Interview with Laura
Dekker on the ZDF Frühlingsshow (Spring Show) 2012
Recorded in Puerto de
Mogán, Gran Canary
Recording date: March 28,
2012
Broadcasting date: April
15, 2012
Host: Andrea Kiewel
Zweites Deutsches
Fernsehen (ZDF TV station, Germany) www.zdf.de
-At the dock in Puerto de
Mogán-
Greeting and introduction
by host A. Kiewel
(…)
Andrea Kiewel [A.K.]: “I
would like to introduce two guests who have a very deep relationship to water, to
the sea ... One is the bravest girl I know since she circumnavigated the world
solo at fourteen. Welcome Laura Dekker!”
Laura Dekker [L.D.]:
“Thanks.”
(Applause from the
audience)
A.K.: “Laura, how long
did the trip on your sailing boat take? How many nautical miles did you
travel?”
L.D.: “I spent one year
on my trip and I travelled 20 700 [really 27 000] nautical miles.”
A.K.: - uttering a German
expression that means something like cool or awesome – " I am very happy
that you are with us today.”
(…)
-Aboard a yacht-
A.K.: “Now look at that
young girl next to me. We all pick up something big from time to time but only
a few of us finally do it - however, she
did. Laura Dekker is the world’s youngest single handed circumnavigator. Laura,
welcome again!”
L.D.: “Yes, thank you.”
(Applause from the audience)
A.K.: “Laura is a born
New Zealander, she has lived in Holland for a while…
L.D.: “Yes.”
A.K.: “… and now she is going
back to New Zealand – with the Kiwis.”
L.D.: “I will go to New
Zealand soon. My boat is docked in Bonaire.”
A.K.: “OK. Laura, you now
have to tell us. What inspired you as a very young girl to want to sail around
the world solo?”
L.D.: “I grew up aboard a
boat and sailing and my parents had done the same, for seven years, a little
bit longer, and so yeah, I wanted to do that, too.” [Note: Laura’s parents
circumnavigated the globe from 1991 to 1998 - Laura was born during a stopover
in Whangarei, New Zealand, in 1995]
A.K.: “Yes. But why did
you want to do it alone?”
L.D.: “Er…”
A.K.: “Do you like to be
alone?”
L.D.: “Yes. I like that.
Most of the time" (she starts laughing).
A.K.: “Yes?”
L.D.: “And, er… it’s
great to be the youngest ever ( to have sailed around the world ). I did not
want to do it with my parents and my friends were not allowed by their parents
to come along so I did it alone.”
A.K.: “Now you have to
explain. The boat, as we see it here in this picture (Picture of “Guppy” is
shown)… that is “Guppy”, your boat’s name. How big is it? Please give us some
figures.”
L.D.: “Er… 40… foot… 12
meters.”
A.K.: “That’s the length.
So… like this here?”
L.D.: looking around –
" Yes, I think so.”
A.K.: “Approximately. So,
what about your daily routine? Did you also kept sailing at night or did you…?
What do you do then? You could not drop the anchor…”
L.D.: “Nope…”
A.K.: “… on the Ocean.”
L.D.: “Yes, I kept
sailing (at night). I could sleep for an hour or so then I would wake up and
check if everything was well, and then I would sleep for another hour.”
A.K.: “Was this a natural
thing or did you have to set an alarm clock?”
L.D.: “During the first
two days you have to set an alarm clock but then it all works by itself.”
A.K.: “How many days went
by before you started thinking: ‘Am I crazy? Why am I doing this?!' ”
L.D.: “(shakes her head)
I have never…”
A.K.: “You did! Come on!”
L.D.: “Nope, I did not
think about that very often!”
A.K.: “You did…”
L.D.: “The longest leg I
spent at sea was 48 days.”
A.K.: “48 days? In one
stretch without ( seeing) land?!”
L.D.: “Yes, yes, yes.”
A.K.: “48 days?!?!”
L.D.: “Yes. It was great
actually.”
A.K.: “Yes?”
L.D.: “Yes, because…”
A.K.: “What did you see?”
L.D.: “After three weeks
(at sea) there is no time anymore (everything becomes timeless) and the days go by.”
A.K.: “That’s your kind
of yoga...”
L.D.: “Yes, maybe.”
A.K.: “…did you spot
other ships at least? Did you see whales? What did you see?”
L.D.: “No. In those 48
days I have seen two or three ships, one dolphin and two whales. And that’s all
there was.”
A.K.: “That’s not much…”
L.D.: “No.”
A.K.: “Did you start
talking to yourself?”
L.D.: “Er… Nope!”
A.K.: “No? But you
thought to yourself.”
L.D.: “Yes.”
A.K.: “ ‘Now I have to do
these and then those…’ ”
L.D.: “You always think
very much about your boat.”
A.K.: “Did you have any
kind of connection with the rest of the world? What about internet? That’s
impossible, isn’t it?”
L.D.: “No, I do not have
internet on board but I have an SSB Radio [Single Sideband Radio, shortwave
based]…”
A.K.: “What’s that?”
L.D.: “Er… yes… a radio
that you can use to make contact with other ships over a large distance.”
A.K.: “Like a radio or
something like that, isn’t it?” [Note:
the German term “Radio” as used by Laura usually means “broadcast”, so Ms.
Kiewel became a bit confused about that. The correct German term would be
“Funkgerät”]
L.D.: “Yes. Something
like that. Moreover, you can use it to send short text messages.”
A.K.: “Yes? And you did
that?”
L.D.: “Yes.”
A.K.: “So, you let
everyone know that you were alright or did you not feel like it?”
L.D.: “I used it to send
my weblog text every day.”
A.K.: “It was possible to
watch you and to follow your progress. What about your food?”
L.D.: “Er… mostly pasta
or rice.”
A.K.: “And you cooked
that on board in a sort of… well, a small galley?”
L.D.: “Yes!”
A.K.: “Yes. And you never
thought that you would rather be at home, going to the cinema or having some
ice cream with your friends - never? I don’t believe that.”
L.D.: “No! Not really.”
A.K.: “(starts laughing)”
L.D.: “It was so nice to
do this trip. I have learnt so much. Yes, it was a dream… yes…”
A.K.: “…that you made
come true for you. What was the very best experience for you;, is there one highlight that you would still
remember in 2000 years?”
L.D.: “Actually,
everything was great, the whole trip. I really liked the Pacific Ocean and its
islands…
A.K.: “The islands in the
Pacific Ocean…”
L.D.: “… and the people
there are very kind. The islands are so beautiful.”
A.K.: “And then – please
be honest! – when your trip came to its end, did you feel relieved or sad?”
L.D.: “Both.”
A.K.: “Both? What about future plans? You are 16 now… there won’t
be so much more coming in the future… (starts laughing).”
L.D.: “Well, I want to
finish school and I am writing a book about the trip, and then I’d like to sail
to New Zealand.”
A.K.: “Sailing to New
Zealand. Do you plan a professional career on the water? What career would you
like to choose?”
L.D.: “Yes, I think so…”
A.K.: “Captainess…”
L.D.: “I don’t know
exactly what it will be, but something with sailing, yes, that is what it could
be.”
A.K.: “Good. Thank you
very much. That’s very interesting and I take my hat off to you, I mean the hat
that I don’t wear at the moment. This requires a lot of bravery and skills.
Sailing is not that easy and everyone who has sailed in the past would agree to
that. Thank you Laura. (In English) Thank you so much!”
(Applause from the
audience)
-END-
Notes in square brackets
are translator notes.
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-----------------------------------
by
Thomas Weber
by
Thomas Weber
