16 yr old teen lost at sea

[Simba]

Well done, Adventure Girl, and all those who avoid boredom by taking on challenges to make life ROCK.

And stuff all the po-faced miseries who'd tell you otherwise, they'll never know.

 

[Penguin]

I just got my first sailing liscence (yacht sailor), and the next one I can get ( yacht navigator) is at 18.  By law I'm only allowed to sail in daylight and no more than 2 Nm out from shore (required learning to earn liscence).  It's funny how a 16 year old managed to sail around the world.  Perhaps the laws are different in the US than in Poland where I got my liscence, and she got her navigator's liscence two years early.

-Penguin



 

[Simba]

Liscence? Licence, dear feller, or license.  

Well done on gaining your basic, and good luck with your next test. Such examinations of knowledge have long been regarded as essential to qualify one as being capable to crew or command a vessel (and nowadays the Health and Safety brigade have kittens whenever anybody takes a risk too) but it's good to know that the great sailor and navigator James Cook never took an examination in his life, being promoted to Lieutenant in His Majesty's Navy on the basis of his experience and abilities without the usual necessary visit to the Admiralty.

Sail on, amigo!

 

  

[Vulcan]

Land navigator James Cook never took an examination in his life, being promoted to Lieutenant in His Majesty's Navy on the basis of his experience and abilities without the usual necessary visit to the Admiralty.

and he ended up being biffed on the head and eaten by cannibals in a lovely stew.

[fudgums]

and he ended up being biffed on the head and eaten by cannibals in a lovely stew.

 

[fbWldcat]

and he ended up being biffed on the head and eaten by cannibals in a lovely stew.

That wasn't Borscht we had after the appetizer, was it? 

[MiloMorai]

and he ended up being biffed on the head and eaten by cannibals in a lovely stew.

Not quite.

The esteem in which he was nevertheless held by the Hawaiians resulted in his body being retained by their chiefs and elders. Following the practice of the time, Cook's body underwent funerary rituals similar to those reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of European saints in the Middle Ages. Some of Cook's remains, disclosing some corroborating evidence to this effect, were eventually returned to the British for a formal burial at sea following an appeal by the crew.

[flight17]

gonna feed the frenzy lol

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ambitious-teen-sailors-stir-safety-debate/ss/events/wl/072710teensailors

14yr old dutch cleared for solo world trip...

[Tupac]

I just got my first sailing liscence (yacht sailor), and the next one I can get ( yacht navigator) is at 18.  By law I'm only allowed to sail in daylight and no more than 2 Nm out from shore (required learning to earn liscence).  It's funny how a 16 year old managed to sail around the world.  Perhaps the laws are different in the US than in Poland where I got my liscence, and she got her navigator's liscence two years early.

-Penguin

As far as I know, we dont have any required licenses for sailing small boats. (Although im not sure about larger yachts)

Congrats BTW

[Traveler]

If she has the skill set. And she very obviously does. Why not?

Cause she's 16?  Nonsense. Females mature faster then males. Maturity wise a 16 year old is as mature as a male at 18. Yet a male at 18 (or female) can join the military and go fight in a war. Also a slightly dangerous activity.

And while an 18 may think they are an adult. There is a world of difference in the maturity level of most 18 year old to most 21 year olds. Which is a time when most actually start acting like adults.  Between 16 and 18..not so much

And this "Well 16 year old back then were different then 16 year olds now" is also nonsense. A 16 year old is a 16 year old. Always has been alwways will be. Its our attitudes that have changed

And why do we feel the need to try and dictate how other people raise their children?

Nobody knows their child better then the parent. Im sure they didnt just say . "Hey, you want to sail the world. Here's a boat, go do it." without first taking into consideration is she had the maturity, or the skill set to do so.
Both, again which is made totally obvious by the mere fact she made it as far as she did. endured the difficulties she did, and had the wits about here to realize she was in trouble, take the appropriate measures and survive.

When you consider where she ended up, doesn't really mean that she didn't have the skill set to make it around the world, that she really only had half the skills necessary.   Perhaps if she had the entire skill set necessary she would have realized that it was the wrong time of year to make such an attempt. 

[Babalonian]

As far as I know, we dont have any required licenses for sailing small boats. (Although im not sure about larger yachts)

Congrats BTW

It's been a few years since I brushed up on all this, so forgive me if any of this is outdated.  Yachts I believe require an operator with a certification to both operate the vessel within operator's licence length/size limitation (depends on the size of your yatch), weight limitations and passenger capacity limitations (this is, as i recall, the hard/expencive part of an operator/captain cert. as a captains rate would scale with the size/responcibility placed upon him, and as it depends on how many peoples Mr. Gates wants to host/entertain on the boat, including crew, you get what you pay for).  This is one reason why its cheaper to never leave the dock on large-boat/yatch parties with lots of people attending, otherwise you might need an additional small fortune to hire a qualified captain, besides the additional operating/space costs (fuel costs, ensuring every person onboard can be provided with a PFD, etc.) of taking your party out on the sea.  We don't regulate boating in this country via operators licenses like cars, we regulate it via individual ship regulation/registration on a state level, which is responcible for ensuring each vessel follows federal and that state's own regulations.  It's kinda like when you get your car registered at the DMV, you have to do it annualy to recieve current tags and then display those tags on your vessel along with its serial/VIN number, and based on the size, occupant capacity and occupation of the craft an inspection may be required every (or other) year.  Some operator licenses may be required in order to operate certain commercial vessels, but these typicaly involve situations where the operator/captain is imediatley responcible for the lives and safety of more than one or two people and in command of a fairly decent sized vessel (IE: ferry captains, fishing boat captains, large mast ships captains, etc.).  The idea being that ensuring each vessel in the waterways reaches a level of quality and water-worthyness is more productive to a safe boating environment than regulating the quality of each individual boat operator.

[druski85]

We don't regulate boating in this country via operators licenses like cars, we regulate it via individual ship regulation/registration on a state level, which is responcible for ensuring each vessel follows federal and that state's own regulations.  

Yea, as far as I know it varies state by state.  I know growing up in New York State, an operating (boating) license was needed on top of the registration for motorized watercraft until the age of 18, at which point a driver's license + age = de facto boating license.  Passengers or other factors did not matter, just as they do not while driving a car.  To be honest, I don't recall if any sort of license was needed for sailing or other non-motorized craft, but I'm thinking not.  Apparently nowadays in NY licenses are also required for jetski operators regardless of age, but for boats the old rules still apply.  

[Traveler]

Yea, as far as I know it varies state by state.  I know growing up in New York State, an operating (boating) license was needed on top of the registration for motorized watercraft until the age of 18, at which point a driver's license + age = de facto boating license.  Passengers or other factors did not matter, just as they do not while driving a car.  To be honest, I don't recall if any sort of license was needed for sailing or other non-motorized craft, but I'm thinking not.  Apparently nowadays in NY licenses are also required for jetski operators regardless of age, but for boats the old rules still apply.  

If you want to document your boat with the U.S. Coast Guard, she must measure at least 5 tons net. For practical purposes regarding pleasure boats, net tonnage is understood to be 9/10 of gross tonnage.To calculate gross tonnage, take half of the overall length L times overall breadth B times depth D (the internal measurement of the hull, not the draft), all in feet, divided by 100. In other words:˝ (L x B x D ÷ 100).

Roughly speaking, 5 net tons corresponds to a moderate-displacement boat about 30 feet in length. A heavy-displacement, long-keeled cruising boat could be as little as 25 feet overall but still have sufficient volume below decks to qualify for federal documentation. A documented vessel must be owned by a U.S. citizen. The captain (and any other officer) must be a U.S. citizen as well, although crew members need not be. Documentation gives you the legal right to fly the special U.S. Yacht Ensign (in home waters only), an authority that is not officially granted to other yachts— although many wear it anyway.A documented yacht’s title is also proof of ownership because it records the liens, mortgages, and other financial liabilities (if any) that she carries.

If you are planning on becoming captain of your own boat and using it for charter operations, you will need to be licensed by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). If you plan on using your boat only for recreational purposes, a license is not required. Most boaters seeking a captain's license receive the Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV) License, which allows captains to charter a boat up to 100 tons and carry up to six passengers. This license can be upgraded to include larger boats with more passengers with a few extra requirements.

[Flipperk]

Would she be a better sailor at the age of 16 or 21 with 5 more years experience?  She is a good sailor for 16 yes, that isn't the point.  The point is, the motives behind the trip were to set a record/become famous/get a reality tv show/write a book.  That's why it HAD to be done at this young age and as others have said, this dangerous time of year to attempt it.  Don't you see the unnecessary risk that she/her parents exposed her to just to set some silly record?  If it was about sailing around the world, she could have done it at 18, or 21, and been a master, instead of just a good sailor at 16.

Your missing the point, your only good to a certain point. Everyone reaches a point where their abilities peak, 5 more years might have yielded a slightly better sailor but if this is what she has done for all of her life then she probably knew pretty much all you would need to know.

IF you take a pilot who has been flying for 30 years vs. a  pilot who has been flying for 15 years, It is very possible that the 15 year vet is better than the 30 year vet, despite the 15 extra years of flying. In fact your more than likely going to run into this, the 15 year vet and the 30 year vet know the same information. There is only so much information and techniques to learn, once you learn them all then 5 more years is NOT going to make a difference.



The only reason why you criticize her judgment is because she is lost,  if she made it across the world you would have been doing back flips in amazement. It is her life, despite that she is 16, it is not her parents life or the state of California's... IT IS HER OWN LIFE. She can make decisions for herself, I know a ton of adults who make stupid decisions all the time, like drinking and driving or doing drugs...I am more than sure that her judgments are a lot better than most. Age DOES NOT MAKE A difference.

[grizz441]

Fair enough Flipperk, but how much practical experience does she really have?  You used the 15/30 yr analogy nicely, but she has nowhere near that much experience.  I mean, if you want to say she has 8 years experience then you'd be counting years when she was 8-11 years old.  At what point does quality of experience come into play?

In any case, I guess I shouldn't give a rats ass.  You're right, it's her life to risk chasing a record even if she doesn't have enough life experience to realize how foolish and naive she may be.