Personally, I applaud the parents for letting their kid go off on such a grand adventure.

I wish I could meet the parents and shake their hand. Any parent who says they wouldnt let their kid do something for which they were prepared speaks out of selfishness.

Is selfishness to held in higher esteem than exploring one's personal limits? Have any of you ever met the girl? Can you say that she wasn't ready? Or are you saying that she wasn't ready at age 16 because YOU weren't ready at age 16?

Aside from the parents. For Abby, it was about more than the record. Getting the record was out the window when she stop in South Africa, I think, to have her navigation system repaired. Not only did it show good decision making on her part but it also showed the adventure was more important to her than the record. She could have easily given up there and people would have understood but she didn't.

I'm very impressed by this woman and I'm very happy she is ok.

butitsadryheat wrote:The ocean is no place for a child, or an adult, to be playing around in/on ...

Well .. shiver me timbers !!!

"What's dat you say, mate ???"

"You can remove a kid from adventure, but you can't remove adventure from a kid !!!"

butitsadryheat wrote:

Brad Marshall wrote:

Outside wrote:Consider how the world would have reacted if either of these kids had died.

This is a very good point. However, the girl took care of herself out there, handled a situation that many of us wouldn't have wanted to be in, nor could probably have handle as well as she did, and activated her beacons to effect a rescue. I think she was trained pretty well to handle herself out there and who knows how that training will manifiest itself later in life. Maybe when she hits the talk show scene she'll tell us all how her parents twisted her arm to go.

She was very well trained (since her dad ran a yacht club, she'd prolly been sailing since she was in diapers). Also remember, her brother set the record at 17 just awhile back. They have this in their blood. They would do as well as anyone, I would think.
That being said, I think it was too risky to put a kid in that position. I'm glad she is OK, like I am with Romero.
The ocean is no place for a child, or an adult, to be playing around in/on, especially in the Indian Ocean in the winter

In response to the first post, yep, the world's opinion would've been pretty harsh if she had lost it. But, doesn't mean that the people quickest to offer the loudest criticisms and harshest critiques are necessarily right, even half the time, if they're lucky. . .

As for the next two posts by Brad and BIADH, well, I've swing around on this one, and, I tend to agree. She's experienced, and she showed it in her composure. (Also helps to have a state of the art, hard-to sink boat).

I grew up sailing, and dreamt once of breaking the record for sailing to Hawaii, which I would have had to have done when I was 15. Must have dreamt it at about 13 or so. I was nowhere skilled enough to pull ito off, and I'm not sure my parents would've let me, but, I was competent enough to at least imagine it, dream about it and talk it over with my parents. They didn't laugh at me, and were intrigued a bit, I think.

Reading this girl's story, and listening to the various arguments, brought to mind my own long-ago fantasy, and the potential quest to break this guy's record, who was
the first. Some of you may have heard of him:

Robin Lee Graham.

Yep, took off from LA. when he was but 16, and returned 5yrs. later. (He took his time, played around, hiked islands, swam with dolphins, worked, and fell in love. Also, technically, he didn't sail the whole thing solo, as his girlfriend accompanied him for a short leg. But, wouldn't you have done the same? ).
Then, stumbled across this interesting chart. Looks as though a few, (some I knew of), have been sailing at the same young, tender ages in recent years.

I hand it to this girl, for hanging in their under dire circumstance. A dismasting in any ocean is scary as hell, and a potentially life-threatening event. Enough to freak out anyone. She hung in there, remained calm, and activated her safety measures. She's smart, and competent. No record for her, but she probably doesn't care. . .
May she sail again.

Link to the history of young circumnavigators:

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

peladoboton wrote:

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Personally, I applaud the parents for letting their kid go off on such a grand adventure.

I wish I could meet the parents and shake their hand. Any parent who says they wouldnt let their kid do something for which they were prepared speaks out of selfishness.

Is selfishness to held in higher esteem than exploring one's personal limits? Have any of you ever met the girl? Can you say that she wasn't ready? Or are you saying that she wasn't ready at age 16 because YOU weren't ready at age 16?

i remember a kid whose mom never let him go on the high adventure stuff in scouts, and he has spent the last 15 years since we finished high school trying to prove he's a man...and failing miserably.

i was hiking by myself in the sticks of northern idaho at age ten and hunting by myself at age 12, guiding backpacking at age 16 with my dad...all because my dad sternly informed me how bad my attitude was when i took any less initiative.

expect your kids to step out of their comfort zones, and not just in trying an x-box game they might not win as easily.

Agree, when you read the memoirs of Reinhold Messner or or other climbers who lived that close to the mountains, you will be amazed by the things they did at quite a young age. He started out climbing the Sass Rigais with his father when he was five - have a look at that in "Images".

Not every dream should be fostered into reality. Sometimes a child's dream should be left as just that -- a dream.

Where the dream is the parent's, and not the child's, then placing the child in harm's way is just a form of child abuse.

It's not always black and white, but sometimes it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/05/us/instructor-error-cited-in-crash-of-plane-flown-by-7-year-old.html?ref=jessica_dubroff

kozman18 wrote:Not every dream should be fostered into reality.

Of course the parents should be held responsible. Parents should ALWAYS be held
responsible for what their kids do ... or don't do!

Ejnar Fjerdingstad wrote: ... you will be amazed by the things they did at quite a young age."

Yeah ... I wonder if this same thing is happening with the kids in North Korea ???

Sounds like an "upcoming episode" in the works for the next "Doctor Phil" show :

not sure if it's been mentioned yet....but Abby Sunderland been found

http://www.fanhouse.com/2010/06/11/abby-sunderland-found-alive-after-harrowing-ordeal/

kozman18 wrote:Not every dream should be fostered into reality. Sometimes a child's dream should be left as just that -- a dream.

Where the dream is the parent's, and not the child's, then placing the child in harm's way is just a form of child abuse.

It's not always black and white, but sometimes it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/05/us/instructor-error-cited-in-crash-of-plane-flown-by-7-year-old.html?ref=jessica_dubroff

Seven year old kids get to fly planes? Should be illegal!

FortMental wrote:When a parent has to weigh the success of setting a record in evaluating readiness, a definite line has been crossed; Abby's parents didn't evaluate her readiness to solo around the world. They evaluated Abby's readiness to set a record, primarily, and sailing solo secondarily.

Few on this forum advocate swaddling young people. FortMental and The Chief have drawn the lines thoughtfully, which is to say, with somewhat more restraint than an adventurous teenager. It's no disrespect to a hardy teen to say, Better to live til your next adventure than to set a record for risk. As for heroism, selflessness trumps self-agrandisement every time.

kozman18 wrote:Where the dream is the parent's, and not the child's, then placing the child in harm's way is just a form of child abuse.

You are so right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!