<p>Yes, that’s Abby did it now during the terrible winter season - any later and no record.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think it makes you parents who are willing to put their child at extreme risk for no important reason.</p>
<p>As the daughter of a pilot with decades of experience flying all sorts of small aircraft, I have heard “fly-talk” for years. One of the things I learned early on is that bad stuff happens precisely when you think all’s well – when you’ve been well trained, the plane’s been properly serviced, when its been gassed, when every bolt is still intact and tight, when all instruments seem to be (and really ARE) working properly, and the sky is blue.</p>
<p>Nobody ever expects a problem then, and sure, a well trained 16-year-old could fly solo quite competently if those conditions were assured.</p>
<p>But they’re not. When something goes wrong in a small plane, it usually goes wrong very unpredictably, very quickly, and (sad to say) very fatally. To have even a remote chance of saving yourself requires a great deal of experience, wisdom, and a fully matured brain. 16-year-olds have none of those.</p>
<p>I don’t know if letting your 16 year old fly solo makes you bad parents. I asked my Dad, who’s not the type to mince words. He said it makes you nuts.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>True, but maybe next time she could try it blindfolded and with one hand tied behind her back.</p>
<p>I am glad she is safe and rescued, but really who pays for all the resue endeavors that went into getting her. I think it is reprehensible to put other people at risk for the bad judgment of parents. They should bear some of the cost.</p>
<p>I just read that the mom, Marianne, is pregnant with her 8th child. Are they going to let each of the remaining 6 children try this stunt?</p>
<p>This sounds all too familiar to me.</p>
<p>Can we say, Balloon Boy?</p>
<p>“Curious her father now states dismissively that he won’t be discussion the details of what got her into this mess.”</p>
<p>Maybe she saw a spider.</p>
<p>Did you see the interview where the father said that he was disappointed with his daughter?</p>
<p>If this was a child, who all on her own, decided to take up sailing and then solo around the world, that would be one thing. But she’s not. She’s a child who is part of a social system (her family) that has probably indoctrinated her from birth that ‘we are sailors and if you want to be part of this family, then you must do this.’ I see no free will involved in these types of situations. Does anyone think that Michael Jackson or even Tiger Woods had a choice about their chosen professions? I don’t. When you give out the message (verbal or not) that the way to be valued and loved by a parent is to perform well at a certain task, then you basically leave the child with no choice. That is what happens in a lot of these situations. Of course, there is some innate talent involved (Michael and Janet were obviously more talented that some of the other siblings) but also, these activities become the sole focus of the families life and people are bound to become very good at something when that’s all they do. Tiger Woods father loved the game of golf, so he deliberately set about to make his son into a golf star (Tiger’s half-sister also plays). I’m not the least bit surprised that people like Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods have all kinds of psychological issues. </p>
<p>I know a couple who love basketball (neither were allowed to play as children). So they made a pact that when they had children, they would train their kids to be basketball players who would be good enough to get college scholarships. From the moment the kids were old enough to stand, they started teaching them to dribble and shoot baskets. They used a lot of positive reinforcement and praise. It worked - each kid, two girls and a boy, played HS basketball and went on to get college scholarships to play BB. I asked the husband one time (who, btw, is a clinical psychologist) if he wasn’t forcing this on to his children. He said, “Well, if they didn’t want to play, then they didn’t have to.” I disagree. There are very subtle forces that go on within a family that children pick up on. It’s not hard for a child to pick up on the message that if they aren’t on board with the family’s ‘activity of choice’ then they will be an outsider in their own family. </p>
<p>That’s the thing that bothers me about these types of situations. I really feel sorry for these kids. That, and the issue of who picks up the tab for the search and rescue. I absolutely think the family should be held financially responsible for this. If you hike in the Grand Canyon and get lost and they have to send in a search team, you are required to foot the bill. It is stated very clearly on the signs to the entrance to the hiking trails. Seems fair to me.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Stranded</a> teen sailor is ‘safe and sound’ - CNN.com](<a href=“Stranded teen sailor is 'safe and sound' - CNN.com”>Stranded teen sailor is 'safe and sound' - CNN.com)</p>
<p>I would agree with Abby that her age is not to blame for the damage to her boat that left her in this bind. It could happen to any sailor. The odds of storms this time of year in the Indian Ocean are likely and thus, very risky. </p>
<p>Where age comes into play is that parents, whose job it is to make such final decision and as protectors of their minor children, should not have put her at this grave risk.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since the real goal here is not sportsmanship and adventure, but more stupidly, to make some kind of meaningless record and go on talk shows to sell books, she has endless possibilities. </p>
<p>So she can’t be the youngest solo without touching land…but hey maybe next time she’ll be the youngest person to sail solo not touching land while blindfolded! Or the youngest person to sail solo not touching land while surviving on only bananas and water! Or… Just as likely these life risking stunts will garner her the publicity and shoe sales her family is seeking.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A little off topic, but this reminds me of a superb book written by Gavin de Becker (former cop and founder of hugely successful security company that protects high-profile people and their families from nut-cases). His book is called “The Gift of Fear.”</p>
<p>He talks about how we (like all animals) are hardwired to sense danger and quickly act to avoid it. But we, humans, because of our social concerns, often override our instincts. For example, it’s late night when I return to my hotel, the lobby is deserted, I press the button for the elevator and when the door opens there is a man alone inside, or a man comes up behind me.</p>
<p>I have a funny feeling about riding up to my floor alone with a strange man, but the alternative of not getting on feels embarrassing (I’ll feel foolish not getting on or having the man realize I’m uncomfortable getting onto an elevator with him. So I override my instincts and get on.</p>
<p>De Becker analyzes many famous and tragic crime cases (Ted Bundy and the like) and shows how those poor victims had multiple opportunities to avoid their tragic fates if they had only heeded their instincts and taken a different course of action.</p>
<p>He gives phenomenally helpful strategies for making sure you will NOT be the victim one of these psychos chooses. I learned so much from this book and it really changed some of the small but significant things I do at home and when traveling alone.</p>
<p>It is required reading for my D before she leaves for college.</p>
<p>Sorry for going on a bit of a tangent, but this book is extremely readable, practical, written by a guy who truly is an expert in how the bad guys choose their victims and who has probably saved many lives with his lectures, book, and professional security work. Its a must-read.</p>
<p>
MomLive, I agree, but I think you can replace the word sailors with just about anything. You mentioned golf and singing/performing, but stellar academic achievement could be the message (verbal or not) to securing parental approval and love.</p>
<p>The fact that she even said something about how her age didn’t cause the storm just makes it blindingly obvious that she is completely unable to fathom the risks she took. No, your age didn’t cause the storm, but you would never have had the remaining 70 some years of your life at risk had your parents not let you run into the storm!</p>
<p>I really have a lot of respect for this girl and what she has accomplished, it’s just so sad to think about what her parents nearly lost. She’s obviously a very talented girl with a lot left to do in life, it would have been a tragedy for her and her family to miss out on all she had left to give.</p>
<p>…stellar academic achievement could be “the message (verbal or not)” to securing parental approval and love…</p>
<p>Or other values we instill in our kids? Where do we draw the line? How do we tell which is the right encouargement?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure she had a satellite phone… so whenever she wanted? I guess?</p>
<p>She had a satellite phone and internet so she could talk to people, but the minutes were very expensive so I got the impression she wasn’t on the phone yapping much. Some were covered by her sponsor but she references how expensive keeping communications up was frequently in her blog.</p>
<p>Could some of the sailors here speculate on what happened with the mast and why the father doesn’t want to share the details of the accident?</p>
<p>^^^Yes, I still find it odd that they don’t want to comment on the details of the accident. It sounded to me as if the storm with high winds and high waves damaged the boat, which can happen to a sailor of ANY age (one of the dangers of such a solo sail). Anyone would understand that. What would there be to hide? The only thing I can think of is that there were contributing factors to her handling it or something else that may cause people to point to her age. Based on the little we know, in my opinion, her age was not much of a factor in what happened. But this risk was significant, which is why it was crazy to let a young person be in such danger.</p>
<p>Masts are heavy structures that rely on a system of cables (shrouds and stays) to keep them upright, stable and able to absorb the tremendous forces caused by the wind and seas. There are a variety of circumstances that can lead to the failure of this structure when encountering severe conditions. There can be what is called a knock down where the boat is rolled by a wave or gust of wind with the result that the mast hits the water. As the boat tries to right itself, the weight of the water on the mast structure (particularly if there are any sails up) causes catastrophic failure. A huge wave breaking over the boat at the wrong angle could do the same. There are so many things that could happen in a storm of the magnitude she was facing that can just cause mechanical failure of the mast’s supporting structure. My bet would be that a combination of factors caused the mast structure to be submerged resulting in things just breaking.</p>
<p>The reason why the father doesn’t want to talk, IMHO there is the potential for a book, movie, interviews that will pay money, or maybe he already committed to a contract of some sort prior to her taking off.
But only time will really tell the real story behind it.</p>