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I'm glad to hear she is ok.
Emergency rescue effort launched for teen sailor..
- Thread starter Bill 2
- Start date
She is fine but the boat is disabled and cannot be sailed... rigging is gone. Rescue is still about 18 hours out. Sounds like this quest is finished but she will survive... and show-up on the talk shows, write a book and sign a movie deal.
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"If she was competent, she would not have needed help getting her engine started again. "
Dan, Have you always been able to fix everything without help???
"This stunt is about the same as letting a kid out on a jetski so he can rip around at 60 mph on the creek."
Not even close!!!
"By the way, she was supposed to be in school or was she being home schooled?"
Even in failure she has learned more that she ever would have learned in todays schools.
Thank God that she is OK and waiting rescue.
Dan, Have you always been able to fix everything without help???
"This stunt is about the same as letting a kid out on a jetski so he can rip around at 60 mph on the creek."
Not even close!!!
"By the way, she was supposed to be in school or was she being home schooled?"
Even in failure she has learned more that she ever would have learned in todays schools.
Thank God that she is OK and waiting rescue.
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Pete
No. But I try to keep myself within windows for success. She did not.
And why not? She put others at risk using that boat. Certainly more are at risk than one kid on a jetski can affect. Much more expensive equipment as well.
Yes, like how to ignore common sense and let her greed put others at risk. She ignored the certainty of foul weather in that area.
There are some that might say I don't care about here because of my attitude, and if that's the case, re-read where I prayed she makes it. I admire the spirit, but her timing was off and I will never agree with anyone else who thought this was a great thing for her to try at this time.
No. But I try to keep myself within windows for success. She did not.
And why not? She put others at risk using that boat. Certainly more are at risk than one kid on a jetski can affect. Much more expensive equipment as well.
Yes, like how to ignore common sense and let her greed put others at risk. She ignored the certainty of foul weather in that area.
There are some that might say I don't care about here because of my attitude, and if that's the case, re-read where I prayed she makes it. I admire the spirit, but her timing was off and I will never agree with anyone else who thought this was a great thing for her to try at this time.
Dan is correct. I still dont see any position reports but if it is true that she was trying to sail in the Southern Ocean this time of year that was the height of folly. Anyone caring to do just a little investigation into weather or maritime history will quickly learn why places at those latitudes have names such as The Cape of Storms and Roaring Forties.
I hope for her rescue but my sympathies lie with those who will have to risk their lives in rescuing a dumb kid allowed to do something so stupid as to sail in the Southern ocean in winter where extreme gales are normal.
Folks lacking information on those areas of the world’s oceans may easily conclude that she was just unlucky in running into a storm. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, storms there are fierce and frequent. Prudent mariners have long avoided that area, especially in winter.
She should have known.
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i have no doubt she is probably a great sailor and most likely more mature than many 21 year olds BUT she is missing one critical things: EXPERIENCE!
from "her" website:
A Lifetime of Training
Abby has an extensive sailing background, being raised in and around sailboats. She has accumulated thousands of miles of coastal cruising through a number of hazardous weather conditions.
thousands of miles of coastal cruising does not prepare you for the southern ocean in winter. how many offshore passages has she done, how many alone on her own? has she done any ocean crossings? to Hawaii? the atlantic?
offshore sailing is not very popular here in the US and most folks don't realize how demanding the southern ocean can be, especially at this time of the year. I've followed offshore racing for years and the guys who line up on the Vendee Globe and other round the worlds races dont' even think about doing it until they have a long resume including numerous Transatlantic crossings. not a few thousand miles of coastal cruising!
this is a commercial endeavour, nothing more, a stupid stunt.
from "her" website:
A Lifetime of Training
Abby has an extensive sailing background, being raised in and around sailboats. She has accumulated thousands of miles of coastal cruising through a number of hazardous weather conditions.
thousands of miles of coastal cruising does not prepare you for the southern ocean in winter. how many offshore passages has she done, how many alone on her own? has she done any ocean crossings? to Hawaii? the atlantic?
offshore sailing is not very popular here in the US and most folks don't realize how demanding the southern ocean can be, especially at this time of the year. I've followed offshore racing for years and the guys who line up on the Vendee Globe and other round the worlds races dont' even think about doing it until they have a long resume including numerous Transatlantic crossings. not a few thousand miles of coastal cruising!
this is a commercial endeavour, nothing more, a stupid stunt.
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What Bruce said +1.
Decisions are either good or bad at the time they are made and eventual outcome have no bearing on their character.
Any decision based on careful consideration of all the facts, backed by due dilligence and based on sound principle is by its very nature a good decision.
Personally, I disagreed with the Jessica Watson venture and, eventhough she safely made the trip I still think is was fool hearty for a 16 y/o to undertake such a task and was a bad decision from the beginning.
This latest one was not only undertaken by a 16 y/o but was begun at the worst possible time of year. This was a bad decision on so many levels.
Someone above drew a parallel between what an 18 y/o can do as opposed to a 16 y/o and rightfully so. Any parent who has raised a teenager can tell you that the maturity differences between those two ages is startling.
I am just very very thankful that both of these wonderful young ladies are safe.
Bob
Decisions are either good or bad at the time they are made and eventual outcome have no bearing on their character.
Any decision based on careful consideration of all the facts, backed by due dilligence and based on sound principle is by its very nature a good decision.
Personally, I disagreed with the Jessica Watson venture and, eventhough she safely made the trip I still think is was fool hearty for a 16 y/o to undertake such a task and was a bad decision from the beginning.
This latest one was not only undertaken by a 16 y/o but was begun at the worst possible time of year. This was a bad decision on so many levels.
Someone above drew a parallel between what an 18 y/o can do as opposed to a 16 y/o and rightfully so. Any parent who has raised a teenager can tell you that the maturity differences between those two ages is startling.
I am just very very thankful that both of these wonderful young ladies are safe.
Bob
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So her actions were less intrusive than a kid on a jet ski?
Psalzer
We're talking A330 here. Not a couple of policemen in an outboard. I'm all for rescue missions for folks that plan properly, and execute them within reason. But she endangered a crew of 14, and an A330 not to mention all of the other crews down on the surface in rescue craft.
link
Psalzer
We're talking A330 here. Not a couple of policemen in an outboard. I'm all for rescue missions for folks that plan properly, and execute them within reason. But she endangered a crew of 14, and an A330 not to mention all of the other crews down on the surface in rescue craft.
link
For those interested in the facts look at the Suthern Indian ocean forecasts below and use the animate button to watch the endless stream of storms from cape of Good Hope to Australia.
http://www.passageweather.com/
http://www.passageweather.com/
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There are those that arm chair quarterback anything and everything some people do. There are those that live a life time and reflect back on things they wish they had done. There are those that awaken themselves and accomplish, or try to accomplish things others dream off.
This girl falls into the latter. Sure, she rolled the dice with the weather and timing, but it was her gamble to take.
As for rescue crews being in danger, that falls on deaf ears with me.
This girl falls into the latter. Sure, she rolled the dice with the weather and timing, but it was her gamble to take.
As for rescue crews being in danger, that falls on deaf ears with me.
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ITK-- I 100% agree with you. I knew it would happen one of these days! <grin>
Paul
circaburns1
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So what's next - a 15 year-old. Maybe a 14 year-old. Southern Ocean at the onset of winter is plain foolishness. Let's urge people to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel then let's spend many hundreds of thousand dollars and risk more lives trying to find and rescue them. There is a limit. And she has passed it. Marine rescue services are not a privilege or right for people with to abuse. She has abused it and I fear mainly for future commercial gain. IMHO.
If you're really concerned about wasting marine services, then worry about the thousands of drunken idiots who are out on the waterways on a daily basis with no real nautical experience... not one teen sailor who probably has more knowledge and experience than most people on this site.
I think we have all cautioned against going out or starting/continuing a trip because of a time schedule.
I think most of us are prudent enough to check weather condition before going out on the ocean and few would venture out in winter conditions.
I pray for the best but consider her 'ATTEMPT' just for the sake of a world record, ill advised.
I think most of us are prudent enough to check weather condition before going out on the ocean and few would venture out in winter conditions.
I pray for the best but consider her 'ATTEMPT' just for the sake of a world record, ill advised.
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she may have more experience than the average sunday boater but she has never crossed an ocean solo. Read the quote I posted from her website: "thousands of miles of coastal cruising:.
this doesn't prepare anyone, regardless of age or gender, to attempt a solo round the world trip at this time of the year.
One of the most critical skill a boater/sailor/mariner/captain must learn is decide when NOT TO GO especially ignoring external pressures. obvioulsy, she hasnt' mastered that critical skill
the countries and groups coming to her rescue will bear the cost, not her, not her publicity craving parents.
circaburns1
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And you don't think I am not concerned about drunken idiots too? Two wrongs have never made one right Tim...
I would have to believe that if she had true sailing knowledge and experience she would not be in the Southern Ocean at the beginning of winter - not because of necessity but to chase a record.
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The best thing is that she was found alive..I hope others learn from this...
That's what 16-year-old Abby Sunderland has just tried to do, foundering in the remote Indian Ocean, sending up emergency satellite beacons as the weather turned. Of course, we're all delighted she's been rescued – none more so than her parents. But she shouldn't have been out there on her own in the first place, battling the storm.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/11/abby-sunderland-rescue-sailing
That's what 16-year-old Abby Sunderland has just tried to do, foundering in the remote Indian Ocean, sending up emergency satellite beacons as the weather turned. Of course, we're all delighted she's been rescued – none more so than her parents. But she shouldn't have been out there on her own in the first place, battling the storm.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/11/abby-sunderland-rescue-sailing
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Maybe a 15 yo or 14 yo is next - who are we to say they shouldn't be? Who says where that limit is - you? I hardly think so.
She is not abusing marine rescue services at all - she is/was disabled and needed rescuing - what is so abusive about that?
As for the cost - well if people don't want to pay, then stop funding the Coast Guards around the world or limit their scope and function.
As for rescuers lives at risk - oh well. Here is a piece of advice - if you don't want to risk your life to rescue someone elses; then don't join a life saving organization to begin with.
It is not a rescuers job to question or judge the motives behind those they are rescuing. It is their job to saddle up, STFU, and go. If they don't want to, then stand down and get out of the way of those that are willing to fulfill the obligations they signed on for in the first place.
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And if you're concerned about the near-future availability of those services, Google some news articles on the USCG's slashed funding and manning. Then read how many of the few remaining resources are being committed to the oil spill. Then think twice about doing anything foolish on the water that may require rescue or assistance.