Am I alone?

[Mitchell Andrus]

If people choose to put themselves in harm's way, then rescue attempts should be nonexistant to minimal. Save the rescue teams for those that are in peril through no fault of their own.

Well.... yea, I agree to a shallow point. To take this to heart though, you have to allow kids who skateboard without a helmet to die on the street of a cracked skull while you rescue the ones who wear a helmet, but break only a wrist. No helmet = too much risk, you're on your own. Right? Good luck with that one at a town hall meeting.

Rescue one, you've got to rescue all.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

An older master sailor would have had clear sailing?

Perhaps an older master sailor would have stayed home or steered around it, or made the attempt in a better boat.

Yes, her age and inexperience had a lot to do with it.
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[paul cottingham]

Ken - sorry, dude, but........IIRC she was in 30 foot swells and 20 kt winds, with the winds heading to gusts up to 60 kt. Sail lost, boat eventually dismasted. I am unclear how the sailor's age comes into that - as the gods of sky and weather, do Zeus/Jupiter seek out boats on an age-specific scale, or something like that? An older master sailor would have had clear sailing? Capt Ernest M. McSorley of the Edmund Fitzgerald would disagree - if only he could.

I know 16-yr olds that are fools, and 16-yr olds that are wise beyond their years. I know 55-yr-olds that are wise beyond their years, and 55-yr-olds that are fools when compared to the wise 16-yr-olds.

+1 Age can be pretty irrelevant. Experience and wisdom count.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Perhaps an older master sailor would have stayed home or steered around it, or made the attempt in a better boat.

Yes, her age and inexperience had a lot to do with it.
.

Well, now, Mitchell.....I don't know that her boat wasn't capable of the trip - it certainly came through that blow, it seems - upright, sealed, but no mast - and her older brother made the trip just last year. Ya' think she set out in an inferior boat to his? (If it was my little sister, I would do that, but she's been a PITA for many decades ).

And how exactly does one steer around a huge storm in a boat/ship of any type? You can't outrun them, you can't move fast enough to get out of their way - little sailboat, or aircraft carrier group.

My big brother has driven airplanes for the USAF and commercial carriers forever, and he will be the first to tell you that the prevailing theory of "big sky little plane" doesn't permit you to avoid all storms - and he has a lot of speed, 3D to work with, fancy avionics, and a huge ground network of support. And a ship is supposed to "go around" a big storm in the middle of the Indian Ocean? Of course, if you knew a week or two in advance where the weather would be, you could avoid it. But then, if you knew that you would be a multi-jillionaire from using your foresight on the stock market.

There was no better master than McSorley, and there was no better ship than the Fitz, and they are at the bottom of Lake Superior.

Of course, if you are saying no one should try this crazy stunt - any age, any boat, any time - I'd agree with that. But then, Hillary, Lindbergh, Byrd, Earhart, Armstrong, et. al., put paid to that idea.

[Mitchell Andrus]

+1 Age can be pretty irrelevant. Experience and wisdom count.

Age is a perfect predictor of both experience and wisdom. A 55 year old might have made it through a dozen storms like hers, and known when to stay in port for a few days. No 16 yo breaks out in a sweat just thinking about nearly being killed - ya gotta have been there to feel the adrenaline. Just like touching a hot stove.

No doubt the next time she tries this, she'll be better prepared, maybe have a bigger boat, and likely make the call to stay in the shallows til the storm passes.

I know she had lots of real-time help on the weather.... did they miss the call here?

Just wondering.... was the goal to do this non-stop?
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[Pat Germain]

I think it's great that kid was out there alone; just her, her boat and the ocean. By all accounts, she is a very competent sailor. That's all that matters. Meanwhile, that young lady's peers are driving around and texting nonsense to each other about how much their life sucks. It wasn't long ago when Navy officers started training by setting sail at age twelve.

Focusing on the rescue effort and its expense is ridiculous. This is exactly why these rescue units exist. She was a competent sailor, well equipped and sailing. Weather happens suddenly and unexpectedly at sea. It's not her fault her mast broke. That has absolutely NOTHING to do with her age or experience.

The Coast Guard rescues fisherman at sea all the time. An a lot of them were doing bone-headed things. Should we say they had no business being out there fishing?

EDIT: I agree completely with Kent!

Many folks here know I was in the Navy. Ever hear of the Bermuda Triangle? Here's the real deal. There's nothing mysterious or paranormal about it. It's simply an area where there are a lot small boats and aircraft sailing and flying between the US, Bermuda and multiple islands in the Caribbean.

Simply by the sheer number of boats and planes, you're going to see a lot of them disappear due to weather and mechanical failure. But add to this that many, many of those pilots and sailors are incapable of navigating or handling emergencies. Then throw in the fact they drink heavily enroute. This all adds up to "The Devil's Triangle". Their age is irrelevant.

Case in point: When I was aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (TR), we fished two guys from the Caribbean. Their trimaran had capsized three days before we found them. They were sunburned and dehydrated, but otherwise OK. However, if the TR had not happened by, they would have soon been dead and never seen again. By the logic I'm seeing here, we should have sent a bill to those two sailors for having the audicity to capsize at sea.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken - sorry, dude, but........IIRC she was in 30 foot swells and 20 kt winds, with the winds heading to gusts up to 60 kt. Sail lost, boat eventually dismasted. I am unclear how the sailor's age comes into that - as the gods of sky and weather, do Zeus/Jupiter seek out boats on an age-specific scale, or something like that? An older master sailor would have had clear sailing? Capt Ernest M. McSorley of the Edmund Fitzgerald would disagree - if only he could.

I know 16-yr olds that are fools, and 16-yr olds that are wise beyond their years. I know 55-yr-olds that are wise beyond their years, and 55-yr-olds that are fools when compared to the wise 16-yr-olds.

Sorry my foot.

Age has nothing to do with it EXCEPT....she and her parents wanted their 15 minutes of fame and therefore she was out there AND rescuers were put in harms way in bad weather. It would not be nearly as headline garnering if it had been a 61 year old instead of a 16 year old.

If she hadn't been out there.....neither would have the rescuers.....

[Pat Germain]

Sorry my foot.

Age has nothing to do with it EXCEPT....she and her parents wanted their 15 minutes of fame and therefore she was out there AND rescuers were put in harms way in bad weather. It would not be nearly as headline garnering if it had been a 61 year old instead of a 16 year old.

If a 61 year old was trying to set a record we would have heard about it. Just like we heard about it when Richard Branson was trying to set ballooning records. I guess he shouldn't have bothered. He had to be rescued more than once.

If she hadn't been out there.....neither would have the rescuers....

Well, that's the case with any rescue, isn't it?

I don't think the objective was 15 minutes of fame. I don't know all the details, but it's likely she sought sponsors to assist with the cost. The girl is from a family of sailors. And she is a very good sailor. She wanted to challenge herself and set a record. That's part of the human experience. If she tried to go over Niagra falls in a barrel, I'd say, "Yeah, that was stupid and just for fame". But I think setting a sailing record is completely different.

[Neal Clayton]

Ken - sorry, dude, but........IIRC she was in 30 foot swells and 20 kt winds, with the winds heading to gusts up to 60 kt. Sail lost, boat eventually dismasted. I am unclear how the sailor's age comes into that - as the gods of sky and weather, do Zeus/Jupiter seek out boats on an age-specific scale, or something like that? An older master sailor would have had clear sailing? Capt Ernest M. McSorley of the Edmund Fitzgerald would disagree - if only he could.

I know 16-yr olds that are fools, and 16-yr olds that are wise beyond their years. I know 55-yr-olds that are wise beyond their years, and 55-yr-olds that are fools when compared to the wise 16-yr-olds.

that's basically my sentiment. growing up in the new orleans area with a family that loved to fish, i can say, with not so much gusto but more with some caution, that i have been out way too far in way too small a boat. the ocean isn't very forgiving. it's a pretty far cry from a ride around the average freshwater lake, when an afternoon shower can give you 10-12 foot seas in a matter of minutes, and if you can't get the engine running again you're not gonna get any closer to home because the tide is taking you further out.

that's one of the reasons why we have a coast guard. that's their job, and from my one experience with them (dad had a heart attack on a fishing boat out in the gulf), they do it well. he's alive and well today because the coast guard got there so fast with the helo. i've never heard of a complaint that coast guard response to any situation was less than "everything that can possibly be done to sort this out". so i don't think there's any need to pick and choose who they help the most.

[Kent A Bathurst]

........Their age is irrelevant.......When I was aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (TR), we fished two guys from the Caribbean.....

age: my point exactly. There are a lot of solo sailors out there that are way older than 16, and they would have been in the same predicament in weather like that, and they have been there more than once.

Me thinks the Hon Mr Fitzgerald is generally annoyed by folks that have to be rescued, for whatever reason - and I have no argument with you, Ken - just think that the age itself would seem to make no difference.

Anyone finally find Amelia, and they would be heroes - their 15 min cemented in. Coupla bucks spent on that search - and I'm not saying she should or should not have ventured out, only that age isn't the driver. If she hadn't been out there, neither would the rescuers/searchers.

next: How in the heck does an 1,100 foot carrier even SEE a coupla guys in the ocean? Makes me think of Huck and Jim on the raft with the steamboat bearing down on them. Per Wiki - "The Big Stick" (love that moniker) @ 260,000 hp and 30kt top end (yeah - right - like I believe that number), slinging $jillion warplanes off a perfectly good surface at 180mph........ and there are some guys out there floating aournd on the currents that you happened across? Yikes. Betcha those guys have rooted for Navy in every game since.

[Tony Joyce]

"If people choose to put themselves in harm's way, then rescue attempts should be nonexistant to minimal. Save the rescue teams for those that are in peril through no fault of their own."

And who gets to make the decision which is which?

[Pat Germain]

next: How in the heck does an 1,100 foot carrier even SEE a coupla guys in the ocean? Makes me think of Huck and Jim on the raft with the steamboat bearing down on them. Per Wiki - "The Big Stick" (love that moniker) @ 260,000 hp and 30kt top end (yeah - right - like I believe that number), slinging $jillion warplanes off a perfectly good surface at 180mph........ and there are some guys out there floating aournd on the currents that you happened across? Yikes. Betcha those guys have rooted for Navy in every game since.

Even more amazing, we found them at night! Actually, it was a very alert lookout we had up on the signal bridge. He saw a tiny light in the distance and reported it. Then he got permission to turn on the zillion candlepower light we had up there and, sure enough, the light was coming from two clowns clinging to an upside-down boat.

You'd think those guys would have been appreciative. All we ever heard from them was a tiny post card from one guy's mom saying, "Thanks for saving Bufkin".

There's no end to the boneheads on the water. Later on TR, we were doing shock trials in a closure area. We had literally thousands of pounds of TNT sitting off the starboard side ready to cook off when some sailboat wanders in to take a look at "The big ship!". We sent a helicopter to chase them off and announce they were in a closure area. They got on the radio and said they wouldn't leave until we compensated them for the sails the helicopter damaged. Boy, I wanted to push the "BANG!" button right then!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kent,

Once again you obviously don't understand and don't want to understand what I am saying.....

I don't have a problem with the Coast Guard rescuing a fisherman having a heart attack.....or rescuing commercial fishermen from a sinking vessel....or any other maritime event of a commercial nature.

What I am saying is that to me....IMHO.....it is immoral for idiots or ego maniacs to put themselves in positions that require rescuers be unnecessarily endangered to rescue those folks.

You and Pat say that age didn't matter.....without researching in any fashion....what's the age of any of the other hundreds of folks climbing Everest this climbing season? If you can honestly tell me.....without researching..... call 911 because I will have a heart attack and need rescuing.

Obviously the only reason you know that kid was 13 is because he and his parents got their 15 minutes of fame.

Other folks have had problems sailing the world solo and the lead headline was not "16 year old girl's emergency beacons both radioing for help".....

If someone is doing something for a practical, useful reason, I have no problem with rescuers being required. But for rescuers to be endangered or God forbid, killed or injured because of someone trying to break a record....I'm sorry it's immoral in my book.

[Larry Frank]

Ah, the variety of thought and opinions. Every parent makes the descisions as to how to be raise their kids to be both independent and protected.

My wife and I were on the conservative side and everything has worked out fine for the kids and the parents. I cringe every spring as high school graduation approaches as there are too many kids killed with the combination of alcohol, cars and late night. Another choice for a parent, do you allow your kids to be kids and out late at night or do you place limits on them? It is a choice a parent will have to live with.

I think that this is an issue for the girl and the parents. The outcome given the sea conditions could have easily been fatal or the daughter and boat lost forever. You have to ask how they would have felt with that outcome and was the risk worth the reward. Only they can answer the question?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent, Once again you obviously don't understand and don't want to understand what I am saying......

Ooohhhhhh - I actually think I understood your point pretty clearly the first time. I just don't happen to agree, that's all. I'll go off in my corner and look for a different dead horse......... Simply a difference of opinion - No harm, no foul, in my book. Cheers.