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 ...
The A330 was chartered and it wasn’t Aussie SAR. 4700 nautical miles roundtrip is some kind of fuel expense. There is no factual basis whatsoever to comment on seamanship,as the Pacific is just that. So, yeah, she can run some sails, but she can’t run 30 foot seas in the southern Indian ocean in winter. And... her parents knew she was headed into these conditions. This was a foolish venture that was not well thought out. But then, who wouldn’t want to get out of CA for this summer? Beats cleaning the dockage at daddy’s yacht basin. It’s like tennis parents-really quite annoying.
That's right. These are the days of the Matrix. Do not take the blue pill. Do not disconnect your hoses. Remain in your cocoon and do your duty to the collective.
Well, look what they did to her for her beliefs. I have no problem with the quest, just the planning. And, Joan d’Arc planned a whole lot better.
I am not in the least offended. However, I am somewhat mystified as to how you arrived at the idea that the girl skippering Wild Eyes was a ‘Daddy’s Girl”.
As most teens are hardly known for obeying their fathers, I wondered if you had children. By extension that would include children you had extensive knowledge of, such as students.
TR who bravely went on on hunts with 60 bearers and an entourage... roughing it. I will give him his last escapade in S. America that nearly killed him. He was compensating for lifetime debilitating asthma. Another rich kid trying to prove something, with our money.
What utter nonsense. She's a child.
LOL...that was me..thanks for the prop. These haters on this thread must have loser kids and they can't stand to see someone else's 16 year old doing such an amazing thing. Most 16 year olds can't even look you in the eye and say "hey".....she's captaining a sailboat with complicated instruments, by herself, 40 hours from the nearest ship...amazing.
I happened to catch Geraldo telling the Friends the same story this morning...how HE already sailed around the world. Then when the topic changed to the oil spill he went on and on about how HIS MOTHER lives on the Gulf Coast and the dolphins swim by and it’s so beautiful and they had the burial for HIS FATHER right there in that water, blah, blah. It’s always about Geraldo.
LMAO!....you re a tightwad!
Good call.
Dude, she got burned at the stake at age 19...how was that planning a whole lot better.....LMAO...at least this kid is still alive....sometimes I wonder if folks even think before they post.
Thanks for your post. She seems to know what she’s doing. Her problems seem to be more from the delays from boat problems and missing better weather than her not being able to handle the trip. If it wasn’t for those delays, we’d all be marveling at such a plucky young girl’s solo trip instead of being in a righteous huff at her “idiot parents”.
You are running the risk of confusing the romantics here (Bravery! Daring! Adventure!) with the facts. They won’t like it nor do they care to be told about 30 foot seas and a 40 ft sailboat or hypothermia, etc. I want my children to have adventures, but nothing this stupid.
+1 for the sailing expedition.
In the greater context of things teenagers experience, this is not one situation that I frown upon.
If it were a young man, would the outcry be so paternalistic?
I have ancestors who were fighting wars, running businesses, and raising multiple children at the age of 16. So do you.
I think treating teenagers as helpless children until age 18 or beyond, and then seeing them wait until their 30s to get married and have their own kids, is contributory to much societal disorder and individual unhappiness.
I will grant you that. I wouldn't take an ocean liner to the Roaring 40s in winter, much less a solo sailboat.
But in general, those criticizing this girl and her parents are out of line in my opinion. We are all going to die anyway; best to suck the marrow out of life while we've got the chance.
But, but. You just don't like teh daddy funded grrl power.
U must be playing Xbox and living in mommy's basement.
And she's home skooled too!
LoL. Rich kids and their parents.
Is there anyone on this planet capable of enjoying their wealth and opportunities without inflicting their social pathologies on the rest of us and/or not asking us to bail them out when their schemes go awry?
Gawd, look for this bunch of clowns in a reality series soon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.