This is kinda sad

[Jim80]

I understand that the girl loved sailing and was trying to set a record but what parent lets their 16 year old go off around the world in a boat by themselves . Truly sad that she is missing

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTfaa0Sx...%2Bsunderland/

Jim

[Snake2715]

I just read that, there are distress beacons out so lets see if they can find her... like a needle....

[1/4 stick]

I hope they find her ok, it's a big ocean though. Hopefully the beacon is with her. Does make me wonder about the parents. My daughter is an adult and I'd likely lock her in the basement if she got some fool notion like that in her head.

The basement might be extreme, but she'd have to deal with her daddy in a boat right behind her raising heck about her making me follow her. Fishing the entire time of course. lol

[brushhog]

It is certainly not something I would want my daughter to try, but I guess right now is not the time to judge. God bless her and those looking for her.

[nofearengineer]

I'll judge them. I get the stink eye from my relatives and friends because I don't agree with car seat laws. And those same people give me crap because I think KIDS shouldn't be allowed to sail the seas alone, where there is real danger.

[Jrob78]

Why on Earth would a 16 yr old be in the middle of the Indian Ocean, alone during the middle of storm season?? I can understand wanting to accomplish sailing around the world alone but does alone mean completely and utterly alone? No follow boat?

[1/4 stick]

They found her! Alive and well, thank goodness.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37621453...news?GT1=43001

Now on with bashing her parents.

[BassinBandit]

Im sorry I can't bash the parents or her. It was a great attempt at something amazing. I hope she has the nerve to try it again. She attempted and made it a lot further than 99% of the people in the U.S. While it may be dangerous but if we all live like that none of the great feats would ever have been accomplished. Think back to when Woo Daves won the Classic, if you saw the footage he would go up a wave (or swell) and then disappear over the other side and was fishing while doing. Most of us would say "Thats crazy" but it won him the classic. I know most will not agree with me but thats okay. I am glad they found her alive and well. That is the most important thing, but I hope she gets her chance again.

[Snake2715]

Her brother had done it the year prior. She is not just some non sailor attempting this. Good for her and glad they found her alive. They still have to get to her though.

It will be interesting to see if this will drive her to another attempt or let it go.

[nofearengineer]

I'm not bashing her at all. I think she's probably a great kid. Heck, I know I could never do it. I can't even keep from falling out of my bassboat.

I'm simply stunned by the apathy shown by her parents for letting her do something so dangerous. And her brother too. I'm not being sexist here.

Your first job as a parent is to keep your kids alive, if nothing else. I am far from encouraging people from coddling their kids. Kids need challenges, definitely. TOUGH challenges. But to send your kid out alone 15,000 miles from you, where the rule of law does not exist, is just ridiculous. All in the name of being famous.

The same thing goes for the morons who recently let their 13 year old son climb Mt. Everest with them.

[Abbeysdad]

Well, if my Abbey ever hints at such an idea, I'm gonna try and talk some sense into her!

I know very little about sailing, but know people who do sail, love it and sail a lot - and those folks tell me you could spend a lifetime learning to sail well. So here's a 16 year old attempting to circumnavigate the globe ... in a tiny sail boat ... during storm season? ...So she can be the youngest [foolish person] ever to do so?

I get just a little unnerved when there are 1-2 foot waves on the lake...imagine 30 foot swells, rogue waves and no land for hundreds of miles!

About like my wife's great grandfather, George Harbo -> http://www.quarrell.demon.co.uk/DaringTheSea/

And in the end, for all the risk, there's little more than braggin rights ~

[1/4 stick]

Many kudos to the girl and her courage and ambition. I admire that in her and it should be encouraged within reason. I certainly couldn't do it. I just don't think it's right that her parents allowed her, or her brother to put herself in a situation where she would be alone, hundreds of miles from help, in oceans where storms and swells can challenge a whole crew of sailors.

By todays standards, if you let your kids help you in your buisness for longer than a couple hours a day, you're running a sweat shop. They'd freak at the hours my parents kept me helping them sometime when I was growing up. But it's perfectly alright to let your kid go out in the open ocean, where they'd be subject to hurricane season and the other unpredictable weather and water conditions? I'm sorry, I just think it's wrong.

[WaffleJaw]

I hope the parents got a gut check from this....Thankfully they got lucky....I dont care how much you know,or if Daddy owns a yacht management company.
You simply do not send a child to battle nature.

[1/4 stick]

Originally Posted by Abbeysdad

Well, if my Abbey ever hints at such an idea, I'm gonna try and talk some sense into her!

I know very little about sailing, but know people who do sail, love it and sail a lot - and those folks tell me you could spend a lifetime learning to sail well. So here's a 16 year old attempting to circumnavigate the globe ... in a tiny sail boat ... during storm season? ...So she can be the youngest [foolish person] ever to do so?

I get just a little unnerved when there are 1-2 foot waves on the lake...imagine 30 foot swells, rogue waves and no land for hundreds of miles!

About like my wife's great grandfather, George Harbo -> http://www.quarrell.demon.co.uk/DaringTheSea/

And in the end, for all the risk, there's little more than braggin rights ~

That's cool! Can you imagine some of the stories that man could have told?

But... They were adults, and as you said, they risked their lives for very little.

[CamG]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

I'll judge them. I get the stink eye from my relatives and friends because I don't agree with car seat laws. And those same people give me crap because I think KIDS shouldn't be allowed to sail the seas alone, where there is real danger.

Not to change the subject, but what car seat law do you not agree with?

Also, I'm glad they found her...but man I just can't get on board with the whole deal.

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by CamG

Not to change the subject, but what car seat law do you not agree with?

Also, I'm glad they found her...but man I just can't get on board with the whole deal.

Check out http://www.elitecarseats.com/custser...=car_seat_laws

There are quite a few states where you have to sit in a car seat until you reach 57 inches in height. And you can get a hefty fine if they catch you with your 15 year old kid without a seat belt.

I ask you, which is more dangerous, riding in a car with no seat belt, or sailing the Indian Ocean by yourself? Come on...

Do I think riding with a seat belt is safer? Of course it is. However, apparently, you're not even allowed to question the law unless you are prepared to get shunned by all the people who obviously "love their kids more than you".

Heck, when I was a kid, my mother couldn't even have legally taken all of us (4 boys) to the store in the car, for lack of being able to fit 4 car seats in the back seat of the station wagon. I guess leaving us at home alone would have been a better option.

[bcklash]

Originally Posted by BassinBandit

Im sorry I can't bash the parents or her. It was a great attempt at something amazing. I hope she has the nerve to try it again. She attempted and made it a lot further than 99% of the people in the U.S. While it may be dangerous but if we all live like that none of the great feats would ever have been accomplished. Think back to when Woo Daves won the Classic, if you saw the footage he would go up a wave (or swell) and then disappear over the other side and was fishing while doing. Most of us would say "Thats crazy" but it won him the classic. I know most will not agree with me but thats okay. I am glad they found her alive and well. That is the most important thing, but I hope she gets her chance again.

Everybody knows the BassinBandit is my son, ask him if I would let him make that trip at 16. He's 29 now and I would try my dangest to talk him out of it now. This trip was just stupid.

Originally Posted by WaffleJaw

I hope the parents got a gut check from this....Thankfully they got lucky....I dont care how much you know,or if Daddy owns a yacht management company.
You simply do not send a child to battle nature.

Your right on WJ. Losing a child is the greatest pain a parent can go through and it gets worse day after day, year after year.
I'm glad she's safe and hope her dumbass parents get that gut check.

[Jim80]

Just glad they found her ok , and still think someone should beat her parents with a jar of rancid pickles .



Jim

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by Jim80

someone should beat her parents with a jar of rancid pickles

LOL. Thanks Jim. That made my day.

[walkeraviator]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Check out http://www.elitecarseats.com/custser...=car_seat_laws

There are quite a few states where you have to sit in a car seat until you reach 57 inches in height. And you can get a hefty fine if they catch you with your 15 year old kid without a seat belt.

I ask you, which is more dangerous, riding in a car with no seat belt, or sailing the Indian Ocean by yourself? Come on...

Do I think riding with a seat belt is safer? Of course it is. However, apparently, you're not even allowed to question the law unless you are prepared to get shunned by all the people who obviously "love their kids more than you".

Heck, when I was a kid, my mother couldn't even have legally taken all of us (4 boys) to the store in the car, for lack of being able to fit 4 car seats in the back seat of the station wagon. I guess leaving us at home alone would have been a better option.

You are an engineer. So you know what statistics mean... I bet if you check it, a higher percentage people die in car accidents not wearing seat belts than die sailing in the indian ocean during sorm season. 57" is definitely overboard, but it is just plain child neglect to let anyone who you are teh legal guardian of ride in a car with no belt on...

[CamG]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

Check out http://www.elitecarseats.com/custser...=car_seat_laws

There are quite a few states where you have to sit in a car seat until you reach 57 inches in height. And you can get a hefty fine if they catch you with your 15 year old kid without a seat belt.

I ask you, which is more dangerous, riding in a car with no seat belt, or sailing the Indian Ocean by yourself? Come on...

Do I think riding with a seat belt is safer? Of course it is. However, apparently, you're not even allowed to question the law unless you are prepared to get shunned by all the people who obviously "love their kids more than you".

Heck, when I was a kid, my mother couldn't even have legally taken all of us (4 boys) to the store in the car, for lack of being able to fit 4 car seats in the back seat of the station wagon. I guess leaving us at home alone would have been a better option.

I agree that letting you're kid sail at 16 across the world is not smart at all.

The seat belt laws are in place for ignorant parents, plain and simple. I grew up riding in the front seat with no seatbelt when I was a child...people just didn't know any better. Heck, they used to think smoking cigarettes and using Asbestos was perfectly safe. Extensive research has been done on the effectiveness of child restraints and height/weight requirements. The laws reflect the research.

I can promise you this...once you scrape a kid (literally scrape - done it twice myself in the last three years) off the highway just because their parents thought they were smarter than the law, you'll think differently. I know their parents do now.

[1/4 stick]

Originally Posted by walkeraviator

You are an engineer. So you know what statistics mean... I bet if you check it, a higher percentage people die in car accidents not wearing seat belts than die sailing in the indian ocean during sorm season. 57" is definitely overboard, but it is just plain child neglect to let anyone who you are teh legal guardian of ride in a car with no belt on...

Of course, millions of people get in cars every hour on hour, with and without seatbelts. Where as a small fraction of that sail the Indian ocean... yea, there's not going to be as many deaths from the sailing. duh.

[nofearengineer]

Walker,

I'll guarantee your odds of being killed sailing solo through the Indian Ocean during Winter are a thousand times greater than the odds of being killed in the back seat of a station wagon during a trip to the grocery store without your seat belt on.

[bamabassman]

<<< wonders what the odds are of getting killed by rancid pickle beatings.

[1/4 stick]

Why do I get the feeling people are going to start getting text images of rancid pickles?