laura dekker 16 years old, Laura Dekker stepped off of her 38 foot sailboat on Saturday, ending a year long sail around the world. She was met by her parents, her grandparents and her sister and had dozens of cheering fans along the dock in St Maarten. The 16-year-old said that the last 41 days were the toughest as she fought through rough seas and heavy winds.

”There were moments where I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?,’ but I never wanted to stop,” she told reporters. “It’s a dream, and I wanted to do it.” Dekker beat out Jessica Watson by just a few months to be the youngest to make the trip around the world.

Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the trip, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. Dutch authorities tried to block Dekker’s trip, arguing she was too young to risk her life, while school officials complained she should be in a classroom.

But the 16-year-old, who was raised on a sailboat and sailed alone for the first time at 10 years-old made several stops on her tour of the globe. On the trip, she went surfing, scuba diving, cliff diving and learned a new instrument, the flute, which she said in her weblog was easier to play than a guitar in bad weather. Dekker also complained about custom clearings, boat inspections, ripped sails, heavy squalls, a wet and salty bed, a near-collision with two cargo ships and the presence of some persistent stowaways: cockroaches. “I became good friends with my boat,” she said. “I learned a lot about myself.”

I know this is an inspirational story, but I hope other young teenage girls don’t embark on this type of voyage. The Guinness people are right and one of these trips are going to end in the death of some young girl. For more on the story, check out the [NYPOST]