AMSTERDAM — The mother of a 13-year-old who hopes to become the youngest sailor to circle the globe solo broke her silence Saturday, saying the voyage was too dangerous and her daughter was “not yet grown up” enough.
Babs Muller was quoted in the Volkskrant daily as saying she has kept quiet until now because her daughter, Laura Dekker, had threatened not to see her again if she stood in the way of the trip. Laura’s parents are divorced, and she lives with her father, Dick Dekker, who supports her ambition to set sail this year for a trip that would take two years. A court last week ordered Laura placed in the custody of child-care authorities for two months.
A spokeswoman for Laura and her father said Muller’s comments came as a surprising reversal. Muller had earlier told the child protection authorities that the trip was “scary” but that she was not opposed, said Mariska Woertman.
