The case of Abby Sunderland

[pegkerr]

You may have seen the news stories about Abby Sunderland, the sixteen year old girl who was attempting to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world. (Her website is here.) She was in contact with her parents via satellite phone, reporting rough weather with 30 foot swells. Then her distress beacons were activated, and the family knew nothing for twenty tense hours until she was spotted by a rescue plane. Her boat had keeled over and demasted, but she is safe and sound. She has food and the keel is sound, and rescue is on the way. Now, of course, there are plenty of voices decrying the parents for allowing their daughter to make this venture. Renowned Australian round-the-world sailor Ian Kiernan said Abby should not have been in the southern Indian Ocean during the current southern hemisphere winter, saying "Abby would be going through a very difficult time with mountainous seas and essentially hurricane-force winds," Kiernan told Sky News television.

There have been accusations that the parents were reckless to allow their daughter to do this. I have been interested in following this story and weighing this question. There are a few considerations that make it seem less cut and dried than "oh, those stupid, reckless parents."

First of all, this family has actually been through this before. Abby's older brother is Zac Sunderland, who accomplished the same feat at the age of 17 and briefly held the record himself that Abby was trying to break. Everyone in the family is extremely experienced at sailing, with thousands of hours logged, and the father is a shipwright who knows ships inside and out. The family personally fitted each boat for the voyage, step by step. Furthermore, they planned the voyages extremely carefully, with every conceivable failsafe support they could muster, including telemetric navigation equipment, alarm beacons, and the aid of computer weather and navigational support. The family was in touch with Zac every day via Skype and Internet, just as they were with Abby. This isn't a case of a kid sailing off on a lark. Instead, these voyages were each carefully planned for over a year. See, for example, the FAQ from Zac's website, and the FAQ from Abby's website, concerning why the parents supported their journeys, preparation, safety and dangers.

Zac ran into trouble himself a few times. He, too, faced mountainous waves. At one time it was feared he had been kidnapped by Somali pirates, and again, the family had several tense hours before learning he was safe. He also had damage to his boat, which caused the necessity to stop for repairs. I don't recall quite so fierce criticism of Zac taking this adventure as Abby.

Could the difference be the few months in their ages? Zac was 17 and Abby was 16 when they set out.

I don't think so.

I suspect, frankly, that a large part of the difference is that Abby is a girl, and she is therefore automatically seen as less competent and serious than her brother Zac. And that makes me bristle.

I am not a fan, in general, of kids doing death-defying things. But if your kid really does want to do something big and adventurous, has done her research and prepared accordingly, then perhaps you have to set them free. I do think that the Sunderland family did their very best to anticipate and prepare for every possible contingency. The kids had prepared for years and despite the fact that they were kids, they were much more experienced and prepared than many adults who have attempted sailing adventures.

Of course, my girls have never asked me to let them do something like this. I am not sure how I would react when/if I'm ever asked to make the decision!

What do you think?

Comments

[flourish]

...and I agree with you, too. (The other has been deleted!)