IMO it is worth noting that she had already abandoned her original record goal and was merely completing the voyage. There was no longer any compelling reason to try to cross the southern ocean because when she finished had become irrelevant.
Emergency rescue effort launched for teen sailor..
- Thread starter Bill 2
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From what I have read it took the fishing vessel 40 hours to get to her. That Captain deserves some kind of medal or recognition. To steam 40 hours in seas like that certainly represents going "Above and beyond" any reasonable degree responsibility.
To even be able ti find her in seas like that is remarkable in itself. I don't know who that captain is but my hat's off to him.
Bob
Being in a storm in a dismasted sailboat has been described as like being in a washing machine. 40 hours should have provided sufficient time to consider the decisions she made. she is really lucky that the rig didn’t puncture the hull as sometimes occurs after dismasting.
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Sounds like it was an AMVER kind of deal. This wasn't your typical coastal dragger, this F/V. With a resolved position from the EPIRB to get you within a few hundred meters, a radio direction finder will run right down the 121.5MHz signal.
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Obviously a lot of strong opinions on this situation.
As Pascal said above, the record was no longer part of the equation, she had missed her chance. She was simply finishing the trip and could have gone at any time. However it is worth noting that she had experts working with her to determine the best course of action. She didnt really do this alone. She only sailed alone. So if she left port at the wrong time then somebody in the USA wasnt doing their homework.
On the other hand, she was also in an ocean going sailboat built expressly for this purpose. Presumably the people in charge, including her, felt that the boat could make it. Obviously they were wrong. Same as the people at BP thought their drilling rig was safe. And the campers in AR thought their campground was safe. Life sucks...
As for Abby's age, well, it was legal. If there is an outcry now then maybe people her age will be banned from attempting this stuff. Whatever. All I can say is, she did something that was legal, tried her best, and (in response to those talking about EXPERIENCE) sailed HALF WAY around the world in doing so. I dare say she had PLENTY of experience by the time she got stuck in that storm. And many a seasoned sailor has gone to Davey Jones' Locker trying to deal with bad weather at sea.
For the record, my son wont be attempting a trans-world crossing when he is 16. But he will be piloting his own boat and driving a car that he helped build, and probably many other things. Abby Sunderland was an extreme case to be sure, but there's nothing wrong in letting our children broaden their horizons and go as far as their talents will take them...
As Pascal said above, the record was no longer part of the equation, she had missed her chance. She was simply finishing the trip and could have gone at any time. However it is worth noting that she had experts working with her to determine the best course of action. She didnt really do this alone. She only sailed alone. So if she left port at the wrong time then somebody in the USA wasnt doing their homework.
On the other hand, she was also in an ocean going sailboat built expressly for this purpose. Presumably the people in charge, including her, felt that the boat could make it. Obviously they were wrong. Same as the people at BP thought their drilling rig was safe. And the campers in AR thought their campground was safe. Life sucks...
As for Abby's age, well, it was legal. If there is an outcry now then maybe people her age will be banned from attempting this stuff. Whatever. All I can say is, she did something that was legal, tried her best, and (in response to those talking about EXPERIENCE) sailed HALF WAY around the world in doing so. I dare say she had PLENTY of experience by the time she got stuck in that storm. And many a seasoned sailor has gone to Davey Jones' Locker trying to deal with bad weather at sea.
For the record, my son wont be attempting a trans-world crossing when he is 16. But he will be piloting his own boat and driving a car that he helped build, and probably many other things. Abby Sunderland was an extreme case to be sure, but there's nothing wrong in letting our children broaden their horizons and go as far as their talents will take them...
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I can't wait for a hurricane offshore, then I can try for "first go-fast to survive a hurricane offshore" record.
Same type of deal as far as I am concerned. I feel bad for the fishing boat that was forced to risk life, property and common sense to save this girl.
Hope she/her dad is billed 100% for fuel and crew costs for ALL rescue efforts. It will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Making that public will be an effective deterrent for other idiots trying the same thing.
Same type of deal as far as I am concerned. I feel bad for the fishing boat that was forced to risk life, property and common sense to save this girl.
Hope she/her dad is billed 100% for fuel and crew costs for ALL rescue efforts. It will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Making that public will be an effective deterrent for other idiots trying the same thing.
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I'd have a talk with the kid and make sure she knew what she was getting into and how her actions might impact the lives of others. Then I'd take away the keys. It was all greed for notoriety. There was no accomplishment. There was failure driven by poor timing, greed and jealousy.. Daddy. I wanna do what my brother did, and I want to show I'm better because I'm younger....
Whether or not that lesson sank in is anyone's guess.
Again, while I admire the spirit, I do not admire the recklessness.
Whether or not that lesson sank in is anyone's guess.
Again, while I admire the spirit, I do not admire the recklessness.
circaburns1
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FYI the cost to charter a commercial airliner to search for Ms Sunderland was at a cost in excess of A$200,000.
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Here's the problem with setting a precedent of SAR cost reimbursement:
Joe Schmoe in his 1976 tri-hull, which was recently repowered with a newly rebuilt Mercury outboard (it's actually a 1970 Tower of Power that his brother in law spray painted and changed the spark plugs) gets stuck 15 miles offshore when the engine quits (should have primed the bare spots before painting, I guess). Even though there's a plainly visible - and forecasted - squall line approaching, Joe holds off on calling for help. As much as he wants to pick up the mike on that old VHF with the coat hanger antenna and let rip with a "breaker, breaker, anybody got a copy?", he's worried about footing the bill. Monster truck show tickets on layaway and all. So he waits a bit. Figures maybe somebody else that didn't check the weather and head in hours ago will happen by and help him out. That big search on the news cost someone hundreds of thousands of dollars - even that poor guy last week that hit a submerged object and dropped a rudder post got stuck with a several thousand dollar tab when they had to come out with pumps and everything. So Joe holds off - nothing wrong with a little rain, nothing his Schlitz Beer jean jacket can't protect him from.
Then the squall hits, and the winds. Joe's denim jacket is now soaked, and that old faded orange, waterlogged kapok life jacket missing the straps is cinched up as tight as a bungee cord with a duct-taped hook on one end can get it. Joe tried to anchor the boat, but the old lawnmower engine tied to 30 feet of clothesline cord just doesn't seem to be doing the trick. The rain and seas that picked up out of nowhere (well, nowhere except the weather forecasts and that big ominous dark sky creeping on over the course of a half hour - but, dangit, can't watch the weather when the only TV in the front yard is stuck on the NASCAR channel) are now starting to flood the boat, but the only bilge pump is clogged with page 23 from the Sportsman's Guide.
Joe realizes the folly of his ways, and that it's time to get on the CB and get some help, potential costs and fines be damned. But now his battery has flooded out, and the wire hanger antenna has blown away. Two days later, somebody notices Joe's truck is still at the launch ramp, and his dog has washed up on the beach (alive and unharmed, thank God), and a massive search is initiated for Joe.
Whether Mr. Shmoe is found during the search or not remains to be seen in Chapter 2, but my belabored point is this: when we set a precedent, when we cause people to hesitate to call for help at the first indication it may be necessary, we're encouraging people to let bad situations develop into worse ones. Bad situations on the water DO NOT resolve themselves without intervention. Search and Rescue is what I do for a living, and what I have been doing for over a decade, and I have yet to learn how to make up for lost time. It simply cannot be done - at least not without an old Delorean and a flux capacitor. I can turn around when it turns out things aren't as bad as they seemed, or someone else was able to deal with the issue, or whatever, but I can't do the inverse. When someone waits until they are far enough along the 'uh-oh' curve that they are convinced beyond any doubt that they need help, regardless of the potential cost, making that call doesn't stop the progress along that curve. Things keep getting worse, the problems keep getting more complicated. And any of us that have had even the most passing exposure to problems on boats know that they grow exponentially.
As far as this putting professional rescuers in increased danger, I'm not going to go there. Not going to touch it. But it DOES put the persons at the center of the issue in exponentially increased danger by encouraging them to ride that 'oh #$%^ curve' well past the 'call for help' point. Hoaxes are another story - I have great ideas on appropriate sentences for hoax callers, but that's another chapter for another time.
Joe Schmoe in his 1976 tri-hull, which was recently repowered with a newly rebuilt Mercury outboard (it's actually a 1970 Tower of Power that his brother in law spray painted and changed the spark plugs) gets stuck 15 miles offshore when the engine quits (should have primed the bare spots before painting, I guess). Even though there's a plainly visible - and forecasted - squall line approaching, Joe holds off on calling for help. As much as he wants to pick up the mike on that old VHF with the coat hanger antenna and let rip with a "breaker, breaker, anybody got a copy?", he's worried about footing the bill. Monster truck show tickets on layaway and all. So he waits a bit. Figures maybe somebody else that didn't check the weather and head in hours ago will happen by and help him out. That big search on the news cost someone hundreds of thousands of dollars - even that poor guy last week that hit a submerged object and dropped a rudder post got stuck with a several thousand dollar tab when they had to come out with pumps and everything. So Joe holds off - nothing wrong with a little rain, nothing his Schlitz Beer jean jacket can't protect him from.
Then the squall hits, and the winds. Joe's denim jacket is now soaked, and that old faded orange, waterlogged kapok life jacket missing the straps is cinched up as tight as a bungee cord with a duct-taped hook on one end can get it. Joe tried to anchor the boat, but the old lawnmower engine tied to 30 feet of clothesline cord just doesn't seem to be doing the trick. The rain and seas that picked up out of nowhere (well, nowhere except the weather forecasts and that big ominous dark sky creeping on over the course of a half hour - but, dangit, can't watch the weather when the only TV in the front yard is stuck on the NASCAR channel) are now starting to flood the boat, but the only bilge pump is clogged with page 23 from the Sportsman's Guide.
Joe realizes the folly of his ways, and that it's time to get on the CB and get some help, potential costs and fines be damned. But now his battery has flooded out, and the wire hanger antenna has blown away. Two days later, somebody notices Joe's truck is still at the launch ramp, and his dog has washed up on the beach (alive and unharmed, thank God), and a massive search is initiated for Joe.
Whether Mr. Shmoe is found during the search or not remains to be seen in Chapter 2, but my belabored point is this: when we set a precedent, when we cause people to hesitate to call for help at the first indication it may be necessary, we're encouraging people to let bad situations develop into worse ones. Bad situations on the water DO NOT resolve themselves without intervention. Search and Rescue is what I do for a living, and what I have been doing for over a decade, and I have yet to learn how to make up for lost time. It simply cannot be done - at least not without an old Delorean and a flux capacitor. I can turn around when it turns out things aren't as bad as they seemed, or someone else was able to deal with the issue, or whatever, but I can't do the inverse. When someone waits until they are far enough along the 'uh-oh' curve that they are convinced beyond any doubt that they need help, regardless of the potential cost, making that call doesn't stop the progress along that curve. Things keep getting worse, the problems keep getting more complicated. And any of us that have had even the most passing exposure to problems on boats know that they grow exponentially.
As far as this putting professional rescuers in increased danger, I'm not going to go there. Not going to touch it. But it DOES put the persons at the center of the issue in exponentially increased danger by encouraging them to ride that 'oh #$%^ curve' well past the 'call for help' point. Hoaxes are another story - I have great ideas on appropriate sentences for hoax callers, but that's another chapter for another time.
Seems to me if we each lived our life safely huddled down in our comfort zone our world would still be flat, and most of us would not dare to travel far from the village of our birth....
Therefore, I guess it's still a man's world, not a child's world, and if God had wanted man to fly he would have given him wings..........
Therefore, I guess it's still a man's world, not a child's world, and if God had wanted man to fly he would have given him wings..........
Capt. Bill1
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+1
And you only get experience by doing. There are no simulators for open ocean sailing.
A couple of points that I've been thinking about....
1) None of us, I'm assuming, know this family, these parents and this girl well enough to know how they are bringing up their kids or the family dynamics. Her trying what she did tells me that she has been brought up as a strong, knowledgeable young lady with a strong "fortitude", something that will carry her far in life. I think the parents have done a fine job so far.
2) Although her planning of leaving when she did "COULD" <------ or "MAY" have been better, services are in place for events that occurred to her. Here on the west coast we hear CONSTANT VHF traffic with the Coast Guard from pleasure boaters with "trivial" matters, or matters that are just plain dumb. Things like....."Just got the boat....don't know how to get the sails down, can you help?" or running out of fuel, or lost in a fog bank, or engine quitting or.......and the list goes on. 70% of these also could not give the lat and long for their position so someone could find them to help!
3) Commercial shipping, with experienced captains run into trouble out there also. Ships run aground on KNOWN reefs, run into seas their ship cannot handle or have mechanical problems. Now you could say that these ships are on a "mission" or working. But so was she. This must have been important for her, or she wouldn't have done this.
4) The vessel that came to her aid would have done the same thing for any mariner out there. I say this because the captain just did it. I know the "situation" in this case probably spurred him on , being it was a young girl in trouble, and maybe made him do more than he normally would have, but any captain worth their salt would have done the same thing for whom ever was in this situation.
What she was doing was a "calculated" venture. MUCH different than a skier skiing out of bounds at a ski resort for instance. I know, the "calculations" caused her to be in the situation she was in, BUT it was not done with the intention to get her into trouble I'm sure. She is not the first solo sailor that got into trouble, and won't be the last. Would we have thought differently about this if this was a 30 year old guy in trouble? I give her full credit for accomplishing what she did, the drive she had to do it.
Many of us wouldn't have the "guts" to try this......maybe this is why we can't understand this, or it ticks us off?
1) None of us, I'm assuming, know this family, these parents and this girl well enough to know how they are bringing up their kids or the family dynamics. Her trying what she did tells me that she has been brought up as a strong, knowledgeable young lady with a strong "fortitude", something that will carry her far in life. I think the parents have done a fine job so far.
2) Although her planning of leaving when she did "COULD" <------ or "MAY" have been better, services are in place for events that occurred to her. Here on the west coast we hear CONSTANT VHF traffic with the Coast Guard from pleasure boaters with "trivial" matters, or matters that are just plain dumb. Things like....."Just got the boat....don't know how to get the sails down, can you help?" or running out of fuel, or lost in a fog bank, or engine quitting or.......and the list goes on. 70% of these also could not give the lat and long for their position so someone could find them to help!
3) Commercial shipping, with experienced captains run into trouble out there also. Ships run aground on KNOWN reefs, run into seas their ship cannot handle or have mechanical problems. Now you could say that these ships are on a "mission" or working. But so was she. This must have been important for her, or she wouldn't have done this.
4) The vessel that came to her aid would have done the same thing for any mariner out there. I say this because the captain just did it. I know the "situation" in this case probably spurred him on , being it was a young girl in trouble, and maybe made him do more than he normally would have, but any captain worth their salt would have done the same thing for whom ever was in this situation.
What she was doing was a "calculated" venture. MUCH different than a skier skiing out of bounds at a ski resort for instance. I know, the "calculations" caused her to be in the situation she was in, BUT it was not done with the intention to get her into trouble I'm sure. She is not the first solo sailor that got into trouble, and won't be the last. Would we have thought differently about this if this was a 30 year old guy in trouble? I give her full credit for accomplishing what she did, the drive she had to do it.
Many of us wouldn't have the "guts" to try this......maybe this is why we can't understand this, or it ticks us off?