Posted on 06/10/2010 11:11:42 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Abby Sunderland, 16, who is attempting to become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe, was feared lost at sea today after her crew lost contact with her boat.
Jeff Casher, an engineer on Sunderland's support team, said two emergency beacons on her boat are now signaling she is in trouble.
Abby's mother, MaryAnne Sunderland, told ABC News that Abby manually activated two beacons around 6 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday.
A beacon designed to automatically go off when it contacts water had not been activated, she said.
Abby was in 20-25 foot waves at the time of last contact, with 35-knot winds, said MaryAnne Sunderland, who is due to give birth at the end of the month. She was shaken but focused on trying to get a rescue effort together.
The closest land to Abby's boat was Reunion Island, which is east of Madagascar. The nearest ship was 400 miles away. Rescuers were trying to contact the ship.
Casher told ABC News that he last spoke with the 16-year-old sailor around 6 a.m. PDT after she had been knocked down twice during the night because of strong winds -- meaning that her sail had touched the water.
One of those knock-downs, Casher said, ripped the radar off the boat. She had been speaking with Casher on a satellite telephone earlier because of engine problems and was in the process of fixing those problems when she told Casher she'd call right back.
She has not been heard from since, except for the distress signals.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
“She’s only 16! Years my left foot!”
She’s been sailing since she was 3. That’s 13 years of preparation.
“Why allow a child to do something so dangerous?”
Because it was there.
“She’s just a KID.”
She’s not an infant and nor is she 5. She’s 16. Big difference.
“Her age is what makes this outrageous. If an adult wants to do something like this, great. But a child? YOU pointed out that 16 year olds driving is dangerous.”
I pointed out that 16 year olds quite successfully learn to drive, and are expected to do so as a rite of adulthood.
Denying a young person from undertaking their own rite is contrary to what we as a society should believe. Imagine if we had challenging rites for adolescents so that they could be men afterwards? Perhaps many of the immature behaviours will pass away.
So send one out on the ocean? ALONE? Yeah. There’s sense.
They all started somewhere. Abby got an earlier start. Could be that she will do even greater things, with the knowledge she gleans from this. We won't know for some time.
But people like you aren't willing to let someone even take a chance.
And that isn't forgivable.
Unimpressive post. Come back when you have an argument that actually means anything.
And what comfort does it bring a 46-year-old, or a 96-year-old?
The reason our society is losing is because nobody is willing to die for anything at all at 16 or 66, certainly not for their country, and not for our traditions. Here’s a kid willing to die for a cause that is noble, albeit imperfect. Do I think she’s noble? Yes. Do I think the parents should have made her wait? Probably.
But don’t you dare criticize her nobility on account of her age. What have YOU done with your life?
Would you send a 16 year old girl to walk from one side of detroit through downtown for a week, from 10pm to 6am each day back and forth if they really wanted to?
Soloing the southern oceans in wintertime is not comparable to learning to drive a car. You have no appreciation of the dangers of the oceans. It loses its romanticism after watching someone go down with a ship’s rigging or having a friend drown.
Apparently America has losts its way when we stop sending 16 year old girls to their deaths for some on here. It’s an amazing thing to see. I’ve seen weirdos on here on other topics I won’t mention, but this pretty much takes the cake.
They put her in a sailboat, alone, at 3?
Because it was there.
Excellent reason to allow a child to court death! Because they CAN! /s
She’s not an infant and nor is she 5. She’s 16. Big difference.
A 16 year olds judgment sux and you know it.
I pointed out that 16 year olds quite successfully learn to drive, and are expected to do so as a rite of adulthood.
They are some of the most irresponsible drivers around.
Beginning Teenage Drivers - NHTSA PDF
The problem is worst among 16-year-olds, who have the most limited driving experience and an immaturity that often results in risk-taking behind the wheel. The characteristics of 16-year-olds’ fatal crashes shed light on the problem:
Percentage of fatal crashes by characteristic, 2004
Driver Age: 16 Driver error 78%
17-19 69%
20-49 55%
Go to the link for more. 16 year olds are the worst drivers. Sending one out ALONE on an ocean is courting disaster.
The choke points around the Horn of Africa, and the Malacca Straits are the most dangerous, as well as the Northeastern coasts of South America, and the coastal waters of Nigeria and Viet Nam.
So you have a choice. Stay warm and risk Jack Sparrow with an RPG, or stay way south, in the Roaring Forties, and freeze.
O God, Who brought our fathers through the Red Sea and carried them safely through the deep as they sang praises of Thy name, we humbly beseech Thee to guard Thy servants aboard ship, and having repelled all adversities, bring them to the desired port after a calm voyage. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Amen.
Yup. When she was too young to have good judgment. YOU missed the point. She isn't a groundbreaker. There's no record to set. And records are SO worth a kid's life. /s
I don't believe in sheltering our children, but I do think we should do our darnest to keep them out of harms way...not push them toward it.
JMHO
Some on here seem to think that not only should women be on the front lines of combat, but perhaps that’d only be happy if they were all 15-18 year old girls.
Some of the stuff on here is really, really disturbing. 4chan /b/ level.
Times have changed but I have pictures of wagon train drivers as young as six at the turn of the century. Shouldn’t a persons life experience dictate what they can handle instead of the socialist order as a whole?
They had to know going without a safety boat within short range meant likely death. I’d say certain death frankly.
So, again I ask, you are in favour of waiting until when? They are 21 for them to drive? You have plenty of company.
16 year olds have generally been behind the wheel for less than a year, and so lack experience. She has been handling boats by herself for three years, and helping handle boats for a decade. Your argument is invalid.
This girl, in your eyes, is incompetent because she is 16. She also has been out at sea alone for 5 months, and not managed to kill herself. I doubt you could do that, no matter what age you may be. Green eyes much?
You aren't really comparing a little chick in an expensive sailboat on a whim to combat Vets that freed the world are you?
THEY know what they are getting into. This kid doesn't really know what life is let alone death. Older people don't court death as the young do because they "get" mortality. The young think they are impervious.
The reason our society is losing is because nobody is willing to die for anything at all at 16 or 66
Navigating the earth in a boat has been done before. It's not worth a young life. It does nothing for society except rob it of a young person.
Here’s a kid willing to die for a cause that is noble, albeit imperfect.
What's noble about a child dying alone in the ocean?! I can't think of a more useless death.
What have YOU done with your life?
That's out of line. This is an opinion forum. Are you saying that unless I have outdone a child in what you consider an accomplishment, my opinion is invalid? Rather over the top, don't you think. Have I attacked you?
Bravo Sierra. You don’t know the first thing about this girl, and you are merely overlaying your own fears and shortcomings upon her. She is trying to do something you wouldn’t dream of. So get off your high horse. You haven’t earned it.
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