Abby Sunderland feared lost at sea [she's OK!]

I do remember...I hope it's just lost communication. That's so sad.

Awful...I pray she's okay, and will return with a great adventure story.

I just watched the video. Boy...it sounds scary. Nobody's very close to her at the moment. Australia has offered to put a plane in the air to search, but the closest boat is 40 hours away.

I'm sorry but at 16, or 13 for the kid who climbed the mountain, its too young to do that kind of stuff. We are talking about life threatening situations here. Where are their parents? Yeah, it all sounds fantastic when they suceed but when they don;t then its childs life gone. Plus when they succeed it inspires other young kids to want to do dumb things.

Its bad enough people risk their lives for certain things. Kids shouldn;t be doing it!

That poor girl. I hope and pray she is alright.

I do hope she is just out of communication.

There was a time when 13 and 16 meant you were a man or woman. Like someone else said, older more experienced people have been lost at sea as well.

FWIW I thought the 13 year old was with a parent. He was certainly with other people, Iknow.

anyway- Vince- I have to disagree - life is dangerous. We shouldn't sit in our hovels not living life because "it might be dangerous." then nothing would ever happen.

Michael Wolfe said:

Yes, it wasn't a solo climb. I just brought it up because it was an example of a young person accomplishing an impressive, and dangerous feat.

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VERY dangerous. About 1 in 10 people who make it to the summit of Everest don't make it back down. Above ~26,000 ft (IIRC) there's basically no possibility of rescue if you get into trouble. The trail is littered with corpses.

Anybody know the fatality rate for round-the-world attempts?

Prior to an injury that cancelled our plans, my wife and I intended to circumnav instead of touring the US in a fifth-wheel after retirement. Physically, we were probably less capable between the two of us than this prime-of-life physical specimen. Proper equipment makes that less of an issue, though. The risks were no less for us, but the adventure beckoned.

To be fair, there are thousand of solo and couple sailors on circumnavs every day. The vast majority complete their trips with a few scary episodes and a great sense of achievement. Some pay the piper because of bad judgement, some because of bad luck, although good judgement can often help avoid bad luck.

People die crossing the street, because they're daydreaming of the adventures they were never brave enough to tackle. Godspeed and fair sailing to this young lady. I hope she pulls it out in the end.

Regardless of the outcome, my guess is she's already lived life more fully than some people in their 60s who never ventured out from in front of their TV. Who are we to say her choice was wrong for her?

I'm torn. Kudos to this adventure seeker and her parents for having the courage (or stupidity, I don't know) to do this. If it was my kid though, ya better believe she could replace her circumnav dreams with a nice sailing movie or something.

KTC said:

I do remember...I hope it's just lost communication. That's so sad.

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It's sad when a 16 year old girl gets brain cancer.

This falls under the category of needless and stupid.

Gretad08 said:

I'm torn. Kudos to this adventure seeker and her parents for having the courage (or stupidity, I don't know) to do this. If it was my kid though, ya better believe she could replace her circumnav dreams with a nice sailing movie or something.

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Yeah, quite honestly, I don't know what my reaction would be if it was my kid. But that's kinda the point. It's not my kid. It's not me. People have different perspectives, different dreams, and different risk-reward ratios.

While in Yellowstone, my 27-yr-old stepson ran to the top of Mt. Washburn and back. Not on the same level, of course, but when we saw the photos of ice bridges he crossed, with nothing but space on both sides for hundreds of feet, we both flinched. OTOH, he thought we were nuts to think about circumnav, but heights hold no fear for him.

Don said:

Yeah, quite honestly, I don't know what my reaction would be if it was my kid. But that's kinda the point. It's not my kid. It's not me. People have different perspectives, different dreams, and different risk-reward ratios.

While in Yellowstone, my 27-yr-old stepson ran to the top of Mt. Washburn and back. Not on the same level, of course, but when we saw the photos of ice bridges he crossed, with nothing but space on both sides for hundreds of feet, we both flinched. OTOH, he thought we were nuts to think about circumnav, but heights hold no fear for him.

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Definitely.

sassandgroove said:

anyway- Vince- I have to disagree - life is dangerous. We shouldn't sit in our hovels not living life because "it might be dangerous." then nothing would ever happen.

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There's a difference between not living life life because it may be dangerouse and doing things that a full of danger at such an early age. As a parent, there is that part of me that would like to keep my daughters under armed guard at all times, wrapped in bubble wrap and shielded from every negative influence out there. But I know that wouldn't be much of a life for them. So yeah, we let them do things. But we take caution. If they ride a bike, they wear a helmet.

Climbing Mount Everest or sailing around the world is pushing it, just a little bit in my book. These are still kids. When they are adults, then its up to them. But as a child, I would never let my kids do something like that. Sorry if that makes me sound overprotective.

The difference between this girl and the girl who made it is the girl who made it went before the storm season, not during. The girl's parents and this girl were warned to wait going into the indian ocean at this time of the year. They didn't listen. It's sad, it's tragic, but it's freakin monsoon season.

icerose said:

The difference between this girl and the girl who made it is the girl who made it went before the storm season, not during. The girl's parents and this girl were warned to wait going into the indian ocean at this time of the year. They didn't listen. It's sad, it's tragic, but it's freakin monsoon season.

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One thing we learned while we were in the planning stages for circumnav is that it's absolutely, positively stupid to argue with mother nature. Even a cruise ship captain knows there are times you wait out the weather, and cruise ships, unlike sailboats, can generally outrun a typhoon.

There's a well-known anchorage in the Miami area that fills up, sometimes for weeks, with sailors waiting to make the very short trip across the Gulf stream to the Bahamas. Sailors have often waited months to tackle the Indian Ocean, with good cause.

billythrilly7th said:

It's sad when a 16 year old girl gets brain cancer.

This falls under the category of needless and stupid.

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sure. okay. so it's not sad that a 16 year-old girl is lost at sea.

Damn shame, I hope she's okay...but, uh, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mother Nature is a cold hearted motherfucker who will kill you dead as soon as let you reach for your wallet.

Why do you think that after almost 20,000 years of struggle and toil, everyone who can afford too lives in a city? Mother Nature has been trying to kill us longer than we've been human beings, and now she wants us to play fair just because she's LOSING!? Ha!

I say the sooner we pave over the forests and jungles, the better.

I think it can be sad, needless and stupid all at the same time.

Zoombie said:

Damn shame, I hope she's okay...but, uh, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mother Nature is a cold hearted motherfucker who will kill you dead as soon as let you reach for your wallet.

Why do you think that after almost 20,000 years of struggle and toil, everyone who can afford too lives in a city? Mother Nature has been trying to kill us longer than we've been human beings, and now she wants us to play fair just because she's LOSING!? Ha!

I say the sooner we pave over the forests and jungles, the better.

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Mother Nature is a willing partner in most any love affair.

Try to rape her, though, and you'll likely pull back a stub.

I have an enormous amount of respect for anyone who risks danger in order to accomplish "the impossible".

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You know, it's not as if she were mushing dogs across the frozen tundra with penicillin to save the native village or something--I'd have an enormous amount of respect for anyone who risks danger to accomplish something meaningful. My understanding is that this attempt was to set some kind of age record. If this poor girl is really gone, her death was basically senseless and I judge the fame addled adults around her who should have known better.

Zoombie said:

Damn shame, I hope she's okay...but, uh, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mother Nature is a cold hearted motherfucker who will kill you dead as soon as let you reach for your wallet.

Why do you think that after almost 20,000 years of struggle and toil, everyone who can afford too lives in a city? Mother Nature has been trying to kill us longer than we've been human beings, and now she wants us to play fair just because she's LOSING!? Ha!

I say the sooner we pave over the forests and jungles, the better.

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Yeah that's great...until you need a simple thing called oxygen. Nature is quite awesome, but it takes a healthy amount of respect. And not everyone flocks to the cities. There are plenty of us who still love our space and who still love and appreciate nature.