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Oh so now the USA is NOT the land of the free! No one should be ALLOWED to sail by themselves?????
What's next ??
restrictions on WHO can sail and when and what size boat they have?
And hey, maybe Americans should just quit VOLUNTARILY sailing because it cost the whining taxpayers money to rescue them.
And let's stop driving...an accident might happen!!!
And let's stop horseback riding! You could FALL off!!!
Let's stop playing sports! people get HURT playing sports !!!
Let's all tuck our children's fat butts on the sofa and coddle them until their brain solidifies!
Sweet jesus! WHO do you think crossed the prairies and worked in the mines and factories and MADE this country ???
HINT: They weren't all old farts like the weinies in here!
No one has said she or anyone isn't allowed to sail etc, what is being said it, her parents were not looking out after her best interest and almost lost the child because of their stupid decision...I am the last one in the world to have coddle my kids, you ask any of them. This goes for our grandchildren as well, but what these parents allowed goes far beyand giving kids some freedom.
Nita
No one has said she or anyone isn't allowed to sail etc, what is being said it, her parents were not looking out after her best interest and almost lost the child because of their stupid decision...I am the last one in the world to have coddle my kids, you ask any of them. This goes for our grandchildren as well, but what these parents allowed goes far beyand giving kids some freedom.
Nita
I am going to award you today's Master of Hyperbole award. Congrats to you!
How do you figure "her parents almost lost the child?" Where have you read that her life was in danger? All I've read is her mast broke, she sent out a distress signal, and she was rescued. No life or death scenario there.
From reading her blog entries, it is evident that she was never 'lost at sea', her parents knew where she was (which is more than I can say for many parents of land based teenagers), and she was in regular communication, including photos.
For all of you who are so critical of this girl and her parents:
She set off her distress signal, people from the Australian Maritime Safety Organization rescued her, she's back on land and in good health, and now the second-guessing can begin.
Well, let's see, where to start. First, not all 16-year-olds are created equal. I know many 16-year-olds, particularly girls, who have more common sense than a lot of 30-year-old men. Some don't, of course, but figure that a girl who wants to sail around the world rather than stay home and be with her friends is very much ahead of the game. The idea that she was a kind of puppet or deluded egoist is not supported by the facts.
Second, she was neither incompetent nor frivolous. You can read her levelheaded comments at www.abbysunderland.com. And she was already more than halfway through her trip, having sailed from Marina del Rey (near Los Angeles), around Cape Horn (never fun), across the South Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean, where her mast snapped into a 2-foot stub and she was forced to call for rescue.
Third, it's already been done. One Jessica Watson accomplished the trip in 2007, starting in Sydney. She was also 16 years old. And, BTW, numerous men much older than 25 have tried and failed to do the trip, proving absolutely nothing with regard to minimum and maximum ages at which to attempt the voyage. Some made it, some didn't. When one didn't, the papers were not full of articles saying that 38 was really too old for a man to take this trip.
Can you put a message on your blog informing your readers that the Australian government has not requested any recovery cost for Abby’s search and recovery. In fact the Govt here has been in the media and stated that fact several times. I doubt this got coverage in the US.
Australia like the US have always responded to requests for help and have provided whatever resources are required. At no stage have we asked for cost recovery. Likewise domestic search and rescue have never requested payment for services. If a person wishes to make a contribution to the costs then that is their call. It is not expected or asked for.
The cost recovery stuff is a beat up by the media. They do it every time. Don’t get sucked in by it. Unfortunately some of the comments I have read on some blogs seems to paint Australians as a bunch of tight arses who will only rescue people if they have a cheque book. This has never been the case as you have found out.
Let’s not let the media hijack a good story. Likewise don’t become a victim of it by playing into their hands.
Bottom line is, don’t get sucked in by the media. I would like a clarification on your blog just letting your readers know that the Australian Government has not requested payment nor would they. Let’s not let the media portray the many groups that were involved in Abby’s rescue as a bunch of people motivated and driven by money. This is not the case.
What kind of parent lets their 16 year old daughter sail ALONE around the world?
No human should sail ALONE like that, much less a teenager. I don't care how accomplished one is, without backup it's STUPID.
Thank God she's ok. I hope the parents have to pay for all the expense associated with everyone's efforts. Shame on them.
Long-time readers of City-Data will know that I am no fan of children. However, I recognize that it takes a lot of courage to attempt something like this....
In this young woman's defense. May I offer one of my favorite quotes....from Poltergeist II: The Other Side....
"They're just children, for God's sake!.
Children have fought wars. They've built nations. They are strong and have courage. Do not treat them any less than that because they're young".
20yrsinBranson
that is not the same as allowing a child to sail around the world at 16 and yo know it. Talk about spinning, wow, you are taking the cake right now.
Nita
I don't think it's spinning at all.
We just accept teen deaths in cars because we are addicted to a lifestyle. This girl didn't die, was never in grave danger, yet some people are acting like the parents are irresponsible. If they are irresponsible then every parent who lost a child to an auto accident is irresponsible. And every time government resources (police, fire, EMS, county hospitals, etc.) are used to respond to those accidents there should be an outrage.
They are a family of sailors. This isn't just some random young girl, not by any stretch, we have GPS nowadays, and there are other sailing world record holders in her family.
As someone said above, not all kids are created equal. Heck, there were at least five 17 year-olds in my Boot Camp platoon.
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