Posted on 06/11/2010 6:01:21 PM PDT by NoLibZone
What were her parents thinking? Many people were asking that question as a 16-year-old girl sat adrift and alone in the frigid southern Indian Ocean, her ship's mast dashed along with her around-the-world sailing effort.
Abby Sunderland's ship was rolling in 20- to 30-foot waves as she waited to be rescued by a boat that was expected to arrive early Saturday morning Pacific time.
She set off a distress signal Thursday after rough seas disabled her ship and her satellite phone reception. There were 20 hours of tense silence before a search plane launched from Australia's west coast made brief radio contact with Sunderland and found her alive and well Friday morning.
"The aircraft (crew) spoke to her. They told her help was on the way and she sounds like she's in good health," said Mick Kinley, acting chief of the Australia Maritime Safety Authority, which chartered a commercial jet for the search.
"She's going to hang in there until a vessel can get to her," Kinley told reporters in Canberra.
Many people criticized Sunderland's parents for allowing the high-risk adventure, one of several by young people looking to make the record books. Some veteran sailors said it's all but irresponsible to send a teenager off alone in a small boat, knowing it will be tossed about like a toy for 30 or more hours at a time by the giant waves that rake the Southern Hemisphere's oceans this time of year.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
You know that was in humor. We are all FRiends here. It was actually an adaptation of a line from an Eddie Murphey movie.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2532960/posts?q=1&;page=101
Could not be explained any better.
Well said.
LOL. That was your comment, huh? That’s what I get for not going back to look. Anyway, still well said!
pansy whiners
&&
Yes, I suppose.
-The taxpayers of Australia and US.
-Private investors, aka sponsors.
-Insurance underwriters (if any).
Ergo, Other Peoples' Money. And I just love the Public Rescue option for failure. Like modern investment banking. However, if it'd succeeded who'd you think get to keep the profits. Like investment bankers -it's their bling. Only suckers, aka Investors and Taxpayers, pay for failure.
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