Lolli wrote:“All women dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous women, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”

Yes indeed. Then the shit storm called reality wakes their dreaming asses up real quick and they have to get that dreaming ass, rescued.

Got to love it.

I'm not one of those who say the girl had no business trying to sail around the world solo. Although it's debatable, I think 16 is old enough to make an informed decision on a lot of things (not anything, though), so I think I'd have to defer to the judgment of the girl and those who know her best in this situation. Plus, she can handle a boat better than I can and has more experience than I do, and whether 16 or 40, a person is equally helpless against the ocean if things go wrong. The only thing better at breaking a man than the mountains is the sea. Since she clearly has more experience in a boat than most other people do, I don't think the experience argument works very well here.

However, I think it was pretty poor thinking to plan to be in the Indian Ocean at a time when conditions were likely going to be dangerous. Someone already posted to the contrary (about the conditions) on this thread, but since then, I have read comments from someone who has sailed solo around the world that contradict those statements.

It would be nice, though, if the people who defend the girl and her parents outright would quit using the car analogy. While it may be more statistically dangerous to get into a car, we in the industrialized world pretty much have to get into cars; it is not much of a choice. Sailing (and climbing) are choices, so comparing wants and needs is a bit of an apples-and-oranges argument.

Bob Sihler wrote:I'm not one of those who say the girl had no business trying to sail around the world solo. Although it's debatable, I think 16 is old enough to make an informed decision on a lot of things (not anything, though), so I think I'd have to defer to the judgment of the girl and those who know her best in this situation. Plus, she can handle a boat better than I can and has more experience than I do, and whether 16 or 40, a person is equally helpless against the ocean if things go wrong.

Translated: So, what's age got to do with it ???

Hey, that "cougar" is looking BETTER (to me) all the time ...

peladoboton wrote:there's no need to alter an original quote.

you don't say?





I believe in dragons, good men, and other fantasy creatures.

wow.

A bumper sticker!



only $1.50 - This weeks gotta have.

http://metapot.com/I-Believe-In-Dragons-Good-Men-And-Other-Fantasy-Creatures-Bumpe-p-1266.html

Bob Sihler wrote: While it may be more statistically dangerous to get into a car ...

It's not statistically more dangerous to get into a car. At 16 (and sober), your risk of death when getting in a car is probably less than 1 in 100,000 (for the driving population as a whole, it's less than one in 10 million per outing, even without excluding drunk and texting drivers).

Not many people have crossed the southern Indian Ocean solo, but there have been fatalities and the death rate is surely many orders of magnitude higher than getting in a car. My guess, just a guess, is that it's in the neighborhood of 1/100.

"Abby Sunderland was on the wrong type of boat (a racing yacht) in the wrong location (the southern Indian Ocean) at the wrong time of year (winter in the southern hemisphere). Other than those minor details it was a well-planned voyage."

Lolli wrote: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous women

Especially when driving cars.

MoapaPk wrote:

Lolli wrote: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous women

Especially when driving cars.

Or when woken with details of up coming climbing trips.

MoapaPk wrote:

Lolli wrote: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous women

Especially when driving cars.

Yeah, and at 0300 on the Friday Morning after Thanksgiving on their way to the local Mall!

Father sold the story to Reality TV even before she set sail.

Yup, all about her dreams.... Riiiiiiiiiiiight!

"Late last night, when the ship went down, I dreamed I saw a lifeboat.

Drifting like a swan on a deep blue lake, as the people climbed aboard.

Oh lifeboat, lifeboat, won't you come along and save me ...?"




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Ts2R9PD2A&feature=related

The Chief wrote:Father sold the story to Reality TV even before she set sail.

Yup, all about her dreams.... Riiiiiiiiiiiight!

Who wouldda thunk?

Mountain Impulse wrote:

The Chief wrote:Father sold the story to Reality TV even before she set sail.

Yup, all about her dreams.... Riiiiiiiiiiiight!

Who wouldda thunk?

I still think it went past this for Abby. If she was only interested in the record she would have quit in South Africa. But she didn't, she kept going. I think she enjoyed the adventure. I think she was excited about the prospect of sailing around the world regardless of the record.

If she can make a buck doing what she loves, who's to say that's wrong. The parents intent is debatable but they weren't the ones who had their asses out there on the line.