[pct-l] Sorta OT - Reaction to Abby Sunderland's Rescue

[Edward Anderson]

David,

I can't resist posting in on this one.  Here's my opinion:

 Neither chronological age nor gender have much to do with ones' ability to meet life's challenges successfully.  What does matter is your level of experience and the good judgment that, we hope, will result from that experience.  Aby grew up in a sailing family and, I understand, has been sailing since the age of three.  That's thirteen years!  From pictures of her I see that she looks to be healthy, strong, and fit. Her vessel was very seaworthy and was well equipped for the carefully planned journey - with good sea-helm balence, excellent rigging, and several floatation chambers. She also had a satellite phone and a couple of beacons for communication and safety.  She was just unlucky to be hit with a storm including a wave big enough to take down her mast.  That could have happened to anyone - regardless of age or gender. I'm sure she knew to use her harness and clip on and to go below when she had to.  She handled the crisis
 situation as well as anyone could have. Her parents must be proud of her.

Should her parents have let her embark on this grand and ambitious journey?  Of course. I see no compelling reason why not. Some people take greater risks driving on the freeways in the Los Angeles area every day.  I see them going 65 to 70 mph in the fast lane and following just a car length (if that) behind another car - with other cars just as close behind them.  And there are young kids in some of those cars! When the unexpected happens there is a pileup than can effect adjacent lanes.  And some of these same people, I'm sure, will criticize Aby's parents - - -. 

MendoRider 




________________________________
From: David Ellzey <david at xpletive.com>
To: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sat, June 12, 2010 11:03:52 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Sorta OT - Reaction to Abby Sunderland's Rescue

So by now moist everyone knows about Sutherland's rescue. There was an article in the LA times about her reaction to people condemnation of her age and the season she made the attempt. Nothing really surprising until I started reading peoples comments. 

Take a look for yourselves at the LA Times Article: 
http://tinyurl.com/33mkznb

My company is working on a project that has made me look at how generation X and (even more so) the millennial generation are abandoning experiencing nature. One of the more disturbing factors is what I have come to call "The Fear" that people permeate in discussions regarding experiences that occur out in natural. Also, having just finished reading "Last Child in the Woods" as part of my research for this project it was especially poignant for me to read the comments from people about Abby's failed attempt.

All of my context for my research has been related to why young people are not hiking, camping, fishing, hunting or just playing in the local woods anymore. But the response in the comments of this article are also blatantly ripe with "The Fear" that parents are now passing on to their kids. 

Our daughter was 15 when she spent her first summer working a pack station in the central Sierras. My wife and I were not naive to the unique dangers she would be exposed to working with large animals over treacherous terrain but we were also certain it would be a rewarding experience for her that would help shape her in a way that High School could never do. I won't bother to go into all the details but she is 21 now and by far the most grounded person I have ever met in her age group.

So were Abby's parents reckless in supporting her quest to circumnavigate the world? You can guess my opinion, but I would like to hear from a group of people of whom most are not influenced by "the Fear".

BigToe
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