Posted on 07/11/2014 2:30:24 PM PDT by SilvieWaldorfMD
The parents who were stranded at sea with their two young daughters and had to be rescued by a U.S. Navy warship say they plan to sue their satellite phone carrier and hope any monetary winnings will allow them to help repay the government's cost of their rescue.
“To see people show up to help you like that is pretty amazing,” Eric Kaufman told ABC News, referring to the team from California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing that parachuted out of a plane into the frigid waters off the coast of Mexico to save his family.
Kaufman and his wife, Charlotte, and their two daughters - ages 1 and 3 at the time - were some 900 nautical miles off the coast of Mexico aboard their 36-foot sailboat named the Rebel Heart last April when their daughter Lyra, 1, became sick with a fever and a rash.
“That’s when we knew we were in a bad spot,” said Eric Kaufman, who, with his wife, had spent years planning the 3,000-mile trip from Mexico to New Zealand.
The Kaufmans allege their satellite phone carrier cut off their only connection to land while they were stranded. They used the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) on their boat to call for help.
“We activated it and we sat there,” Kaufman said.
It took members of the 129th Rescue Wing three days to reach the family.
“We were very prepared,” she said. “We knew what we were doing.”
The family's boat was purposely sunk after it was damaged in the journey. The Kaufmans say they hope to buy a new boat, possibly also with any money from the planned lawsuit, and return to the sea.
"I can't wait to get back," said Charlotte. "It's an amazing lifestyle."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I'd have guessed that to be a MUCH longer trip.
Unbelievable! Not really! Shoot, the government will probably give them twice as much, just to teach the Navy a lesson.
Taking 1 and 3 year olds on something like that is idiocy.
Did the satellite phone cause their kid to get sick? No.
Cause their boat to take on water? No.
Delay the signal that they needed to be rescued? No.
Delay the response of the rescue service? No.
It is. I just Googled it. It’s 6,902 miles.
Details. Details.
I can’t get a signal in my building with my regular phone.
I am gonna sue!
These people are stuck on stupid.
No HF radio? I don’t think I’d rely solely on a Sat Phone. Yeesh. And since when does -any- comms device come with a guarantee of connectivity 24/7? Who thinks like that?
What are your actual damages?
One month of cell service? Then that’s your compensation.
If you planned so well, what was the back up plan if the phone was thrown overboard by the three year old?
And even if you could suspend belief and pretend their problem was caused by termination of service, it is not foreseeable that would cause them to be stranded in a boat.
Beyond that, they did have an alternate means of communication that they effectively used to call in a rescue.
That lawsuit is a loser, even in Kalifornia.
But Charollette gushed, “I can’t wait to get back. It’s just an amazing lifestyle!”
If it didn’t cost so much I start a collection to buy ‘em a new boat and give them another shot at cleaning up the gene pool.
there has been at least one flame war on Freerepublic over that. A sizable number of Freepers thought it was fine.
As a parent of four, when the question is asked, “what could possibly go wrong,” the answer is plenty. There was a time when we visited the Childrens’ Hospital emergency room at least once a year. Then there are all the nutty things very young children do, like fall out of the boat or throw your satellite phone in the ocean or reach out to a dangerous fish or . . .
"I can't wait to get back," said Charlotte. "It's an amazing lifestyle."
California has a well deserved reputation as the land of Fruits and Nuts.
“It is. I just Googled it. It’s 6,902 miles.”
The man in the article claimed he knew what he was doing. If he knew what he was doing, then why did he only think New Zealand was 3000 miles away?
Look...i personally know Clark W. Griswold and if he says he planned the trip...then he planned the trip.
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