Wild Eyes dismasted in the Southern Indian Ocean Photo courtesy of Australian Search & Rescue
The roaring 40’s are what they are.
This is great news—I hadn’t heard that she had been found. Our prayers have been answered.
Maybe it’s just me, but she’s been sailing since January to do the around the world thing. She was well equipped and wanted to do it.
It sounds to me like the conditions she was in would probably have wrecked most boats, so hers must be a pretty sturdy one.
Her brother had already done it at the same age and there may have been some sibling rivalry as an incentive. Even so, I’m thinking - good for her. I wouldn’t have tried it, but I admire her for having the courage and the moxie to do so, and to continue on even when she knew she couldn’t get the record.
I’m guessing she’s gonna go places in her life.
"Sailing and life in general is dangerous. Teenagers drive cars. Does that mean teenagers shouldn't drive a car?" Laurence Sunderland told the AP. "I think people who hold that opinion have lost their zeal for life. They're living in a cotton-wool tunnel to make everything safe."
Recently there was a story about a boy who was put in foster care for about 2 years because his mother left him with his stepfather, who was not abusive (nor was the mother). The court considered him “abandoned.”
But these two can put their daughter in the middle of the ocean alone, and that’s ok.
She’s just carrying on the great European-American lust for exploration and adventure....I applaud her for her determination and fortitude. What an incredible 16 year old...she could have been doing crack in South LA instead....you go girl!
Oh, horse manure. I was brought up on sailing, and I was allowed to take chances. I haven’t sailed in the southern ocean, but I was allowed to go out and learn for myself how to get out of difficulties.
My uncle’s 50-foot sloop didn’t have safety rails, because it was his theory that people would be more careful if there was only a toe rail. That worked just fine.
I still do foredeck work in races, and I haven’t fallen overboard yet after 63 years at the helm or in the crew in all sorts of weather.
My cousin uses a sailboat to follow whales out at sea, and he’s been dismasted twice. It’s a nuisance, but it’s not really all that dangerous as long as the boat is sound and you know what you’re doing.
Obviously this young lady needed to be rescued, stuck in a dismasted boat many miles from anywhere, but it doesn’t sound as if she was in danger of dying. And she had the good sense to have a couple of radio beacons and make proper use of them.
People used to take chances in the old days, and I would guess that probably fewer of them were hurt back then than are damanged now by falling into drug use and other bad habits. You can’t live your whole life in a padded cell or a safety cage. Or at least I don’t think you should have to.
How many 16 yr olds killed while driving a car while she was sailing? Many
The Monkey Collective doesn’t want any children getting the idea that they can do things like this...
Send the parents the bill, then charge them with child abuse.
Those critical just want this young lady to amount to something, like junior who is down in the basement playing Wii and daydreaming about starting a really awesome grunge band.
+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?
There sure are a lot of whiners about this kid ... LOL ...