Posted on 06/27/2010 8:02:21 PM PDT by LibWhacker
SAINT-DENIS, Reunion -- Sixteen-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland is homeward bound - though her plane flight back to California isn't the homecoming she originally imagined when she set off in hopes of sailing around the world.
About two weeks after her rescue at sea, Sunderland departed Sunday from the French island of Reunion, off the southeastern coast of Africa, en route to France, then on to California.
(Excerpt) Read more at fwix.com ...
The aerial recon that found her reported that the vessel was disabled due to a broken mast.
Where did I say her ship wasn't dismasted???? I even gave you a reason the mast had been weakened in post 137.
Where did you address the failures due to a hasty departure listed in post 137 and 139?
I'm taking a nap. See you later.
You have no idea where this happened.
Port-aux-Français. No great shipping facilities. There are a couple of coastal lighters, they don't go offshore
I’m sure that you’re well aware that I meant in the Indian ocean in general, not that specific coordinate.
Why spread confusion?
A disabled GPS receiver does not prevent one from sailing onward, but a loss of the mainsail definitely does, especially when you have far to go to correct your dead reckoning position.
None of the failures other than the mast prevented continuing the triup. The rest is whinning, sniffling, and smoke.
Where are these people you speak of: Patagonia? The Falklands? New Zealand? Those are the only inhabited regions as far south as Abby was.
Patagonia? The Antarctic ocean.
The Faulklands? The south Atlantic.
New Zealind? The extreme south Pacific.
Why are you trying to spread confusion?
She was in waters too severe for her boat and her ability. Why?
On the larger decision, are they involed in their children's lives, they made no bad decision. Better to be involved and make a couple mistakes than to make the mistake of not being involved at all. On the larger scheme of things, you could not be more wrong in your criticism.
They expected others to pay for Abby’s rescue.
This is also an absurd premise. We have search and rescue all the time. When a sailboat race went very bad south of Australia, the Australian search and rescue were there. Search and rescue is there in lots of intances. They are there when you get into trouble.
Get over it. She tried something pretty daring. It might not have been the wisest thing but you won't even temper you comments with the slightest recognition that Abby's parents are a heck of a lot better than those that barely give their kids the time of day - which seems to be a lot of them these days.
Abby's parent's approach is the solution, NOT the problem. Is this FR I am on?! I'm shocked at the attitudes on here.
“Why?”
You want speculation?
It was necessary to complete the circumnavigation of the planet. The trip was started at the wrong time of the year for a light vessel, but it still could have been completed. Others have survived worse conditions; perhaps she was not as well suited to sailing as she thought she was. The fact that she got dismasted indicates a general lack of caution in inclement conditions. (been there, done that in various ways)
You can look at the sponsors here.
This is no different than someone putting together a marathon or Iron Man racing event, and getting sponsors to help cover the costs in return for advertising.
That would only count if you sent her on her own to fend for herself upon landing........
I guess you're not a parent, or you don't have much experience flying. Something might have happened to detain my sister in-law, or the plane might have been force to divert to an alternate. To be sure the airline would have helped her in either case, but you need to know that the kid has the sense to do what is right amidst unforeseen circumstances.
In my own case, I took a bus tour of Chicago which picked me up at my hotel (The Drake) when I was 11 years old. I had arrived with my father, who was there on business, only the day before. I had never been to Chicago before this. Well, the tour bus didn't go back to The Drake. The end of the line was the Statler. I think. (It was near the Prudential Building, reasonably far from The Drake.) I figured out what to do (in 1961, before cell phones).
ML/NJ
My 17-year old daughter went to USAF basic training without parental supervision. Do you suppose I should have gone there to monitor her fatigue level, nutritional status, remind her to hydrate properly and make certain no one yelled at her or made her cry?
Jeez, if the kid can navigate on the open ocean, surely she can get around in a modern airport.
Jeez, the sarcasm of playing off the “a 16 year old has no bidness on a sailboat in that part of the world” whiners from the original threads must have worn out.
This is about parents who exploited their daughter in hopes of financial gain, failed to provide in case of mishap, and executed this plan carelessly.
I recognize that to be your opinion, but the evidence is missing.
The route that took her through the storms that dismasted the boat was chosen to avoid the hazards of piracy in the Red sea area. Had she taken that route and been captured by pirates, you would likely have declared that she should have sailed around the horn.
It did in Abby's case. Twice. And after being dismasted, she didn't cut the rigging or secure it. And she left foot traps on her deck. There were links to pics on Sailing Anarchy.
Had they waited 8 months she might have made it. She wasn't ready and neither was the yacht.
It isn’t just about the route, or the boat or that which you attempt to defend in this matter. It’s the entire execution of their plan, timing and all which surrounds it from what they hoped to gain. I need not list these, they have been so many times over on several threads. The bottom line is no matter what is used to justify the decisions in this the parents were careless to say the very least...and more so at the risk of their daughter.
The Red Sea/Gulf of Aden is 10°N. Pirates mainly frequent from there to the Equator. Some attacks in the open ocean down to 10°S. a mere handful in the Mozambique channel down to 15°S. None below.
She was at freakin 41°S! Why way down there instead of the 30-35°S previous teen sailors crossed the Indian? The only reason was Time(and the magazine too). If she was to get famous by becoming the unrecognised "youngest RTW sailor" holder, she had to make Marina Del Ray in 18 weeks - 12000nm.
And she's not a good sailor: without strong winds astern, she can barely make 100nm/day. And most of the rest of the voyage she won't even do that in the Pacific against prevailing head winds - her boat doesn't do head winds at all.
The only hope of Team Sunderland was to put her down in the roaring forties in winter and pray her boat didn't break. They went All In on the boat and her life.
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