Abby Sunderland's Mom: U.S. Taxpayers Should Pay for Rescue

Until the "taxpayers" start making iresponsible people liable for their actions we will continue to see this type of outrageous behavior from the citizens of this planet! Frankly not only should the parents be made to reimburse the cost of the rescue but they should be sanctioned for allowing a minor 16 year old to willfully and negligently engage in harmful and dangerous activity. This is one is right up there with giving your minor child booz and drugs to ingest. The parents should be locked up and put to work to pay the the debt off.

Please go online to "latitude 38", a highly rated sailing magazine, click on their 'lectronic latitude' and read the last two issues. Read about Abby. I read about how poor the Sunderlands are. Its no surprise that they also know how to hide money . How else could they pour $400,000 into the boat after buying it?? Still it was not ready. Boating professionals like myself wonder how they missed counting the amount of AMP hours of electricity she could use and not provide for her needs plus a large margin of safety. You couldn't guess that a teenager would be on the phone All the time? It was easily compensated for. How do they afford coaches and satphones ( AT A BUCK A MINUTE) to keep coaching her to hang in there, and do repairs. She was being coached in repairing her diesel when the wheels fell off. Water in the engine is always bad design. There are proven techniques of surviving high winds and the resultant high seas and none of them have you head down trying to get the engine started. Meanwhile, she was still using up batteries talking on the phone. She should have been trimming her sails, setting her course for the best ride. Boats cannot drive themselves, especially in survival conditions . Research Ellen McArthur, a heroine, yes she did it alone.... except for her weather routers, who routinely steer round the world racers AWAY from storms and just stay in the fringe winds. Not Abbys group. They just said 'beeline it' judging from her track. Oh and Ellen, well its well published that she has decided that she has had enough of that environment . Remember that she will never defend her title which is already lost to that great French sailor. As for the French, it was the French that responded to Abby and pulled her from a certain long and lonely death . Why long and lonely? She didn't release the broken mast from the boat, a very effective battering ram for below the waterline. You can see it in the water behind the boat in the photos . Sure its a sea anchor in windy conditions, but wind dies between blows and then the mast is jerked back as the boat rolls in the leftover swell. Why do the sailing Sunderlands say the boat is lost? Too bad those poor folks of the valley, didn't hire Ellen for her input, as she, and any other veteran of the Southern Oceans would tell her the same thing. The roaring 40's, the screaming 50's, and the insane 60's are all latitudes to be avoided at all costs except in their best periods which is around their summertime, which is the Christmas season here in California. Even Jessica knew that, but she lives in the area. Also know that all of Abbys vast experience is sailing around Catalina and SoCal which is known for an area with very little wind even in wintertime. Zac avoided the Southern Ocean in winter too. The parents, sponsors, and coaches should get child endangerment scrutiny at best. They should be classified with Gary Colemans parents and The Star of Home Alones parents. Even those parents didn't put their kids in harms way, they just used them for profit. Shame all around. Also note that Zac had to have 6 rescue teams sent out to repair his boat. Qualified? No. As a sailor, the current mariners have it as tough as todays drivers of automobiles compared to the mariners of just 30 years ago. They didn't have machines to tell them where they were, what to expect from the elements, drive the machines, call for help, direct the help right to them, and keep them in constant contact with whoever they wanted to talk to and see while talking to them! Sailing alone is a misnomer in the current crop of those attempting to make money by publicity stunts. Kind of like being a "Survivor" on reality TV . Cast away with film crews, caterers, doctors , lawyers and all the others involved in a film or TV project is diametrically opposed to being cast away in isolation. Even if connected, and aided by electronics .Somehow supporters of this special interest group should become responsible for their actions. I am most concerned about the young and gullible who read of these exploits, edited by those protecting themselves while reaping profit, and try it themselves. They will be underfunded, and underequipped, and surely lost unless the Creator of All steps in. How many kids rode bicycles off home made ramps after seeing 'Evil' Kineval jump his motorcycle on TV? Thousands of crashes never recorded. Last month two boats arrived on public beaches unattended in California. The three sailors, one very well qualified, were found floating and victims of hypothermia. The Sunderland kids are no more than bait for the unaware....the parents, unqualified and unashamed.

its to much to soon, she should have went with someone who has done this before, even in autoracing drivers come up from lower forms of racing. start in go-karts at 7, 8, 9 ect.. then still work your self up, what she is trying to do is (almost) like the girl making the indy 500 her 1st race , ever.

Lets be fair here. Every year, hundreds of people all over the world are "rescued" by government agencies. Tourists, Hikers , extreme skiers, sailors, campers, even very rich adventurers. The only difference between them and Abby is the cost of the rescue. To say that the Sunderlands put their child in harms way for profit and a reality show is inaccurate. They didn't profit from son Zac's round the world sail, and Abby's voyage drew little interest or support - until it became a rescue with national news . Now IF you were in the parents shoes and $$$$ came-a- knockin, wouldn't you take advantage of it? Welcome to free enterprise. I fully support all dreams and adventures - HOWEVER- I think that you should be fully responsible for the problems and costs incurred. When I extreme ski in the Alps, I take out a rescue insurance plan. Everyone should have the same, or an emergency budget - BEFORE they leave.
Kris

What a sad state of affairs that the Sunderland's don't acknowledge they nearly sent their 16 year old daughter to a watery grave. Apparently they'll need to bury a child before they begin to behave as caring parents........ Add to that the valuable resources that were squandered because the Sunderland's decided that others are responsible for rescuing the child they cast a drift.

Apparently Abby is quite a trooper since she sailed solo for over 4 months.... I don't want to diminish her effort but I'd like to extend THANKS to Austrailia! Your rescue efforts are the only bright side to this story.