Am I alone?

[Kent A Bathurst]

But you don't have speeding boats driven by texting morons coming at you on the high seas.

Says the guy with a few thousand tons of warship strapped to his a**...........

[Matt Walton]

I think it depends greatly on the person doing it. I also think that anybody could have been caught in that situation, but there may or may not have been things that could be done. I'm 15, going to be a Junior next year, and finished Saxon's Advanced Mathematics last year. Now I am homeschooled, but I went through this course in a homeschool group, so it was the pace of public school if not faster. I am fully qualified to do Calculus next year (as a Junior), and the only reasons I am not doing it is because I have other stuff that I need to do, and we wouldn't have the same awesome teacher.

It seems to me that either nobody has heard about her, or has simply forgotten about it, but has anybody read the Australian girl's blog? she sailed around the world, and didn't touch land once. http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/
Maybe we Americans are breeding the intelligence out of public school kids like we did with turkeys. You know what, scratch that last analogy. That's just weird...

[Joe Chritz]

It seems to me that either nobody has heard about her, or has simply forgotten about it, but has anybody read the Australian girl's blog? she sailed around the world, and didn't touch land once. http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/
Maybe we Americans are breeding the intelligence out of public school kids like we did with turkeys. You know what, scratch that last analogy. That's just weird...

Nope, I think you hit it just right.

Joe

[Mike Henderson]

I'm late to the party but here's my opinion.

She was very late starting out, which put her into the southern ocean during storm season. Many experienced sailors have been quoted as saying her voyage was foolhardy because of the timing.

So why didn't her parents say to her, "Because of the problems we had getting the boat set up, you should wait until next year and leave earlier."? The answer is because she would have been 17 and too old to set the "Youngest solo circumnavigation". So they encouraged her to go, even though other experienced mariners recommended against it.

Then, she had problems with her auto pilot so she put into South Africa, which eliminated the record - because the record required no port calls.

So why did she continue on at that point? No possibility of a record, heading into the southern ocean in storm season? Somebody was not making mature decisions, either her or her parents.

I understand Ken's position. Because of the poor planning and imprudent decision making, a lot of money was spent rescuing her, and people were put at risk. The captain of the fishing boat fell into the ocean during the rescue and had to be rescued himself. Suppose someone had died during her rescue? How would she and her parents live with that, knowing that your poor planning caused someone's else's death?

So my answer is that she shouldn't have been out there in the southern ocean in a small boat, with winter coming on. No matter what her age. And the only reason she was out there was because her parents were seeking their 15 minutes of fame.

Mike

[Mitchell Andrus]

Well said, Mike.
.

[Curt Harms]

.............
Many folks here know I was in the Navy. Ever hear of the Bermuda Triangle? Here's the real deal. There's nothing mysterious or paranormal about it. It's simply an area where there are a lot small boats and aircraft sailing and flying between the US, Bermuda and multiple islands in the Caribbean.
...............

I think there's an additional factor, at least for airplanes. There's a lot of airplanes flying around the "Bermuda Triangle" that aren't the most airworthy things to ever take wing. Many airports have "cockroach corners". The ones in S. Florida and the Caribbean take up a fair bit of the airport. Old, poorly maintained, corroded from being unsheltered in a salt water environment. I flew a Cessna 172 down there years ago. More than 4600 hours on the engine and I found out later it had never had a major overhaul. Normal TBO (time between overhauls) is 1600 hours. TBO didn't apply in this case because it wasn't used in air carrier operations. When the compression on a cylinder got low, they just put on a new cylinder and kept on flying.

[John Shuk]

I just don't think her parents have the right, morally, to allow her to put her life at this level of risk. Things like this keep coming up in the news and I think it is wrong.

[paul cottingham]

My first thought of concern was not navigating the oceans. My first thought came about a 16 year old girl who looks to be adorable. There are jerks out there that could easily take advantage of her on the high seas. And calling out for help doesn't seem to work if you need help within minutes.

I then thought of all the Piracy that has been going on. Yea, they'd take her hostage too.

Just not worth it.

Must admit, hadn't thought at all about the piracy angle.

[Ben Hatcher]

My old boss served on the Enterprise and said that they bent the hull doing speed tests. Top speed was 70 mph! As for the 30 knots, as I'm told, in order to launch planes, they need a 30 knot head wind. If that is true, 30 knots is more like a normal cruising speed than a top end.

[Joe Chritz]

Not that this is a huge surprise but this link may shed a little light on daddy o's though process.

Sailor Abby Sunderland's Dad Signed Her To TV Deal Before Her Doomed Voyage

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...doomed-voyage/

Joe

[Pat Germain]

Well, I must admit, Mike's information as well as the new info on the "TV deal" puts this situation into a different light. I too am starting to question this whole endeavor.

[Ed Harrow]

Many of the things our daughter has done resulted in some rolling eyes... She took the train to Boston to go to high school for a start... We constantly enlarged her corral as she showed herself capable.

While this kid showed herself to be a very capable sailor, in the end she, and the boat, came up short. The boat, IMOO, was in no way suitable for such a venture. Fast? Yes. Utimately seaworthy??? A truely competent sailor would have been able to figure out some sort of jury rig, and would likely have given serious consideration to the weather. Many boats abandoned in a Fastnet race were later found floating.

Going out, with the expecations of being rescued, is way too common today. Read the AMC annual and note the number of people who wandered down some trail and ended up calling 911...

A better story (tho not particularly well written) is entitled Maiden Voyage. The author, who's name I don't recollect, was two years older, and with less sailing experience, I believe. She wasn't out to get her name in lights - a big difference.

Talk about rambling

[Mike Henderson]

I'll just add the comment that a lot of the records organizations have eliminated the "youngest" category because it pushes younger and younger kids to do very dangerous things.

A 16 year old, Australian Jessica Watson, completed her solo, non-stop, round the world sail. Soon, it will be a 15 year old trying to sail around the world. And if s/he makes it, then a 14 year old will try it.

High time we quite recognizing/encouraging these "youngest records".

Mike

[Mitchell Andrus]

Not that this is a huge surprise but this link may shed a little light on daddy o's though process.

Sailor Abby Sunderland's Dad Signed Her To TV Deal Before Her Doomed Voyage

Joe

There ya go. Balloon Boy all over again.

Gee, maybe I can get my kid to scuba dive down to the Titanic. ....Oh ya, I forgot. He's 19.... Too old to be put in harm's way.
.

[Bill Leonard]

16 or 60, why would anyone attempt a circumnavigation in the Southern hemisphere in the winter, let alone solo? Shortest route, possibly, but the same distance in January not May/June!