The Insane Sunderland Family
I don’t propose to know the first thing about how failed sailing princess Abby Sunderland was raised.
And I couldn’t care less.
A teen-aged girl being allowed to circumnavigate the globe in any kind of vessel is the kind of utter insanity that cannot be fully contemplated unless you are a nut of similar carry. It is not possible, as a father of three children, for me to think that it was at all responsible for the Sunderlands to have allowed, and in this case, encouraged, one’s little girl to head out onto the open ocean with a crew of fifty, much less on her own.
If it were in my power, I would have the Sunderlands immediately jailed for child endangerment and their children counseled back into the real world.
But this isn’t the first time this kind of breathtaking idiocy has gripped the Sunderlands–their son did the same thing young Abby was attempting, except that he was far more fortunate.
Bloody hell. What kind of complete moron sends his and her kids off to a possible grave all in the name of sailing firsts or some absurd sea-bound adventure?
And once again, as with most nutbar fuelled risk-taking scenarios, the rescue wasn’t paid for by the Sunderlands. Of course not. Young Abby’s beacons, at full volume, were enough to reach her rescuers, but Mommie and Daddy–dumb and dumber, apparently didn’t have the decency or the pocketbook to pay for what they have wrought.
What a completely disgraceful set of parents! And yet others that desperately want children can’t have them….
Read about Abby’s crumbled odyssey, here. And she’s bloody well defiant to go again, the little shrew!
Incredible madness.
Hey chill out Alex!
In this day and age of kids sitting in front of the computer, TV or Playstation/XBOX 24/7 it’s refreshing to see a young woman who has a dream and reaches for it. By all accounts she has been sailing since she was a small kid and is more experienced than most adult sailors out there. The fact that she went through 25 foot waves and came out intact outside of a damaged boat shows this.
Get yourself out of the Nanny State. If everyone thought like you your Nanny State would have taken Tom Sawyer away from his parents and he would have been put in a foster home doped up on Ritalin.
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To compare a child sitting in front of a television screen with one that is encouraged to head out on to the open seas, where Somali pirates that have been doing each other for the last month wouldn’t LOVE to happen upon young Abby for a group go ’round, is asinine. The experience she has as a sailor means nothing. The fact her parents are so irresponsible and had everyone else pay for their daughter’s failed expedition is what should really tell you everything.
But don’t let me stop you from providing any more unlike examples…
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Alex, Alex, Alex. Isn’t this some parents’ way to have their children exit the gene pool? Too bad Mom and Dad even had kids. My god the girl could have ended up as a ‘toy’ for low life fishermen, pirates or whatever in those waters.
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You said it!
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Also consider the cost of this “pleasure cruise”. She wasn’t just sailing anything close to the Sloop John B. She had electronic gear whihc no doubt included digital charts (those themselves are expensive as she would to cover a large part of the world), radio and GPS gear to be used with the digital charts). She also had a satellite phone which is also expensive. The boat itself would have been expensive to bring to its conditon for a sail like that (we’e not talking four weeks up the Central Coast to ‘ Rupert and back).
There was a teenager in the 1970′s who did sail the world (covered in National Geographic), but he did take his time, several months, and knew when to wait out the storms. He sailed in the opposite direction, sailing the Indian Ocean during the sumer season there).
He did it without the modern gear she had.
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Wonderfully put. Great comment.
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EDITED DUE TO ABUSE.
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Since this follows a brother’s earlier attempt, perhaps this a continuation of the family’s effort to have one of their kids featured on:
http://www.darwinawards.com/
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HYSTERICAL! Very good Norm!
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Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame (or infamy) nowadays Alex. It is why so-called extreme sports etc., is so big today. Putting one’s life at risk because that’s all there is folks, there ain’t no more, no afterlife, no time for anyone else, it’s all about me, me, me,. Everyone’s dreams must be fulfilled and it doesn’t matter about the other guy or gal, they gotta get their own, get behind the ole eight ball so to speak. Waste no time thinking about the distress of others, they’re just losers.
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I couldn’t agree with you more, Alex. It seems some people’s drive for infammy overwhelms their ability to think rationally.
It would be curious how this little excursion was financed. A boat like the one she was using must cost a pretty penny. Then there is the cost of supplies, gear etc. I also think that she was being shadowed by at least one other boat, although obviously not very closely.
Five minutes of fame versus a lifetime of heartache doesn’t sound like an equitable wager to me.
Now that a disastrous ending has been avoided, we will no doubt be bombarded by a media blitz on how little Abby survived her ordeal, but there will be no scrutiny of the parent’s less than stellar decision making.
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Sure, and no doubt some Hollywood whore will be filling her head with ideas of taking a camera along next time, etc. Ridiculous.
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“What kind of complete moron sends his and her kids off to a possible grave all in the name of sailing firsts or some absurd sea-bound adventure?”
Hmmm … Someone with an eye to the book and movie right$ should the child somehow make it? Just a thought.
In a day and age when “parents” (to employ the term loosely) pull the likes of the ‘balloon boy’ stunt or enter their little girls in “beauty pageants” which can only cater to pedophiles (I mean, come on), I’m not surprised very often anymore.
Disgusted, yes; surprised, sadly, no.
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Very well put.
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Insane in deed Alex. I am waiting for them to announce that their 4 year old cocker spaniel will be circumcising the Globe on a sailboat, with nothing but a bowl of water and a chewy bone.
Cheers
Gary L.
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Waaaaaay too funny! Many thx!
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Yet another glowing example that money and brains are all too often mutually exclusive commodities.
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Righto!
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Hi Alex, My reaction to this stupidity was exactly the same as yours, they should forced to pay every cent the rescue cost.
These idiots who put their useless life’s at risks don’t care how many others they put at risk as well to get them out of the mess they never take into consideration.
To end “like father, like son/daughter”.
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Of course they should. She’s been on a slow boat in from the Indian Ocean, where she was picked up and has been making plans to risk her life once again. Idiocy!
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