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 ...
Generally, Guinness takes this upon themselves when they do this. Nobody forces them.
I must have missed the memo. How young do you have to be to sail solo around the world, and what are the rules for us old farts?
Leave this one alone.
Actually they sent someone who hadn't sailed for 2 weeks since she was 8 years old on this trip. She had one solo daysail on the boat before she left. (not even an overnighter). She was arguably the most ill-prepared sailor setting out on solo non-stop RTW since Chay Blyth in 1968.
I expected better from such a reasoned and experienced debater such as yourself.
It’s not that she is too old to try, it’s she is too old to get a record, so she won’t get the sponsorships.
>>expected better from such a reasoned and experienced debater such as yourself.<<
And I, you.
Very bad parenting. Also, very selfish.
Watch it.
Watch what?
“It won’t. Sailors don’t become rich.”
These kids just might. Apparently they have been taught to live their dreams with other peoples money...have you seen the list of sponsors? Also, as we discussed earlier, the mother said they could not afford to pay any amount for the rescue.
I saved another one of the mom’s comments somewhere regarding the cost of the Quantas rescue plane. She said that if they (the Aussies) don’t pay for it, they (the Aussies) should discuss it with the US government.
On the son’s website, he talks about spending a few months in South America riding a bike...also wants to climb Mt. Everest.
These kids don’t have jobs...someone else is paying for their adventures...and it’s not their parents.
>>I saved another one of the mom’s comments somewhere regarding the cost of the Quantas rescue plane. She said that if they (the Aussies) don’t pay for it, they (the Aussies) should discuss it with the US government.
On the son’s website, he talks about spending a few months in South America riding a bike...also wants to climb Mt. Everest.
These kids don’t have jobs...someone else is paying for their adventures...and it’s not their parents.<<
Great research, ty! Like I said, these are parents who don’t care about their kids but want them to do dangerous activities with no sense of responsibility (of the parents). This is clearly the same as the so-called “parents” who encourage their kids to go play on the freeway.
This isn’t just letting your kid(s) push the envelope of what they can do — this is total abdication of parental responsibility to assist children in understanding decision-making.
No but we may have had the same car. 1960 Rambler American with the push button trans that slipped and then grabbed. I drove this POS my sophmore year and then traded it in on a 59 MGA, which had the same problems as the Rambler, but at least it looked cool.
I’m not critical of Abby, but I am of her parents. They made bad decisions. They expected others to pay for Abby’s rescue. They were careless with her. She could have done the same thing with another boat (with adults in it) going along side her.
She is still a kid and they are responsible for her.
By the way, I spend way more time with my kids than my parents ever did with me. My mom worked (or played tennis). My dad worked or hunted or fished. I’m a stay at home mom, and I do a lot with my kids.
This isn’t a good example of parents resisting the Nanny State which has made most of us afraid to take chances. Rather, it’s an example of how little Laurence and Marianne Sunderland valued the life of their very own daughter. Evidently, that life was worth trading for a shot at being on television.
That’s my take as well....I don’t like it when fools seek the limelight at the expense of their childrens safety which is what this was about from the get go. Just another set of looser parents.
And the photos posted of kids snacking out etc. are in no wise a comparison and little to do with the issues at hand concerning this staged performance....badly done and poorly executed from the get go.
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