In February Easy Reader published a column I wrote entitled Sailing Around isn't Kids' Play http://www.easyreadernews.com/columns/harbor-lights-sailing-around-isn%E2%80%99t-kids%E2%80%99-play It was about Abby Sunderland's attempt to sail around the world non-stop and solo.
I wrote that I really couldn't say whether parents who encourage their kids to do dangerous things were guilty of abuse or they are enabling their kids to realize big dreams. Frankly, if she accomplished her goal the discussion of abuse would probably have ended.
She didn't accomplish her goal. Her Boat, Wild Eyes, dismasted in the middle of the Indian Ocean. She set off her Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) and for a few tense hours, her condition was unknown. The Australian government sent out a search plane that eventually located her 2000 miles from land.
The discussion of abuse was dialed back a notch because she lived through the storm that tore Wild Eyes' rigging down. But people are asking what was a 16 year old doing out in the middle of an angry ocean by herself?
It's a good question and the most recent answer has added fuel to the fire stoked beneath the abuse allegations. Her dad, whose occupation has been listed as sailing instructor, is alleged to have contracted with a production company to produce a reality show. Critics are now connecting the dots and accusing him of sending Abby off to battle some of the toughest seas on the planet so that he could become famous and make money.
I don't know Mr. Sundarland but my guess would be that those dots should not be connected. The accusation that a father would send his child into harm's way for money is ugly and horrible.
You can't know what's inside another person's head but I'm giving Mr. Sunderland the benefit of the doubt. I'm incredibly happy that Abby is safe and will soon be returned to her family. All of the other ancillary factors are meaningless by comparison.
