Maidentrip

I actually watched this reluctantly because someone wanted to see it, and ended up loving it. Not for the plot - there really is no plot (documentaries do that at times) except for her voyage, and the events leading up to it. To me it was just amazing that a young girl could do such an adventure alone, while others of her age were much more worried about how many followers they had on Twitter.

Much of the photography sucks (not like a cell phone is a real professional camera) - but that also adds to the feeling of realism, and pushes home the fact that there were no followers, no camera crews around - she was totally on her own. Unlike so many of the pseudo-documentaries this one is not filled with fake drama.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As others have mentioned this movie is about the maturing of a young teenager into a young woman through her sailing journey. What I've enjoyed most about this film is the genuine aspect of her journey, she wasn't handed a million dollar sailing yacht with enough tech to sail itself around the world. Laura and her father picked up a relatively inexpensive and broken down boat and fixed it up themselves. At her launch there was only a handful of people seeing her off and her own mother didn't make it. There was no huge fanfare and you had the feeling that the general public never thought she would make it. Laura didn't have a camera crew or support boats following her around. The at sea filming was done by herself and very insightful as to what was going through her head at various stages of the journey.

This film is a coming of age film and challenges us to rethink what is possible when we set our minds to a particular task.

I've watched the Abby Sunderland and just couldn't compare the two. This film was inspiring as it was a great story.

Are we to believe she sailed around the world, without a support team? Why are there no news articles around January 2012? Why does she always have clean hair in her videos? I am sorry, but something is not quite right. David Blaine street magician can live under water for 100 days without oxygen, and make the Statue of Liberty disappear...

Served as crew member for ten days on the tall ship Stad Amsterdam, departing from St. Maarten on 5 January 2011. Departed Sint Maarten on 20 January; visited the islands of Îles des Saintes, Dominica, Bonaire and San Blas Islands, all located in the Caribbean.

Flew home on 27 February; stayed to 10 March to speak at a boat show and other places, now a figure of considerable media attention in the Netherlands.

Completed the passage of the Panama Canal on 11 April 2011;[59] visited Pearl Islands thereafter.

Maidentrip is the story of a 14-16 year old girl who wants to sail around the world alone.

As anyone who has spent time sailing alone, that is an extremely powerful premise on itself. The film maker made a brilliant decision to focus on this premise and not go to deeply into the other interesting aspects such as the mechanics of sailing or the adventures ashore. This film focuses on the type of person who wants to tackle the oceans alone as while as the freedom, loneliness and adventure of such a trip.

Where this film really shines is that to shows instead of telling. It has scenes of her finding great comfort in the company of dolphins instead of scenes of her crying or complaining. It has scenes of her silently embracing the beauty of the exotic islands she visits instead of a tourists itinerary of her shore visits. Laura is also great on camera, showing her strength, vulnerabilities and quirky teenage personality without resorting to drama or shock value.

And then the last scene... This is what made me rate this movie a 10. After completing here around the world voyage she leaves the Caribbean to head for New Zealand. In the voice over she talks about how she found a crewmate to share this new voyage with and how if she doesn't like New Zealand she will just push off for another port. It starts as a close up on "Guppy" sailing confidently under full sail and pans out until the boat is but a small spec on the giant ocean. That scene really captured the power of a young girl determined to chart her own course in life.

I'm with the guy that says something isn't right . . . . It doesn't add up; and quite frankly, I found the film too effervescent. I think there's something fishy going on, and just meeting people on an island, making friends with a weird couple. Nah. It smells rigged (pun). She's arrogant, and yes, spoiled or something akin to it. I found her annoying. Was glad to see her sailing off into the sunset. Good riddance, Brat!