But Mom, he got to sail around the world!

I doubt I ever would have let my kids do something like this.

But then, I come from your average, every-day, and typically very unadventurous, family. There's truly nothing special about us in terms of things like this, and I suspect that's the case with most of us.

That's the perspective most posters are writing from, without knowing the family involved, and it's not an open or broad enough view of the situation.

I simply do not know anyone with this kind of passion for something that could be so potentially dangerous. There are people who have it, and live it, though, and that's the difference we have to consider.

If my kids did have such a passion, and if they had the skills, experience and equipment to possibly make the trip safely, however, and if I trusted them enough to handle the situation, and themselves, as well as they can (think, how amazing would that be, in the cases of most kids?), well, then, you know what?

I might consider letting them do it. I think you'd have an obligation to do so.

There is something to be said for really living life, regardless of the outcome, especially if you are cognizant and understanding of all potential outcomes.

It's plain that Abby Sunderland does, indeed, know how to sail, and she has learned to handle rough seas, and herself. She also knows when she needs help, and isn't afraid, or stupid or so proud not to ask for it if/when the time comes. She also is poised and composed, and smart and mature enough to recognize when that time is at hand.

She has proven all that, so, clearly, she is not just "a child," when it comes to sailing (or, indeed, probably many other things, too), and she is certainly not from just your average, normal family, and you really can't see or understand the situation if you're only looking at and considering it from a "normal" perspective.

 

The irony of all the caterwauling in this thread is that someone younger actually set the record a couple months ago without a finger-wag in sight.

 

Nancy Grace has also stabbed several homeless people since the news broke that Abby was alive and well.

 

You really showed your ass on this one. It just wouldn't feel right if you did regret it.

 

I was as critical of the parents as anyone and DD I am as happy as anyone that she is alive.

Being critical of the parents doesn't equate to wanting her to die.

 

I am ecstatic she's alive. She's a gorgeous young woman with balls the size of Mexico.

If she has this thrillseeker DNA that BTE suggests (personally, I think its more like the dad has the Balloon Boy DNA), then maybe she should try the Baker to Vegas 120 mile race in the Mojave desert. If she gets lost there, she'll be easier to find.

 

This is where I am on this.

I'm sure she's a terrific sailor with as much experience as 16-year-old can have, but I don't think that's enough.

You don't know how a 16-year-old will respond in a tough situation, in the dark, far from land, and six months into her journey. Will she be able to make good decisions? Will she panic?

And even if she's sailed in rough conditions before, has she done it enough times that she can handle it every time?

Either way, I'm glad she's alive.

But -- except for breaking a record -- there's no reason for a 16-year-old to be attempting this.

 

Amen. I don't even think a record is worth it. The whole effort just seems stupid to me. It's not groundbreaking no matter how young the sailor is — humans have been circumnavigating for hundreds of years now. It's akin to "Look at me! I sailed around the world with one hand tied behind my back!" Who fucking cares?

Glad the kids' alive. First thing I saw on the news this morning, and I sighed in relief. Still, it doesn't diminish the stupidity of it all.

 

I am with Write Thinking on this.

By most accounts she has grown up in a sailing family so it is not like she was some teenager with no experience on the water who plopped out of the suburbs one day and decided to sail around the world.

I am a parent and personally the last thing I would want is my daughter to sail around the world solo when she is 16 but if there is something she is truly passionate about and I think she has the skills and judgement to do it, then I am going to do whatever I can to encourage it.

It is not like her parents sent her out there in a beat up scow with a can of spaghetti-os and said see ya later.

There have been enough posts about the "pussification" of kids on here so I am a bit suprised at some of the over the top outrage at the parents.

Maybe she should have been forced top attend 4 years of college before she could turn pro

 

Her folly was in the timing of the trip. Once she had the issues that set her departure time back, she should have held off on the trip until the winter was over in the southern Indian Ocean, which is the most unforgiving sea in the world. There was no reason to leave when she did, because she was not going to set any sort of record. There was no harm in waiting. I have no problems with her or her parents for her wanting to make the trip, but you've got to be smarter than that.

 

BTW, someone mentioned that her trip's itinerary included going through the Panama Canal.

Isn't that sort of cheating? I mean, that's not the way Magellan did it. (Of course Magellan didn't actually make it around the globe. Only a handful of mostly Basque sailors completed the journey, but that's another story.)

And, if you're going to skip going around South America, why not sail through the Mediterranean and take the Suez Canal to skip going around Africa too?

 

No, it was, and still is, a stupid decision to have a teenager try and sail around the world.

Shall I Google all the kids who have died trying stupid shit like this?