But Mom, he got to sail around the world!

JJ, I've got plenty of respect for you. Plenty.

But I really didn't consider saying that you were being ridiculous was an insult.

I just think that you're straining as hard to make a point as the folks you're debating.

This girl needed to be rescued in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The fishing boat Captain could have likely waited weeks, and he wouldn't have gotten calm seas -- especially at this time of year. (Which is one of the reasons she shouldn't have been out there.)

So his choice really was to risk his life to save hers.

This is no different than hikers & mountain climbers who take on challenges beyond their means that need to be rescued by Park Rangers -- often at the risk of the Park Ranger's life -- or than skiers who decide so ski off of the trails and need to be rescued by the ski patrol.

And no one appreciates having to risk their own life to save someone who made a dumb decision and put themselves in a situation they couldn't handle.

 

Okay, that's a good point too. I know winter is approaching, if not already there, in the Southern Ocean. I was just basing my contention on the belief that, if she hadn't already foundered, it wasn't going to immediately happen upon the fishing boat's arrival.

 

So did I.

At age 45..

Four years ago.

When my alternator died on the highway.

She did not have to be rescued because of incompetence as a sailor or because of her age. She had to be rescued because her vessel could not get her where she needed it to go . . . like any ANY sailor, hundreds of whom need to be rescued each year for the same damn thing. AAAARGH!

 

You did not need to be rescued the way she did.

And we don't yet know -- and maybe we never will -- if she contributed to her own failure to complete her journey.

When a mast breaks, it's often because a mistake was made.

And we don't know if she would have been able to better handle the rough seas if she had more experience. (Or if she was mentally or physically stronger.)

We do know that is was an error in judgement/timing for her to be where she was at this time of year.

 

So we have a 33% failure rate.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Watson

Another one is preparing for the trip, after a court in the Netherlands ruled she could try it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Dekker

 

Unbelievable.

 

Yeah pretty much.

 

Double J you realize we are discussing the life of children and almost any failure rate at all is unacceptable?

 

Nobody has died.

 

she's hardly the first sailor to be done in by that part of the world. Its what makes circumnavigation so difficult. Most of the other ocean routes are pretty tame when the equipment is taken into account.
But let's point out that she didn't panic, she didn't sink, she didn't die. She didn't make a tearful phone call home to have her mommy and daddy "save" her.
She did what she was supposed to do in event of an emergency. Sounds like a pretty capable person to me.

 

You make these wild, bullshit claims about how no teenager on the planet has ever been qualified for such a thing, and then you move the goalposts when I provide you with two examples, off the top of my head, of kids who were in fact qualified and who in fact did what they set out to do.

Coming on the heels of your bizarre Tiger Woods retort earlier, though, I'm hardly surprised.

You know, it's a good thing SJ didn't exist in Joan of Arc's day. In your opinion, Joan should have contented herself with a part-time job and hanging at the mall with her friends. According to you, no teenage girl who ever drew oxygen on this planet would be qualified to defeat an English army in battle.

When she was finally captured and killed, the success rate of female teenage generals dropped to zero. That's an unacceptable failure rate!!! Joan's parents should have been flogged for allowing her to do such a thing!!!!! Call children's services!!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKES, WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF TEH CHILDREN11!!!!1!!!!!!111!!!!

Yeah.

And that's how you do hyperbole. Good day.