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In 2016, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Nursing alumna Jenny Decker, ’06, made history as the first female and first solo kayaker to circumnavigate the Big Island in Hawaii. Now, Decker has her horizons set on solo circumnavigating the globe. This is her third attempt at doing so, after a number of setbacks and the Covid pandemic deterred her previous efforts. Decker knows how to handle setbacks though; she’s an intensive care traveling nurse with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a hereditary neurological disorder for which there is no cure.

“Almost 10 years of my nursing career has been in Hawaii,” Decker said, who spends most of her time-off working extra shifts and temporary jobs to fundraise her mission. “I learned I am more graceful in the water, and I feel stronger in the water. You may not be good in certain aspects of your life but that doesn’t mean you can’t find what makes you feel strong and confident in yourself. I am not that graceful in the boat, but I understand the ocean so much that I feel at home and strong in her.”

Decker hopes to raise awareness for CMT during her voyage. The progression of her disease is more aggressive than that of her mother’s, and Decker has accepted that at some point in the future she will require the use of a wheelchair. When she was four, Shriner’s hospital in St. Louis performed a surgical procedure that she credits for her ability to walk.

“The basis of the trip is to inspire people that you can do anything you put your mind to, especially people with physical limitations,” Decker said.

Decker explains CMT as if she’s racing against a clock that she doesn’t know when will stop. Her lust for adventure faced challenges when her attempts at beginning the journey in 2019 was foiled by delays. Fortunately, she wasn’t alone. Decker befriended and was mentored by ‘Single Handed Sailor’, Dustin Reynolds, the Guinness World Record holder for being the first double amputee to sail around the world alone.

“I bought a boat in 2019, and checked into the Bahamas two days before the whole world shut down,” said Decker. “I was stranded. Eventually after a few months, I came back to the U.S. and started working Covid ICU assignments. I was like, I guess I'll try again later. I left again in 2021, had a malfunction on a Chain Plate, and lost the mast solo in the Atlantic. No rescue available. I had to get the boat to a safe place. It ended up being totaled.”

Advice from her friend Reynolds redirected her to the starting point for her record-breaking sail.

“Dustin and I had been in contact because we were both solo sailing. He said he was going to finish in December. ‘You wanted to start in Hawaii, you just couldn't find a boat! Why don't you just come back to Hawaii? When I finish, buy my boat! I'll show you everything about the boat, we'll refit it together and then you can leave from Hawaii like you wanted to.’ So that's how that happened.”

The beginning didn’t end there. Before Decker went to embark, again, she wanted to upgrade the boat engine. Unfortunately, a disingenuous salesperson scammed her.

“I basically cashed out a retirement fund. A guy sold me a spray-painted refurbished engine and it wouldn’t run longer than 20 minutes. It delayed me leaving for a year. Everyone’s like ‘just wait another cyclone season before you leave!’ I can’t. I don’t know my physical timeline. It’s an internal stop clock, I don’t know when I’ll still be able to do this. I thought it was over.”

Decker started to process her situation like the stages of grief, an acute observation for the seasoned nurse.

“Everything you set in life is not going to go the way you planned it. That's also part of a good adventure when everything goes wrong, and everything went wrong! In the stage of grief, I reached anger. I got mad, and then I got motivated.”

Her motivation caught the attention of Yanmar, a provider of high-performing marine engines. Yanmar was moved by her ambition, and installed a brand-new engine for Decker’s boat.

“Mechanics came and worked until midnight getting the engine in. The Hawaii Yacht Club did a benefit for me. The haul-out people gave me a discount. It made me realize that more people are involved in this story than just me and what I’m trying to do.”

And what Decker is trying to do extends beyond raising awareness for CMT and people with disabilities. Her calling as a nurse followed her into the ocean. As part of the circumnavigation, she volunteers with a group of like-minded individuals who provide disaster relief. For instance, when a cyclone strikes, Decker’s group responds with their vessels.

“I’ve shown up in countries and atolls where people in remote villages don’t have things like electricity, spreading education of medical care. I am the only medical professional around to provide care to another cruiser. I've used a lot of my medical supplies six months into my journey already.”

Decker’s boat may be a small vessel, but it’s morphing into a buoyant hospital. It’s equipped with a desalinator, which turns ocean water into drinking water. Earlier this week, the Ocean Cruisers Club announced Decker as the winner of a Challenge Grant worth 5000 euros. She hopes to purchase an AED and upgrade her medical supplies.

As most boat owners are keenly aware, operating a boat requires a tremendous amount of maintenance. Decker’s vessel is no exception.

“If something's broken on the bottom of the boat and I have to scuba dive, I have to go. No one's there. So I have to do a lot of things alone.  I’m the constant electrician, plumber, diesel mechanic, rigger, and I have to be completely self-sufficient— and a nurse.” Decker said.

She credits the educational training she received at SIUE to guide her through new territory. When she finishes her trip she hopes to concentrate on motivational speaking.

“My nursing career has led me into so many beautiful things. I had 100% support from SIUE to make me a successful graduate, nurse and adult. Eighteen years an ICU nurse now, travel nurse for 10 of it, traveled the world and now I'm providing care to remote villages on my vessel. I got accepted into an ICU internship within six months of graduating. I love talking to nursing students because there’s a point of despair during your school here like, ‘am I going to make it?’ Especially when you move off campus and you’re trying to pay rent and balance a job with a hard curriculum. I want to motivate students to go above and beyond what they think they can do.”

Jenny’s social media handle is “ Just A Lap,” which started out as a simple playlist title, but has grown to a personal ethos with her circumnavigation attempt.

“Less than 400 people have solo-sailed around the world and I will be one of one to have done this with this disease,” Decker confidently stated.

Jenny officially departed in June of 2023, and she has accumulated over 3,200 miles under the keel in the South Pacific. She heads to the Indian Ocean next. SIUE will be excited to welcome Jenny Decker back when she returns from her lap. Her boat, “Tiama,” translates to “freedom” in Marquesan. It’s a fitting name for a vessel piloted by someone with CMT and nurtured with an education from SIUE.

PHOTOS

First: Jenny Decker

Second: Jenny Decker's Boat,"Tiama"

Third:  SIUE School of Nursing faculty and staff with Jenny Decker. Rebecca Luebbert, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, professor; Judy Liesveld, PhD, PPCNP-BC, CNE, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing and professor; Jenny Decker,  Partricia McDonald, senior director of development, Jerrica Ampadu, PhD, RN, CCP, associate professor, and director of the SIUE SON’s WE CARE Clinic in East St. Louis; Angela Andrews, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, assistant professor and coordinator of undergraduate programs in the School of Nursing.