Posted on 06/10/2010 4:35:46 PM PDT by jimbo123
The engineer behind Abby Sunderland's solo trip around the world says he believes the 16-year-old Thousand Oaks sailor is "alive" and "most likely floating" in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the family's home, Jeff Casher said he spoke to her at 3:45 a.m. Thursday, then lost contact after she went to check on some equipment on her boat. About an hour later, she apparently activated her emergency beacons – devices that sent automatic alerts to the Coast Guard and her family.
Casher said the family is looking at three possible scenarios. Either the boat's mast came down, giving her no ability to sail the vessel; the keel hit something and possibly flipped the boat upside down; or she may have broken an arm or leg while being whipsawed about in violent waters.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
What were the parents thinking? Are they so hungry for their daughter to be famous that they allowed her to deliberately put herself in a high-risk, potentially life-threatening situation? Where is the adult judgment?
Indian Ocean leg
On July 6, 1967, Graham sailed Dove out of Darwin and made 1,900 miles in 18 days to reach Direction Island in the Cocos Islands. Eighteen hours out of the Cocos Islands, Dove was again demasted during a brief storm. Graham sailed under jury rig for 2,300 miles to reach Port Louis Harbor, Mauritius. After repairs, Dove made for Reunion Island and then sailed 1,450 miles to Durban, South Africa.
Graham spent nine months in South Africa, calling on ports along the southern edge of the continent including East London, South Africa, Port Elizabeth, Plettenbergbaai, Knysna, Stilbaai, Struisbaai, Gordon’s Bay and finally Cape Town. He married his girlfriend and went on a honeymoon at Kruger National Park.
Her sponsors have gone into hiding.
Kids go into protective custody for less abuse imo. If the kid was 2 years older and decided to become shark food, ok. But at 16 the parents are entirely responsible for this. If the kid survives she should be put in a foster home. I doubt she’ll be seen again though if there’s nobody there by now.
As someone once said “School’s Out.. for.. summer!”
She is home-schooled. All the Sunderland kids are.
“She is home-schooled. All the Sunderland kids are.”
Well, there’s one good decision the parents made.
If she's with the fishes then she's in school.
Exactly!
She should be at school texting and twittering, at home watching American Idol, listening to Justin Bieber and eating Ritalin like other kids her age!
Striving for greatness is so dangerous! Plus, it gives all the mediocre kids bad self-esteem.
There are people -- a lot of them -- who do extreme things all the time, without tooting their horns. Almost everybody likes a challenge; some are just further out on the edge.
Whether that's a full explanation for this girl is an open question. The publicity part comes from a combination of things, including the coolness of the story, and the fact that she has a large number of sponsors and a very large support crew. I have to think "people knowing: is more a consequence than a motivation for her trip.
Yeh, in fact her older brother Zac who already did his round the world solo sail, just “graduated” high school the same day Abby went missing.
You're a very bad man....
Even though I'm worried for her, and it's extremely tasteless, I had to chuckle at that....
Maybe if she lives she can be the world’s youngest base jumper?
Are you kidding me, you think this is acceptable for parents to let their kids go off and try this stuff?
They rushed the voyage to take place in the Winter in order for her to break the age record.
Most of the others who made the voyage in the past (including her brother) sailed during the late Spring/early Summer.
They really should have thought more about sending their daughter out to sea on this solo voyage during the winter.
Oh brother...............
Zac made his Indian Ocean leg of the voyage in the late Spring/early Summer. His sister, unfortunately, is making the same trip during the early Winter.
Maybe so, but I can't help but think it's the source of most human progress. Anyway, as I've always observed, Man is the only creature who will die for the sake of his ego.
I have no problem with an ADULT seeking fame. But I do have a problem with a child or teenager being pushed to seek it—especially when the consequences of failure could be fatal. I think that is the case here.
“Well, he’s an engineer, so he must know. /s”
So, an anti-engineerite, are we?
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