Abby Sunderland Missing

[The Mystery Machine]

I believe the boat beacon is an automatic beacon that only goes off when the boat has submerged. If it has not gone off means the boat is still above water.

From what I gather with the blog is that she is still in the boat hopefully.

I guess we will find out soon.

 

[happybratpack]

I just can't imagine being 40 hours from human contact, much less being a 16 year old as well. I only recently started reading her blog.

Hopefully she's still on the boat, just stranded but safe.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

A horrible situation that could have been prevented with the most underused word in parenting: NO.

I saw her on the special last week on ABC and the attitude of her parents just set me on edge.

She is a CHILD and belongs HOME every night, safe and sound.

I pray that this will have a happy ending, yet fear it will not.

 

[Aisling]

I believe the boat beacon is an automatic beacon that only goes off when the boat has submerged. If it has not gone off means the boat is still above water.

Ok, that's hopeful!

 

[a1tinkfans]

prayers for Abby...lets hope she is okay!

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/11/2924243.htm?section=justin

Qantas is sending a plane with 2 crews to join the search.They expect to reach the search zone within 4 hours. Fingers crossed they find her and she is ok.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Help me understand; I don't know boating at all.

If the manual beacons went off, that means she deliberately activated them, right? If she were still in the boat, wouldn't she have activated the boat beacon? So she's probably in the water separated from her boat?

As a PP mentioned the boat beacon only goes off when it becomes submerged. I'm praying that the boat (which had many problems already) has become so disabled that she set off the other beacons because she was drifting with no navigation, etc. Not an ideal situation at all, but it's much better than thinking that she has become separated from the boat due to the gusts she was facing.

 

[Shutterbug]

She is a CHILD and belongs HOME every night, safe and sound.

16? a child? if they are still considered a child at 16 then should it be illegal for them to drive.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

16? a child? if they are still considered a child at 16 then should it be illegal for them to drive.

She is a child. She cannot vote. She cannot sign a valid contract. If she commited a crime, for most all crimes, she would be tried as a juvenile. She cannot drop out of school without parental consent, have sex with an adult without it being stautory rape (even consensual, actually this may very by state but I think in NC its stat. rape), she cannot buy a gun, buy tobacco, be sued, if she were in foster care, she would still be a ward of the state until 18th birthday. etc, etc, etc,. In this country, the age of legal majority varies from state to state but none are younger than 18, except I believe one state recognizes high school graduation as hitting adulthood. But even a 17 year old, whom by their states definition has reached adulthood, still has to comply with federal laws regarding voting, purchasing tobacco etc. And I agree on not being able to drive until 18 or even older. Studies have shown the frontal lobe of the brain (the decision making part) does not fully mature until around the age of 20 or 21 at the earliest. I also don't think an 18 year old should be able to join the army. It should be the same as the legal drinking age. They can die for our country, but not buy a beer?? Anyway, not to get too off topic, but yes, a 16 year old is a child.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Call me "mean spirited" but I agree with you. Adults make decisions that perhaps children shouldn't.

I don't think it's mean spirited and I absolutely agree.

Praying for her safe recovery and praying for her family. I can't imagine allowing my 16 year old child to do this.

 

[Disneyrsh]

.

 

[Magix]

I'm hoping the boat beacon not going off is a good sign. However, I've read enough books about situations in which EPIRBs became tangled in the boat or simply didn't come out of their holders and activate for whatever odd reason. Still trying to think positive, though.

Pirates would be extremely unlikely in the area she was cruising. She's near Antarctica, which is not near any major shipping lanes and is simply difficult, dangerous ocean. No reason for pirates to patrol the area and no nearby ports for them to be based. This sounds like it was just a situation of extreme seas, extreme winds and a small boat.

I admire Abby for making it this far, regardless of how this turns out. She managed to traverse Cape Horn, the single most dangerous passing for any sailing vessel. That is a huge accomplishment in itself. She's an amazing young girl and a far better sailor than most of us could ever become. But, sometimes, the seas simply cannot be tamed.

 

[krcit]

16? a child? if they are still considered a child at 16 then should it be illegal for them to drive.

First, on topic, I am praying that this girl is found safe and sound. I can't imagine what her family is going through.


Shutterbug, I'm curious. Do you have any children? I'm not being snarky, I'm just curious because before I had kids I though that 16 was pretty much all grown up. Now that I have a 15 year old, not so much My dd is a pretty level headed kid. Well-behaved, good student. Still, she's a kid. It is my job to prepare her to be an independent adult but until then I have to guide her and protect her and keep her as safe as possible. Teenagers think they are immortal and untouchable. I remember being one and as good of a kid as I was, I still did things without thinking through the consequences sometimes.

 

[krcit]

I don't think at 16 your ability to assess risk is completely developed.

Having said that, every parent that sends their 16 year old out the door hopes nothing bad happens to them.

I personally don't see much difference between the ocean and a drunk driver-both are potentially lethal to your children...

And I want to add one other thing: a lot of people have talked about how she was a "professional" and how long and how intensely she'd been coached on this endeavor. Let's replace the word "sailor" with the word "surgeon". Would you let a talented professional 16 year old cut you open? Probably not, and the reason has nothing to do with talent, and everything to do with wisdom and experience.

But you wouldn't knowingly send your child into the path of a drunk driver, right?

 

[SaraJayne]

A horrible situation that could have been prevented with the most underused word in parenting: NO.

I saw her on the special last week on ABC and the attitude of her parents just set me on edge.

She is a CHILD and belongs HOME every night, safe and sound.

I pray that this will have a happy ending, yet fear it will not.

I agree with you.

Her parents will have to live with their stupidity the rest of their lives if this comes to a tragic end.

 

[Shutterbug]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/11/2924243.htm?section=justin

Qantas is sending a plane with 2 crews to join the search.They expect to reach the search zone within 4 hours. Fingers crossed they find her and she is ok.

I read that too on a sydney newspaper website. Thats pretty impressive and must be costing a huge amount of money. Again pretty impressive for them to do this.

''We've actually chartered a Qantas airbus, so that's a Qantas [jet] without the normal passengers obviously, to depart Perth around 8am eastern time,'' Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Carly Lusk told Radio 3AW today.

''We've got Qantas crews on there, as well as 11 trained air observers from the West Australian fire and emergency services, and two Fremantle water police officers.''

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I read that too on a sydney newspaper website. Thats pretty impressive and must be costing a huge amount of money. Again pretty impressive for them to do this.

It really is nice of them to offer assistance. Especially knowing how much a search and rescue can potentially cost. I'm just thinking of all the criticism the Coast Guard came under for search and recovery of JFK Jr and his wife and sister in law when they went missing. I hope there is no backlash for Qantas...we all know how people can be. I absolutely hope this girl is found very, very soon and in great shape/

 

[Dismagic1]

I agree with you.

Her parents will have to live with their stupidity the rest of their lives if this comes to a tragic end.

Was it stupid of parents to let their 16 year olds fight in WWII?

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I'm praying Abby is found safe.
The good news is that she set off the beacons herself. And that she has emergency supplies that she can hopefully gather if she needs to ditch the boat.
I hope Quantas can spot her soon.

What time is in Australia?

 

[Shutterbug]

What time is in Australia?

9:30am