Posted on 06/12/2010 5:33:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Agree 100%.
Her rescue cost something on the order of $ 250,000 of other people's money. Should she repay them?
Bravo Abbey I say. She is a brave, motivated and well-spoken young lady. I wish our nation had many more like her. I have read her blog. I am very proud of her. The costs? Hell, I’ll chip in if need be.
To summarize the events...
Abby Sunbderland, 16, attempted to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. When Sunderland rounded Cape Horn on 31 March 2010 she was the youngest solo sailor ever to have done so.
For a brief time brother Zac Sunderland had been the first to complete a circumnavigation before turning 18 ( she apparently comes from a family of sailors ).
She initially set sail from Marina del Rey, California in her 40-foot boat Wild Eyes on January 23, 2010 but had to stop in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She restarted her circumnavigation on February 6, 2010, planning to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted, leaving from and returning to Cabo San Lucas, but autopilot problems then forced Sunderland to stop at Cape Town for repairs.
On June 10, 2010 while sailing in heavy seas and high winds in a remote area of the Indian Ocean, her sailboat was dismasted and she activated her two manual emergency EPIRB distress beacons, triggering a search and rescue effort. The following morning airborne searchers from Perth, Australia spotted her crippled boat and made radio contact with Sunderland, who said she was not injured.
Sunderland was rescued by a French commercial fishing boat on the afternoon of 12 June 2010, almost five and a half months after setting sail from Marina del Rey.
Hmmm,
I agree with Michael Savage?
This IS an odd turn of events.
Glad she is fine. These planes are set up to help rescue people stranded at sea, and they have a budget to do so. Having family and friends who fish and sail I tend to find it an acceptable cost.
Proof positive that women don’t belong in the high seas. They belong in the ... well never mind :) And men have to risk their lives to bring ‘em back to safety !
That's because their life expectancy in 1850 was 40 years old. The only thing they dreamed of was that their children survived infancy. 16 year olds now can expect to live to 77.7 and sail the world alone on someone elses dime. That's not progress.
RE: And men have to risk their lives to bring ‘em back to safety !
I was informed that there were Women on the Australian Coast Guard as well as on the French Commercial Ship that rescued Abby.
Are you actually equating fighting for your country with a selfish want to circumnavigate the world just so a kid can say "I DID IT!"?
She's no better off now. Sure she's’safe.’
But she now is on a ship filled with Frenchmen (notoriously smelly, the French) and it’s a fishing ship (notoriously smelly).
From what I have read about this, it wasn’t the fact that Abby tried this, it was the time of year. Winter on the high seas was the worst time. If she had waited for proper conditions, she would have had a much better chance. Most of the experts are not critisizing her efforts, only the timing. She should have waited for a few monthes.
Thats a shame. Too bad they couldn't save her boat. It must have cost a fortune, too.
I understand the points being made that she was too young and that she should not have been allowed to sail in that portion of the ocean at this time of year. However, she was an experienced sailor, from a family with considerable sailing experience and took many prudent precautions for this type of adventure. I think her age is immaterial.
No one hiccuped at all when Isabelle Autissier was sailing alone around the world and had to be rescued when her boat foundered. Then, like in this case, a rescue was initiated and was successful. This is just the way things are done.
My hat is off to both her and to those who were involved in her rescue. Speaking of Isabelle, she said the following:
Weeks after being rescued from the raging, frigid Southern seas for the second time in her larger-than-life career, Isabelle Autissier had this to say about racing around the world alone: “No more.… This has been my crazy job for 10 years. I had 10 wonderful years doing that, maybe the best years of my life—great adventures, great friends, great feelings. It has been a wonderful story for me. But now it’s time to do something else.”
How true. Alexander the Great commanded troops at 16. There were emperors of Rome who assumed power at 16 (unfortunately, one of them was Nero!). The British Navy in the 19th century had young boys serving as officers and enlisted. Many of them joined the Navy at 10 or 12 years of age.
You know- we think parents who let 16 year olds run around town without supervision are negligent. I certainly do! So this girl is in the OCEAN ALONE????
PLEASE- stay your butt out of the wilderness, the ocean and off of mountains on these ‘personal adventures’ that risk you life needlessly! And if you’re too stupid to, don’t scream for or expect rescue.
Underage kid going around the world alone on a boat needs rescue?
Parents need prosecution for negligence and endangering a minor.
One woman’s opinion.
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