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Merchant Marine captain: Abby Sunderland's 'ill-conceived lark' put other sailors at risk

Jul 2, 2010, 2:30 PM EDT

23 Comments

The battle lines have been drawn in the case of Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old gal whose parents sent her off from Marina del Ray, Calif., in February in an attempt to sail around the world. Abby made it to the Indian Ocean before a wave disabled her boat, causing a storm of controversy between those who think the trip was unsafe and foolhardy, and those who consider her a hero and role model. (And one poor sap who thinks it’s summer in Australia right now).
And then there’s Sean Dolan, a Merchant Marine captain who has spent 36 years at sea. In an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, Dolan comes down pretty hard on the lass; or more specifically, her parents.

In spite of the Sunderlands statements regarding their desire to encourage their children to be independent, fearless adventurers, it is obvious the Sunderlands’ primary plan to deal with an emergency was to immediately call for help from the world’s search and rescue services. So much for teaching your children independence and self-reliance.


Dolan:

I hope the Sunderlands will in the future show more sense and some good seamanship in these ventures. Better contingency planning would be a big help. Lacking that, I hope they and their sponsors will see fit to pay for and send a seaworthy, well equipped support vessel along on the voyage of their next child. If that doesn’t suit their sense of adventure, I would encourage them to post a $200 million dollar bond to cover the expenses of the next rescue.

I further hope the Sunderlands will use whatever profits they may make from any TV or book deals they come up with to reimburse the Australians and the French fishing boat owners and crew for their expenses. In all fairness, the rest of us, whomever we may be, should not have to bear the cost and the brunt of their ill-conceived larks.

For her part, Abby Sunderland said that her difficulties on the trip had nothing to do with her age. “How does the fact that I’m 16 cause a giant wave”? she said last week.
But maybe it’s time to invoke the philosophical riddle, “If a wave crashes in the middle of the Indian Ocean and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Dolan points out that Abby’s journey was at worst irresponsible, and at best non-essential travel. So why should rescuers be put in the position of placing their own lives at risk to save her when things went wrong? Why was there no spare mast on board, or another crew member to help fix the boat? Why no pace boat? Why this time of year, when the seas are rougher? And why are the Sunderlands still stubbornly refusing to admit that they may have screwed up on this one?
***
Young sailor recounts her adventures and defends her ability [Los Angeles Times]
Sunderland’s recklessness put other sailors at risk [Los Angeles Times]
Teen sailor’s mom: We can’t afford to pay back rescue costs [Out of Bounds]
How not to comment on a blog: The troubling P9X incident [Out of Bounds]

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  1. Jerry Nash - Jul 2, 2010 at 5:51 PM

    And you consider a merchant marine skipper an ‘expert’? They are known for their incompetance and often exersized habit of running over pesky sail boats, now and again. It is a know fact that this skipper can not stand the boating community. The last ‘expert’ you quoted on this blog had not sailed anything more than a fresh water sled in Westlake, California. Learn the real facts!

  2. Tony Metler - Jul 2, 2010 at 6:04 PM

    Yeah, Chandler – Learn the REAL facts, not the uh, made up, facts, which actually are called opinions, which is why the Merchant Marine captain posted on the, uh, Opinion Page.

  3. Matt - Jul 2, 2010 at 6:06 PM

    Since when is a merchant marine skipper an expert on yachts? And kindly show where on an Open 40 a spare mast could’ve been placed, hmm? The real reason is that she failed. Her brother did the same voyage, and he’s only a few months older! A pace boat??? Get real.

  4. Allen Edwards - Jul 2, 2010 at 6:23 PM

    Even my wife, who sails with me only occasionally, laughed out loud when I mentioned that this “expert” suggested a spare mast. Abby survived rounding the cape, she survived a violent story, she was obviously well prepared. A rogue wave is every sailors worst nightmare. You cannot prepare for one and they almost always end is rescue if the people survive. I saw a video of one hitting a cruise ship. It killed one of the passengers.

  5. smsetnor - Jul 2, 2010 at 6:34 PM

    If you don’t want to risk your life as a rescuer, don’t become a rescuer for a living. If you don’t want to get shot at, don’t become a police officer or soldier. I appreciate what these people do, but I don’t feel like it’s some great injustice from them to be in harms way. They get paid (and often time very well) for their jobs.

  6. Rick Chandler - Jul 2, 2010 at 6:53 PM

    ** If you don’t want to risk your life as a rescuer, don’t become a rescuer for a living. **
    I appreciate your point of view, but she was rescued by a fishing boat. And I hear that the captain fell overboard in the process.

  7. Jerry Nash - Jul 2, 2010 at 7:03 PM

    It may be an opinion page and I agree anyone should be able to give an opinion. But, spreading false information and passing yourself off as an expert when you are not, is not right.

  8. Andy Hotchkiss - Jul 2, 2010 at 7:27 PM

    “Carry a spare mast”? Are you kidding me! Yeah, let me just go out and stick the replacement where the old one was ripped off. Do these guys even know what a mast is?

  9. Tim Tunks - Jul 2, 2010 at 8:18 PM

    A little discussed issue is that all of Abby’s previous sailing experience and most of her parents sailing experience has been in boats quite unlike the ultralight race boat, Wild Eyes, that was chosen for Abby’s adventure.
    Imagine yourself an accomplished 16 year old who had considerable experience driving lawn tractors, golf carts, and farm equipment with your family. Now let us put you behind the wheel of a Formula 1 race car on a twisty, icy, un-marked mountain road at night, and tell you that you must hurry to avoid the approaching blizzard season.
    To expect a young woman with no racing experience in ultralights to learn to manage water ballast, running backstays (adjustable rigging that supports the mast) , electrical management of complex systems, calibration of autopilot functions, sleep management, and all the rest of the stuff in this short period is highly un-realistic.

  10. Marine Forecaster - Jul 2, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    Oh please… What is someone wants to go play on the freeway in the middle of the night when there are no cars as a challenge? What if they want to do it during rush hour and 65 MPH traffic? What’s the difference? One is exponentially a much greater risk than the other, and if that person gets hit by a Rogue car? Come on…
    I admire Abby for wanting to follow her passion. But they put Abby in the worst possible situation during the wrong time of year when the storms and the greatly increased risk of rogue waves existed. AND that storm was well forecasted 4 days in advance, well enough time for Abby’s team to have her sail a few hundred miles farther north away from the maximum winds, seas, and possible rogue waves. But no, that would have lost too much time in their quest for her speed record.
    I’m a professional marine forecaster, i’ve personally sailed thousands and thousands of miles across the open ocean, and I watch these storms every day all over the world. Rogue waves happen ALL THE TIME and are a very regular occurrence. It’s only when they happen to coincide with a boat that they are widely recognized.
    If you intentionally sail into very bad storms you will very likely get hit by a rogue wave, very much sooner than later. Just like playing on the freeway during rush hour….

  11. Marine Forecaster - Jul 2, 2010 at 8:33 PM

    Oh please… What is someone wants to go play on the freeway in the middle of the night when there are no cars as a challenge? What if they want to do it during rush hour and 65 MPH traffic? What’s the difference? One is exponentially a much greater risk than the other, and if that person gets hit by a Rogue car? Come on…
    I admire Abby for wanting to follow her passion. But they put Abby in the worst possible situation during the wrong time of year when the storms and the greatly increased risk of rogue waves existed. AND that storm was well forecasted 4 days in advance, well enough time for Abby’s team to have her sail a few hundred miles farther north away from the maximum winds, seas, and possible rogue waves. But no, that would have lost too much time in their quest for her speed record.
    I’m a professional marine forecaster, i’ve personally sailed thousands and thousands of miles across the open ocean, and I watch these storms every day all over the world. Rogue waves happen ALL THE TIME and are a very regular occurrence. It’s only when they happen to coincide with a boat that they are widely recognized.
    If you intentionally sail into very bad storms you will very likely get hit by a rogue wave, very much sooner than later. Just like playing on the freeway during rush hour….

  12. Leonie - Jul 2, 2010 at 11:19 PM

    Abby said a rogue wave removed the mast and she said the mast was safe in the water, it acted like a sea anchor, there was no need to cut it loose. With the approaching darkness, why take the risk of leaving it attached and didn’t she think that she may be hit by another rogue wave that would help the attached mast and sail to sink the boat.
    Relying on luck, isn’t part of good risk management.
    Expert sailors avoid the Southern Ocean in Winter because they can expect dangerous squalls 30% of the time, whereas in Summer squalls may be experienced 5% of the time.

  13. fzier - Jul 2, 2010 at 11:34 PM

    A support boat? Hmm, lets see. I power boat, capable of a non-stop trip around the world, and a good part in the southern ocean? Nuclear Sub comes to mind.

  14. Leonie - Jul 3, 2010 at 1:18 AM

    The satellite photo clearly shows that Abby headed directly into a Southern Ocean winter storm front instead of skirting around it.
    Taking insane risks and relying on luck has its consequences.
    All the Australian solo circumnavigators used 34 foot slow, safe, proven and tested ocean cruisers. Zac used a similar 36 foot boat and they put his younger and weaker sister in a more difficult to handle ocean racer and expected her to sail a far more difficult route at the wrong time of the year.

  15. Tom Valleau - Jul 3, 2010 at 11:28 PM

    Sailboats don’t carry “spare masts.” Abby’s would be about sixty feet long and weigh half a ton. Stepping it require a large crane and a yard crew. These boats are designed to survive a rollover but in this case unfortunately the boat was dismasted.

  16. V - Jul 5, 2010 at 11:34 AM

    Are you kidding me. A spare mast? That is your suggestion. I have been sailing yachts for 15+ years and have cruised for five of those in the South Pacific. This is outrageous. How do you expect even a crew of five to raise a spare mast without a crane on board. Should a crane be on board as well?

  17. Captain Bligh - Jul 6, 2010 at 11:12 AM

    Tim you are right on with your comment and great analogy. Every time I read a quote from the father about how her boat was designed to handle the Southern Ocean I get seasick. This was an ultralight sailing vessel designed for open ocean RACING. Any time you design a lightweight vehicle for racing (land, air or sea) you make tradeoffs and generally end up with a vehicle or vessel that is very demanding to operate and that is certainly the case with Open 40s, 50s and 60s. You also end up with a vessel that pushes the envelope for strength. Just look at stats from the Vendee Globe race and see that 1/3 to 2/3 of the vessels retire, usually due to dismasting or losing their keel. At least Jessica Watson from Australia used a slower but time tested and durable cruiser that survived a rollover in the South Atlantic. Even Abby’s brother Zac used a cruiser.

  18. Davy Jones - Jul 6, 2010 at 1:49 PM

    People who try dangerous stunts like this should be made to pay for their resuce. I would be upset if I were an Australian taxpayer and my country incurred $150,000+ to rescue an American girl in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I would expect compensation if I were the owner of the fishing vessel Ile de la Reunion and had to lose profits and put the crew at risk to rescue someone. When Japanese sailor Saito Minuro required a tow from a commercial fishing vessel when rounding Cape Horn last year, Chilean officials impounded his boat and there was a court case to determine compensation.

  19. SailingMonster - Jul 6, 2010 at 9:20 PM

    Reading Captain Dolan’s Op-Ed, I’m left with the very distinct impression that he has a clear disdain for all pleasure sailors, not just the ones that happen to be 16.
    Perhaps he has good reason to dislike us. I have known far too many novice sailors who insist that sail having the right of way over power applies equally to deep draft cargo ships like the ones Dolan commands. Certainly he’s been in tight scrapes with just those types. I also wonder if his descriptions of challenging rescues at sea were from personal experience.
    But one thing he seems to ignore is that rescue organizations exist for just this reason. The same holds true for the tradition of mariners going to rescue other mariners in trouble. These things allow all of us who travel out of the sight of land to do so with the confidence that someone is watching over us and can help us when we get in trouble. This applies as much to the large freighters as it does the pleasure boaters. What are the costs and risks of those who rescue freighter crews from pirates? Who bears those costs? The same kinds of risks and costs are borne when hikers or skiers go missing in the mountains or when airplanes go down.
    I couldn’t disagree more with the premise that the broken mast “proves” that Abby shouldn’t have been out there. There are adult sailors with many years of oceangoing experience that suffer dismastings in the same way Abby did. They too have to be rescued at great cost and risk to those who rescue them. I’m sure Captain Dolan sails with backup systems to his backup systems, perhaps he could even replace a prop that somehow broke off in mid ocean, but it is quite impossible for a pleasure craft to have a spare mast.
    Motorcyclists ask those of us who drive to “share the road.” Captain Dolan, you need to learn to share the sea.

  20. j meister - Jul 7, 2010 at 7:01 PM

    Why do so many people who respond to things on the net sound as though they need anger management? Not implying YOU, but just saying. Anyway, in regards to those who went to rescue the girl, the fishing boat people were not professional rescue personnel. They were fishermen. How many of us actually know their financial situation, whether they can handle going as far out of their way as they did? I certainly don’t know all the facts, and don’t claim to. And I guess I have mixed feelings. Her trip wasn’t necessary, but it did cost alot for those to rescue her.
    Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. I’m sure that’s all it’s worth.

  21. kapena kepano - Jul 7, 2010 at 7:52 PM

    right on!! thank you! I also am a deep sea Master and have sailed for 35 years… I also know S. Dolan and his remarks do not surprise me at all…
    we are all out there to protect each other at any moment in any weather… this is required bt law! Our USCG have saved many Ausie’s and other foreign crews…
    Aloha

  22. brian white - Jul 8, 2010 at 3:15 PM

    Obviously the suggestion that the sail boat carry a spare mast shows an unreality that even a landlubber can spot. So much for the idiot Captain and so much for a news organization that would tout him as an expert. Of course, the mental picture of the Captain vainly attempting to hoist a 60′ mast was funny. Maybe he can figure out where he can put his suggestion.

  23. Mark - Jul 15, 2010 at 3:29 PM

    I wonder where would it be stored in the first place?

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