...
Waiting.
It was seven minutes to 10:00. I walked around in the large foyer and it became
clear to me that my backpack with all the cameras was a tad too heavy. There
was an escalator on my left that lead to the rooms upstairs - a restricted area
of the fair, accessible to staff members and VIPs only. Suddenly I noticed a
well known dog making its way to the escalator, towing behind him a middle aged
man – Spot and Dick Dekker! Obviously, Dick did not recognize me. They took the
escalator and were quickly out of my
sight. Laura must have been waiting upstairs and Spot apparently must have gotten
on to her perfume.
At
10:00 the gate opened and with some 100 other people I entered the HISWA hall.
First I made a short tour through the halls. I must confess I was not too
interested in all the different kinds of boat propellers, engines and spar varnishes
that were offered. Of course I like boats but I always miss some old
characteristic shapes that are absent on nowaday yachts. Actually I prefer
vintage steamships etc. Anyway...
In
one of the halls I spotted Dick and Spot again. I thought 'Let's have some fun'
and followed them at some distance. That little game went on for some 5 minutes
and suddenly they were gone. Later I learnt that Dick, who has had an argument
with Laura some minutes before, had left the HISWA discreetely by a side exit.
Well known faces
Then
I made my way back to hall 1 and I tried to find the 'Zeiltheater', where Laura
would give her speech later today. After searching for it for some time - they
must have changed the halls' layout again - I finally found it. People were
still busy with preparations, testing the PA and the video projection system. I
sat down on a wooden bench at the rear on the left side of the theatre. It was
half past 10 and I looked around for Christoph. Oh, I forgot to mention: last
year I had a friendship request on Facebook by someone named Christoph L. from
the town of S. in Germany, about 50 kilometres away from my home. He also was
very interested in Laura and her trip and we have had some nice conversations
going for the past months. Around Christmas he also made contact with Laura's
mother Babs, and they became good friends. Christoph and I had agreed to meet at
11:00 or so at the HISWA, and Babs and
her husband Anne were to join us at noon.
I
also noticed Jillian Schlesinger, the director of the documentary film about Laura's
trip - 'Maidentrip' - sitting on the floor with a lady friend of hers on the
opposite side of the Zeiltheater. But some minutes later they had already left.
The
picture coming from the video projector was barely visible but then I could see
that it was the trailer for 'Maidentrip'. I liked the music playing in the
background even though it made for a slightly distorted picture of Laura and
her trip. In my opinion it showed the filmmaker’s own nostalgia and/or romantic
point of view of Laura. Right. Indeed my own film from Den Osse would not fit
in there (in November 2010 Jillian had asked for some of my Super-8 footage
that I had taken in Den Osse at the time of Laura‘s departure, but then she
apparently later decided she had no use for them and didn't ask again).
While
I was waiting for Christoph two other well known faces came in sight - Rikki
Bakker-Bolhaar and her husband Rob. Rikki is my ‘colleague’-administrator at
Solozeilster Hyves, Laura’s official Dutch fan page. Kisses, handshakes and the
usual greeting words. Rikki and Rob then went on to look around the
HISWA.
Waiting.
At 11:00 the Zeiltheater opened (that bell is much too loud!) and the first
speech took place with only a small audience.
11:15
and no Christoph in sight. 11:30 ... 11:45... 'Now I'll have to call him' I
thought since I did not want to chance missing him or Babs! But then he came
around the corner and, obviously did not recognize me because he had never seen
me before – but happily Google had been of help for me so I recognized him...
From the Zeiltheater he walked over to the Water Fun Zone in the other hall. I
followed him and addressed him. "Christoph?" "Thomas?" came
his reply. We shook hands and made some small talk. Christoph complained about
the HISWA that in comparison to its German equivalent, the BOOT fair in
Düsseldorf, is very small. We walked around a little and decided to go to the
book store on the balcony of hall 1. There we met with the famous Dutch solo
sailor Henk de Velde. Christoph was interested in his latest book and struck a
conversation with him. Henk asked me for the German word to the Dutch one
‘zwerver’ (run around, rolling stone). Since I did not have it at the ready on the
tip fo my tongue so I said that the English term was something like 'Sea Gypsy'.
As we were still in conversation, Christoph’s cell phone rang - it was
Babs.
Babs and Anne
We
would meet at the Gaastra stand, which was easier said than done for we had to
find it first – "on the right, no I believe it was on the left"...
But some minutes later we found Babs and her husband Anne at the snack bar next
to the Gaastra stand.
"Hello,
I am Babs."
Hugs,
kisses...
"This
is Anne, my husband."
As
far as I can tell they had taken Laura's sister Kim to Leeuwarden where she and
her Circus school had an engagement. Already it was noon and Babs and Anne
wanted to have a bite. We chose a place and picked up our chat where we had
left it. Babs offered a taste of her pancake but I was much too excited to eat
or drink anything.
"So,
you are another fan of Laura?"
"Well,
I am more like a true colleague." I replied.
"You
did the German translations, right? And there was this North West [sic!],
too...?"
"Well...
yes... of course, I did the German translations... but we also did the English
translations...The translations that were posted on Laura’s official website.”
I
explained how we went about it for the past one and a half year.
"Each
time Laura wrote a new post for her blog I wrote an English translation which I
then sent to West North in Montreal, Canada. After reviewing it he would then send
it to Laura's father in Den Osse."
“Did
they [Laura and Dick] contact you after the trip?” Anne asked me. By the way,
Anne's German is excellent.
“No,
they did not” I said.
I
also mentioned West North's Google map that had a link on Laura's official
website until early October 2011 and I gave a little summary of some other work
we did for Laura. I can't recall all that we talked about but the more I said
to Babs and Anne about what we did for Laura the more impressed they grew.
"Thomas,
YOU should be Laura's manager!" Babs said.
"I
am available"... We laughed.
Water Fun Zone 1
Then
we went over to the Water Fun Zone. As we were searching our way Babs mentioned
that she is very bad with directions.
"That's
the reason Dick never handed the helm over to you," Christoph said.
"Oh
well, Babs said -did I mentioned that even though Babs is of German origin like
me she sometimes starts speaking Dutch quite
suddenly?- during our circumnavigation [from 1991 to 1998] one night I shouted 'There
is a big ship on a collision course with us!!!'... Dick then calmly replied
that it was just the moon rising... Incidently, the stars are much more
beautiful at sea."
I
remembered Laura's blog about her first experience of seeing the moon rising at
sea.
"Does
Laura know you?" Babs asked me.
"Yes,
I replied, I was present in Den Osse [at
the time of Laura's departure in August 2010]."
"So
she knows who you are then?"
"Yes."
At
the Water Fun Zone I took my Beaulieu camera out of my backpack and took a
measure of the light. Aperture 4? Oh, of course that is because of the
backlight, so I opened the shutter a little bit more.
“Have
you seen Rikki Bakker-Bolhaar yet? What does she look like?” Apparently, Babs
and Rikki had never met before.
"Well,
she is blond and..." I went on describing.
Babs
took her mobile phone in hand - "brand new, I can take pictures with it
too" - and took some pictures. I recognized the wallpaper image on it.
"I
know this picture. It was taken in Gran Canary by..." Babs was surprised.
In
the meantime Rikki and Rob had joined in too, and were greeting Babs and Anne.
I didn't listen to what they were saying but I heard when Rikki said that I had
made "such beautiful pictures" for the Hyves fanpage.
Then
the question came up: Where is Laura?
"I
just had a sight of her" Christoph mentioned.
A
few seconds later I too could see her. "She has not changed at all since
last year" I thought.
Actually,
I did not pay too much attention at Laura' sailing lesson that in any case had
to be shortened to a little less than 20 minutes because of her conflicting
schedules.
Anne
came over to me asking what the strange diagram on his camera screen meant.
"It's
for the color gradient I think..." Modern times!
I
spotted Jillian and her friend in the distance obviously prefering to keep to
themselves.
"Last
year Laura sailed with the kids in the boats." Babs said me.
The
sailing lesson ended. It was 13.50 and Laura's speech at the Zeiltheater would
start very soon. I looked around for her but she was already gone.
"I
guess we should head for the Zeiltheater now." I said turning to
Christoph. Happily, it was just around in the next hall.
Zeiltheater 2
The
Zeiltheater was filled to maximum capacity - it was to be the very last
appearance of Laura at the Zeiltheater for the HISWA 2012 - and so I just had
to be gratefull to be able to be here at all even if it was in the very last
row. Again they showed the 'Maidentrip'
trailer which ran for about 5 minutes. I could hardly hold my camera but still
but I wanted to have a copy so I kept shooting.
Laura
then was interviewed by Henk de Velde, the sailor we had met an hour earlier.
She told that she named her Windpilot "Mata-hi" (unknown spelling),
the Tahitian word for wind. After the interview many questions came from the
audience, typically what sorts of boats she had sailed during her 'career' or
had parts of her boat broke during the trip. Laura patiently answered all of
them. The very last question came from a young girl: "Was it very
difficult to settle back into your former life?" "Well, actually I
did not come back to my old life. My boat that I consider my home is docked in
Bonaire and I will go back there. I am only here for three weeks" was
Laura's answer.
Just
before the event closed, the host Mr. Klaas-Jan Hoeve mentioned that there were
many who wished for an autograph from Laura. "The only way to get one is
to buy (a voucher for) her book at the nearby signing stand" he said.
Laura then left the stage (APPLAUSE!) and went over to the signing stand.
Many
people waited in line. I took some pictures and couldn't make my mind about buying
a voucher for Laura's book or not. Then I walked to the other side of the
signing stand where Babs, Christoph and Anne were. Babs had brought a sandwich
for Laura.
I
looked at Laura. She smiled at me.
"Thomas,
do you want to buy a book, too?" Rikki asked me. "I'd like to take a
picture of Laura and you". OK then.
"Strange,
you understand everything in Dutch but you cannot speak it." Anne uttered
to me. Hmm... Right! My skills with the Dutch language are, well limited.
However, they had proven to be good enough for all my communications about
Laura and it would seem for the international press around the world too.
"Well,"
I replied "I missed a female teacher." He smiled about that.
Then
it was my turn. I bought one voucher and Laura signed it. "Thanks"
she said to me in German.
Rikki
took two pictures of us. Well, I am not too photogenic... And I forgot to
buy a voucher for West North!
Then
I went back to join Christoph, Babs and Anne. "We will have a drink with
Laura now." Babs said. Wishful thinking. Unfortunately Laura did not have enough
time for us.
"I
am so sorry, Thomas" Babs told me. Indeed, I too felt that was sad...
She
asked me what were my plans now. Well, I had no plans except that I wanted to
head back home soon.
Big thanks from Laura
Meanwhile
Laura had left the signing stand.
"Where
is she?" Babs asked Anne."Just around the corner!" he replied.
A
few minutes later Babs came back with Laura and told her that I was going to
leave in a few minutes.
"Thank
you so much for the translations!" Laura said to me in German. Her smile
was arresting, and even though she had sailed around the whole world she still
looked as fragile as a little bird to me.
"Maybe
you should shake hands..." Babs said. Yes, that's what I thought too.
Laura
extended her hand to me and I took and held it as I said to
her: "Laura, if you need a translator in the future..."
"Well,
I won't write as much as I did before." I guess she meant to say that she
didn't want to be of trouble to us furthermore.
"However
if you ever happen to need us we will always be there for you." I hoped no
one noticed the emotion in my voice as I spoke.
Snack 2
"I
was very much surprised that Dick was not present [at the Zeiltheater]," I
said to Anne as we took our places at the snack bar.
"They
[Laura and Dick] have had an argument. After five minutes Laura started crying
and then she told him that she does not want to see him again before she has
left the Netherlands."
"Pity,
it would have been interesting to hear what he might have wanted to say to
me." I remarked.
"He
would not have said anything. He just tells Laura what he wants to be said and
then it is up to her to speak on his behalf."
Anne
had asked Babs to order a sandwich for him.
“It’s
8 EUR!” Babs shouted from the counter. “Then I don’t want it!!” Anne shouted
back.
The
service at the snack bar was incredibly bad. Christoph mentioned that they would
never be able to survive in an open market. Babs and Christoph came back with
some drinks ("How much did it cost?" I won't say it! ) and some kind
of shish kebab for Anne, who was very much surprised about that.
"You
paid 6 EUR for THAT?!" Anne asked. "I don't know. It was 8
total." was Babs answer.
Suddenly...
Laura came by! Babs asked her to come sit in her lap. It made for a very nice
picture. If you had not knowed about it you could never have believed that this
little kid had sailed around the world alone. That is when I took THE photo of
the day... Before you ask, no I won't
post it!
Laura
and Babs were talking in Dutch to each other so I did not listened much for it
was none of my business. Then Laura looked at me.
“Do
you understand what I say?” she asked me in English.
What?!
The little cheeky-monkey :-) Of course, this called for a charming counter, hi
hi...
“Well,
I struggled with your sentences for the past one and a half years, so... By the
way, do you realize we did 360 translations for you in total...” I said smiling
at her.
Laura
found that it was very nice but then she had to leave again (she had to give
out the prizes at the Water Fun Zone).
Jillian
Schlesinger and her friend came along and started to talk with Babs. Pity
me I did not start a conversation with
her – that was a missed opportunity I know. Actually I had expected Babs to
introduce me to her.
“She
is coming next Wednesday or Thursday to sleepover” Babs announced.
“What
about her friend?” Anne asked.
“I
don’t care. I won’t invite her along.”
Then
Babs said to me that they would be having Chinese food that night as we took
our seats at an Asian snack bar.
"You
are lucky," Babs said to Christoph, "we just redid the downstairs
bathroom lately."
"And
now you want to sell your house?" I asked.
"Yes,
every five years I get itchy. When we bought the house the rain came into the
living room. However it is situated in a very popular quarter."
"Maybe
you (I meant Babs, Kim and Anne) should sail around the world." I said.
"Well,
we have sailed around the world for seven years." Babs replied.
"I
know. The newspaper articles [of Babs' and Dick’s circumnavigation] and the
Woerdense Courant are available on the internet, but I haven't read the full
story yet." I explained.
After
we talked for more than half an hour we stood up and walked back to the Water
Fun Zone again.
Water Fun Zone 2
Laura
had to give out the main prize, a brand new Optimist dinghy, to the winner of a
sailing competition. I captured some scenes on film.
After
Laura had handed over the winner's certificate she came around obviously happy
that the HISWA was over.
Heading
to the foyer Babs and Laura walked ahead of me and I could hear them talking
about me...
"What
is it about me?" I asked.
"I
was saying to Laura how much you did for her." Babs said.
Laura
turned to me.
"I
really found it great what you did for me."
To
me it sounded like 'I am sorry that several things did not go as they should
have'. I was touched... Sure, there are bound to have ups and downs on such a
long journey.
"Yes,
I know." I said to Laura meaning that I understood and that there was no need
to apologize and that in fact I felt like saying 'Thanks, I had a great time and everything!'
Good bye
We
were back at the foyer.
Again
Babs said to me: "I am sorry but I really had no idea what you did for
Laura."
"Well,
we did not shout it from the rooftops".
Babs
said good bye to me (three kisses!). As I turned towards the exit, Laura was
standing by the escalator and she smiled at me, the same smile she had given me
in Den Osse the night before her big departure.
I
hope to meet her again. Sometime. But honestly, I am pretty sure it won't
happen...
***
Thomas
Weber
Co-founder
and Administrator of Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker on Facebook;
Co-founder
and Administrator of Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker on Blogger;
Co-Administrator
of Solozeilster on Hyves – official fan Dutch website;
Co-
English Translator for www.lauradekker.nl (from July 2010 to January 2012).
