July eBook pages 1-91 (16.1 MB) - Latitude 38

— cont’d
penditures from foreigners are expected
to add 5-7% to Mexico’s GDP.
While such fi gures are eye-opening,
we don’t really buy into the conspiracy
theories. But we do know that wherever
we’ve traveled in Mexico in recent years
— and we travel there often — we’ve always
felt at least as safe as, if not safer
than, we do at home. So to us, shunning
the anchorages and resort towns of
Mexico makes about as much sense as
refusing to visit the Bay Area because of
the murder rate in the toughest neighborhoods
of Oakland.
— andy
abby — cont’d
SIGHTINGS
ernment to fi nd Abby at a cost of about $175,000 US. Some Aussie
taxpayers suddenly begin to question the wisdom of letting teens, even
their heroic Jessica Watson, sail solo around the world. Abby is found
in good condition, but her boat is dismasted. Even weeks later, Team
Abby, which runs a pretty opaque program, has provided no real details
of the circumstances of the dismasting. Presumably they are saving it
for the book, which Abby suddenly decides she’d like to write.
• June 12 — Abby is rescued from Wild Eyes — which for some
unknown reason is not scuttled — and is taken aboard the French
vessel Ile de la Reunion. The captain
of the rescue boat falls in during the
rescue, but is saved. For Abby, it is
the beginning of several long and slow
boat rides back toward civilization.
• June 13 — Abby’s website encourages
followers to contribute to
a “Bring Wild Eyes Back” campaign
because Abby apparently can’t bear
the thought of not seeing her boat
again. There is enthusiastic response
— before someone realizes that such
a notion is not just romantic, it’s also
just plain silly, and the campaign is
terminated.
• June 23 — As we write this, Abby
still has not reached civilization.
The initial reaction in the mainstream
and pop press was that it was
The ‘Ile de la Reunion’ plucks Abby off
‘Wild Eyes’, but not before the French
skipper fell in the water and had to be
saved himself.
a daring and brilliant adventure. But then more people, including
celebrity sailors Geraldo Rivera and Dr. Laura, began to savage the
parenting decisions of the Sunderlands. After reports got out of the
possible deal for a Sunderland Family reality series, and there was a
greater understanding of the backstory, the tide started to go out.
As for people who have actually been on sailboats, the feeling had
been much more negative from the beginning. We at Latitude, for
example, had always been against both the Watson and Sunderland
efforts. We wrote extensively about the Abby effort in the June 11 and
14 editions of ‘Lectronic Latitude, and received some of the greatest
response to anything we’ve written. The response was overwhelmingly
negative on the adventure. Understandably to us, Abby, as an inexperienced
minor who can’t be expected to know any better, came out
relatively blameless. Nearly all the contempt and anger was reserved
for parents Laurence and Marianne — who many people thought had
appeared shockingly unemotional in television interviews when the
fate of their daughter was still unknown.
In order to have as much space as possible to run reader responses,
those who want to read the two ‘Lectronic pieces will have to do so online
at www.latitude38.com. But to summarize our position in one very
long sentence, we gave the Abby adventure a jaundiced eye because
we saw it as a reckless stunt in pursuit of pop fame and fortune by
someone too inexperienced and young to comprehend the risks, and
with a team that had a ‘get rich and famous or die trying’ mentality,
highlighted by taking on the Southern Ocean in the wrong season on
a boat that wasn’t any more ready than Abby was, while counting on
others to risk their lives to save Abby’s life at the fi rst sign of trouble.
Sort of a sailing version of Jackass, because it’s hard to know which
to be more impressed by, the Johnny Knoxville-like daredevilry or
the Johnny Knoxville-like foolishness of the stunt. Nothing personal
against Abby, but we think she was pimped, willingly or not, into being
the Jackass of the Seas by two candidates for the Worst Parents
of the Year. But that’s just our opinion.
For reader opinions, see pages 100-103.
— richard
July, 2010 • Latitude 38 • Page 75
COURTESY AUSTRALIAN SEARCH & RESCUE