Posted on 06/17/2010 5:27:33 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was first adopted in 1914 in response to the Titanic disaster. Along with mandating the number of lifeboats and the notification of a ship's routes, it also dictates that any ship in the area of a distress call will divert to assist that ship.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
There is a reason even professionally crewed, fully sponsored raceboats don't do the Southern Ocean in winter, it's the known frequency of gales, storms, and fatally dangerous waves. It's the same reason even professional mountain climbers don't do Everest or K2 in winter.
But Abbey's media-whore parents knew their grab for glory would expire when Abbey aged-out of her “youngest ever” record attempt. That's why the website splashed across her mainsail was “Abbey16.com”
Shameless media whores, who threw their gung-ho but foolish and unprepared daughter's life onto the craps table, do or die, in a grab for fame and money at any cost.
Yes, I believe it was the California which sat off of the Titanic and refused to acknowledge radio signals or respond to the distress flares fired by the Titanic. I have never read any where that the ship’s master had a plausible excuse for not going to the Titanic’s aid.
“They don’t understand that I’ve sailed my whole life and I do know what I’m doing out there.”
She is full of it. I’ll give her plenty of leeway because she’s 16, but she’s still full of it.
First: the winter crossing of the Southern Ocean was INSANE. Professionally crewed, multi-million dollar fully-sponsored raceboats don’t do it in winter, for the same reason mountain climbers don’t try Everest in January. So right there, “I know what I’m doing” rings the BS bell. She was out there in winter for one reason only: her age. Her website is Abby16.com for a reason. Next summer, she won’t win the prize for youngest. So her father decided to throw her life onto the craps table to exploit her for an age-record try.
Second: She didn’t have a wind vane. Two electrical autopilots only mean that if your power goes out (and it will!) you will only have two dead autopilots. A 40’ ocean sailor should, must also have a Monitor or Sailomat or similar quality wind vane self steerer. My Sailomat has steered my much bigger and heavier 48’ steel boat across oceans week after week, with no need for electricity. In the event Abby loses power, she loses auto-steering, and NO solo sailor can hand-steer a 40’er in the Southern Ocean for more than a half day. After that, fatigue takes you down, and you broach and roll and dismast. Which may have been the sequence of events.
Third: She didn’t cut away her rig, which is Voyaging 101, to prevent the rig from holing and sinking the yacht. After ditching the rig, the standard EXPECTED procedure of REAL SAILORS EVERYWHERE is to erect a jury rig and sail downwind to a safe port. In her case, Western Australia. Not to just push the EPIRB and scream to the world, “Mommy! I can’t hack it! I’m not a real sailor! Come and save me, because I can’t do it!”
Well, I couldn’t do that as she’s just a kid. Which has been my objection all along. A kid, doing something dangerous and not just foolhardy.
I think you’re right. I think that I read the radio operator was asleep. Which never answered why they didn’t respond to flares.
I put all of the blame on her money-grubbing publicity-whore parents, who threw her life on the craps table only because she was still young enough to win “youngest ever.”
It wasn’t about the sailing, it was about her age. Her parents are greedy whores. Abbey was just a poker chip to them.
Evidently ‘humanitarian’ is a dirty word to far too many folks.
For shame.
And Amelia Earhart and Fossett, just teens when they were lost in the air. How dare they cause all this alarm and expense for the searches.
Teens ought to be home playing their video games.
I agree that she didn’t belong out there. I also read on a sailing forum that she only piloted Wild Eyes for a few hours in good weather before leaving. The sailors said that’s not enough time to become familiar with the yacht.
The Carpathia saw the lights of the Titanic and her flares, but did not take that as distress sign. The Carpathia had stopped her engines and remained a drift for the night, out of fear of the reports of icebergs. They assumed the distant still lights were the lights of another ship that had made the same decision. They did not have a wireless watch during the night while still. Their decision was neither callous nor necessarily reprehensible.
In the case of Ms. Sunderland, she seems to have taken truly irresponsible risks and had neither the maturity nor experience to weigh risks and costs she was assuming, and not incidently exposing others to, including potential rescuers.
There's been just amazing and amazingly hostile posts made online towards people who are disgusted with Mr. and Mrs. Sunderland.
Abby is a little girl, all of 16 years old who was raised by weirdos, so isn't really accountable for strange blog entries, ya know?
She couldn’t even make it past Cabo before her autopilot burned out, and she had to make port and her dad installed two more.
See above about the criminal negligence of not also installing a quality windvane (Monitor or Sailomat) on a 40’er heading for the Southern Ocean.
I remember hearing about the Carpathia too. And wasn’t there an unidentified ship that never came to help?
Exactly. I don’t blame Abbey or bear ill-will toward her. It was her fame-crazed parents.
What they did was put her on roller skates and send her over the lip of the Grand Canyon to set a “record.”
If she lives, Great! If she dies, well, what a spirit of adventure!
Either way, it’ll make a great TV movie, where do we cash the check?
I read that. I don't sail but have read a sailing forum and freepers posts that sail. Most say it was very foolish.
Gee, with all the Abbey naysayers you’d think she’d have been only able to sail a mile or two before stupidity and cupidity overtook her.
Reality differs! Abbey sailed competently and solo for six months, and at least halfway around the world. In other words she was a very good sailor in a very good boat.
TOO MANY NAYSAYERS!
If you put two electric autopilots on a sailboat, and one burns out due to being overworked in big waves/wind, then when you replace it number two will burn out just as fast. Plus, if you lose electrical power (they eat a LOT of juice!) then you have no steering, even if you have ten spare electrical autopilots.
A good windvane will work for weeks and weeks with no draw of electrical current. And the more wind, the better they work. My Sailomat works from gales to drifters, on flat water and in big waves. And my 48’ steel boat weighs triple what Wild Eyes weighs.
True. But a lot has changed since 1914.
Back then Travel by ship was the only means of crossing any large body of water (Sea or Ocean). And in 1914 the 'wireless' was just invented. Another reason that the Titanic didn't get more help sooner.
But back to 'today'. On an episode of NCIS a US Aircraft Carrier was diverted to aide some person whose sailboat was in danger of sinking. Now that was made up for the story line, but if the case arose for real, that would happen.
However, a US Carrier doesn't travel alone. It has a whole fleet (Battle Group) of support vessels wherever it goes, that's hundreds of millions to save some dolt who was trying to stroke his ego.
To paraphrase Dorothy, 'Toto, we aren't in 1914 anymore.'
(Just look back at the money 'we spent' searching for JFK Jr)
ps: This goes for all the egotistic fools: Mountain Climbers, Yuppies who get lost in the Forest while hiking, etc, etc, etc.
“distress flares fired by the Titanic”
didnt the Captain of that other ship claim that the flares were only fireworks while the First Officer wanted to investigate? thought i read that
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