<p>That’s one of the problems with the kind of stunt-sailing that was going on here – trying to sail non-stop, alone, etc. You don’t do what people do to avoid storms, which is to stop sailing for awhile, or sail in a different direction. (What a waste of an opportunity to see the world, too! Can you imagine? Going around the world without stopping to look at anything, or talking to anyone other than yourself and your parents?) </p>
<p>My best childhood friend just got back from a multi-year circumnavigation with his family in a small sailboat. When they were crossing the Indian Ocean (going the other way), they spent almost a month anchored at Chagos atoll (sort of a harbor in the middle of the ocean, very near the Diego Garcia naval base) waiting for storms to pass and winds to change. They spent hours every day with weather reports, etc., to avoid being in the middle of the ocean with 30-foot waves. But they weren’t trying to set speed records or impress anyone with how devil-may-care they were.</p>
<p>(Plenty of people thought my friend and his wife should be locked up for child endangerment, too. Starting with MY kids, who were horrified that any parents would subject their children to that. Their kids were 8 and 5 when they began their trip.)</p>
<p>At least they were cognizant of the dangers of the weather when it comes to sailing.</p>
<p>I am not experienced at sea, but many friends who sail for sport have said the Indian Ocean has some of the most treacherous weather and currents. These friends have said this is the “worst” time of the year, there for those conditions? I am not sure if that is the case why Abby and her parents didn’t plot a different time course, to avoid some of these dangers.</p>
<p>Sounds like your friends are doing it the right way. Wow, what an experience! And, just as you say, why do it if you are not actually going to stop here and there to see places?! More power to them!</p>
<p>I have to get this off my chest now that she has been located. Her parents should be prosecuted for child endangerment, they should have to pay 100% of the rescue bills and social services should remove the kids from the home. </p>
<p>This poor girl lived two years of her life with all the focus on her brother when he was doing his sailing stint. The parents livelihood is wrapped up in the sailing industry. Was she following her dream or just doing whatever it took to get her parents attention/approval?</p>
<p>Many kids have dreams and passions which would potentially put them in harm’s way, but thankfully they also have parents who can say NO.</p>
<p>While I think that the parents are jerks, I really don’t think that putting the kids in foster care would be doing them a favor. Let’s have some sense or proportion.</p>
<p>As to why they wouldn’t reschedule to avoid the worst weather in the Indian Ocean, the reason is obvious: she would be older, and possibly miss being “the youngest” to complete the trip.</p>
<p>If this interruption means that she can’t complete the trip in time to be “the youngest,” it is likely that she won’t make an attempt again. Thankfully.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this question has been asked and answered in this thread, but are the parents (or funds raised by them) paying for such things as a search plane? In the mountains in NE, people have a tendency to wander off poorly prepared and then expect the rescue services to come for them - partly because you can get a cellphone signal in many remote places. These people are now being charged for the costs, which I think is appropriate.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more, Kajon. I saw an interview with the father in which he made it clear that he was extremely religious, and during which he and Abby prayed. I suspected then that the family homeschooled, and a quick google search turned up the information that they did, indeed, all 8 children (the two who have already attempted the circumnavigation are the oldest, so these parents will have plenty of other opportunities to send their offspring out to set records under perilous conditions). So I would assume that Abby has very little independence and is even more under the influence of her parents than are most 16-year-olds.</p>
<p>(I have nothing against homeschooling; I have seriously considered it at various points for my children.)</p>
<p>Oh, and about the costs? I believe that there was a sponsor. This trip was supported by a team of engineers.</p>
<p>Lergnom, I read an article today that they will not have to pay for the search plane. Australia paid for it and won’t ask for reimbursement.</p>
<p>Consolation…before this mishap with Abby’s boat in the Indian Ocean, she already was not going to hold the record of the “youngest” to do this. She was already beat out, for one thing, by an Australian girl recently. Further, Abby had mechanical problems and had to get that fixed in South Africa, which meant that she would not hold the record of youngest to sail around the world without stopping, but they chose for her to complete the trip anyway, even though she no longer was going for a record.</p>
<p>I read a news blog but we can’t post to blogs. The article was about kids doing death defying stunts. The writer made an interesting, ironic, and somewhat humorous point that at least the Balloon Boy dad had enough sense to fake the stunt while his kid fulfilled the “adventure” safely in a box in his attic, but ironically that was the parent who actually did jail time and not the parents of the kids who truly did the stunts!</p>
<p>All kids adventures’ costs to society have to be covered by parents who allow such things. Even if stunt is fake as long as there is price tag involved, $$ have to be collected from family…or any private sponsors.</p>
<p>The very idea of being in a small boat with my family for years on end makes every family car vacation-trip story I have ever heard pale in significance. I guarantee you that there would be a strong urge to be throwing people overboard and some of us would be fleeing at the first sign of land and not getting back on the boat.</p>
<p>I remember taking a few car trips as a child where I would get the back seat to lie down in and my younger brother would get the back window. Of course there were no seatbelts. </p>
<p>We drive many times a year from NC to FL to visit family but it is solely on interstates with great and accessible food/gas options in a reliable (albeit older) Honda minivan. I could not tolerate the eyerolling, grunting, exasperation from my teens if they had to travel on back roads, no air, no comfy pit-stops, no clear directions! Just the thought makes me laugh!</p>