How many times did he see winds greater than 40 knots I wonder? Actually I wonder if the grumblers and naybobbers know? They know all about Abbey, though, so as to beat up on the wee lass.
Posted on 06/17/2010 7:18:48 PM PDT by GatorGirl
I don't know Abby Sunderland as well as those close to her, but I think I know her better than other reporters and columnists know her.
I've interviewed the Thousand Oaks teenager several times, and before she set out to chase a dream and try to circle the planet on a 40-foot yacht, I sailed with her through the night aboard that yacht, Wild Eyes, which by now probably rests at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Same goes for Abby's older brother, Zac. While working for the Los Angeles Times, I followed his 13-month around-the-world odyssey from the beginning, providing frequent blog posts and newspaper updates.
And yes, I've met the parents, and the brothers and sisters. I never became close to the family; my interactions were all during story assignments. But I gained some insight that other reporters and columnists do not have as they digest and regurgitate information regarding Abby's recent rescue, after Wild Eyes was slammed in heavy seas between Africa and Australia.
Thus, because Abby and her family have become such a curiosity and so glaring a target, here are a few observations, quotes and anecdotes that might provide a better understanding of Abby, 16, and the sailing Sunderlands:
(Excerpt) Read more at petethomasoutdoors.com ...
How many times did he see winds greater than 40 knots I wonder? Actually I wonder if the grumblers and naybobbers know? They know all about Abbey, though, so as to beat up on the wee lass.
What point are you trying to made?
He isn't. He's posting nonsensical stuff so that we'll go away and quit stating facts.
Thesis: In our times honest endeavor and honorable courage are mocked by the wicked.
It isn’t wicked to point out that a child embarked on a dangerous trip with little training and was ill prepared. It is wicked to coverup such a thing.
Do you agree or disagree with my thesis as stated?
Neither. It would depend on the application, wouldn’t it. You can take a single Bible verse and misuse it.
There is filth on the floor and it must be scraped up with the muck-rake; and there are times and places where this service is the most needed of all the services that can be performed. But the man who never does anything else, who never thinks or speaks or writes, save of his feats with the muck-rake, speedily becomes, not a help to society, not an incitement to good, but one of the most potent forces for evil.
The Ozzie girl is being force fed hubris fro what I gather per your postings.
You idolize Abby . Watson can't be a better sailor. You won't accept that. So you attack Watson for her achievement and protect Abby from her failure. Now what do you think of your "thesis"? It works both ways, doesn't it.
Now. I want you to keep in mind that this is a discussion forum where people give their opinions. That doesn't make them evil if they disagree with you. That doesn't make them muckrakers. But you are desperate to silence other posters with which you disagree. Even if you have to use veiled insults. And I find that sad.
Then during the course of the article he says: "It might have been a blessing that Wild Eyes was rolled and lost its mast, because the storms Abby was sure to encounter as she sailed closer to Australia could have been deadly.
I'm confused......
My criticism of this parent approved folly is precisely directed at the ultimate failure of the craft rather than the sailing skill of the child. Hell, anyone can sail around the world with the electronics that were installed on this girl's boat but you are still at the mercy of the weather conditions and the hope that the boat can withstand them........
The boat failed but fortunately the electronics saved her parents from losing a child.
IMO, Abby is a winner.
Me too, she sailed most of the way around the world. She must know a thing or two about sailing.
Seen it done many times. More impressive is to see one sail up to a mooring ball.
“Seen it done many times. More impressive is to see one sail up to a mooring ball.”
Well goody for you. Now sail one around the world.
Yeah. You get a huge kelp ball wrapped around a wing keel and the prop wont even move the boat. Not to mention it's near impossible to control even if there's enough wind to sail her in.
Of course it’s a problem. But you don’t let it get so bad that it disables the boat. Any sailor worth his/her salt knows how to clear kelp.
If she didn’t she had no business sailing around the world. There’s plenty of kelp in those big bad oceans!
Don’t know what other issues there were. But it was night, most likely a fair piece off shore. Not the best place to go over the side to do underwater maintenance.
So she either had to head in and find a decent anchorage of the coast of Baja Mexico, or continue. I think she made the right choice.
Larry was in command.
Missed that. Thanks. Then I guess he made the right choice.
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