Omroep Flevoland – News – Lelystedelingen sails around the world with curiosity as a compass

For years they sailed all over the world, Janneke Kuysters and Wietze van der Laan from Lelystad. They then ended their career and embarked on a journey that ultimately lasted eight years. They recorded their experiences in the book “Curiosity as a compass”. Around the world in eight years. Because curiosity about other worlds, other peoples, was one of their motivations for choosing the open sea.

It started with a tour of the Atlantic Ocean. The couple’s two mothers named the boat “Anna Carolina” for this trip. After that, a new, larger ship was purchased for circumnavigation. So what do you pay attention to? Janneke: “You want a boat that doesn’t bounce, that glides very smoothly through the waves. Then a slightly heavier boat is useful. Our boat is made of steel. It’s easy to fix along the way. And if you hit something hard, like ice, so it doesn’t tear up.This boat was exactly right for how we wanted to do the trip, also because it’s equipped for two people.

There was no shower on board, but Janneke and Wietze have the motto “what you don’t have, can’t be broken”. It made many decisions easier and cheaper. “You have less to fix and therefore have more time to do fun things ashore.”

exciting times
Yet there have been many times when something broke on board. Like fried batteries. “It was one of the most exciting times,” says Janneke. “All electricity goes out. This means that certain devices no longer work. The autopilot, for example. Then you have to steer 24 hours a day.” Communication with the outside world was no longer possible at that time. “We were able to send one more message. Wietze sat by the drums with the fire extinguisher next to him to get another message to say: Guys, it’s over, we can’t communicate anymore. Return you in New Zealand in six days. . .

Wietze: “You have to assume that everything is going to break. But you can’t carry an unlimited number of spare parts with you. So I constantly invented what could break and made a top three of them. If you make sure you have your spares there, if you have the tools and equipment for this, you can go to sea with peace of mind.”

Help ashore
Without the Dutch on whom they could have relied, they would not have succeeded, adds Janneke. “You need to have people who understand what you’re doing and are ready to help you all the time. Bank cards that get lost in the mail, parts that need to be ordered. You need people on the ground for that. “

Wietze emphasizes that you have to prepare a trip like this very well, also financially. “We set a date when we wanted to go. And if you do it early enough, you can work on it and make a financial plan. We saved a lot. Everything was done so that we could do something else around 50.” .” In addition, the two earned money with the stories about their experiences which they wrote, among other things, for the magazine ‘Zeilen’.

Janneke and Wietze are now staying with their boat in Lelystad Haven. The next trip is already ahead of us. Wietze: “When we started this trip, we had an A4 with destinations. Now we have two A4s. Next year it will be the Lofoten archipelago near Norway. Next year it will probably be Greenland. And Japan is also on the list. It’s only getting bigger.”