Fame is a fickle food —Emily Dickinson
by Skipper Mary
Recently, you may have heard news about a California 16-year-old's sail around half the world.
Abby Sunderland's grand adventure didn't register with me until reaction to her distress signal splashed across the screens. Her mom, dad and brother (geez, the brother had already sailed 'round solo!?) expressed concern and confidence in front of LaLa Land television cameras, while on message boards the posters' —I'm guessing mostly non-sailors—offered thoughts about them and their parenting abilities and the cost of the rescue and who's going to pay for it and and, oh yeah, there was the disabled sailboat and the life aboard it bobbing in the Roaring Forties.
Now, had Ms. Sunderland set out on Wild Eyes with a few friends and family waving her off while having filed a float plan with the authorities rather than the universe, the national blood pressure could have concerned itself with other things like the arc of the World Cup's jabulani or the tans on Jersey Shore's players.
Had the Wild Eyes voyage been a tad more low key, Brian Williams might have read a brief report, "A young sailor who set out on a dream...distress signal," and we could have finished our pasta salads while quietly hoping for the best.
But no. Abby Sunderland was aiming to sail into the record books and race around with sponsors, a blog (yeah look who's talking, I know), an online store selling I don't know what and so thank you dear Emily for your insight into fame.
On a related subject, there's a good memoir from the 80's, Tania Aebi's book Maiden Voyage. Aebi sailed away at age 18 and became the first American woman and the youngest sailor to circumnavigate solo. She had no GPS, no blog, and no sponsors, but Aebi knew if she made it a record would be set.
Yet, she took her time. Adopted a cat. Flew home for her mother's funeral. Found a kindred spirit. She did a lot of growing up in those two years at sea and It's worth remembering that it was Aebi's father who presented her with the boat and the challenge and that he took some heat for that.
And it's worth acknowledging the solid seamanship Abby Sunderland employed to manage Wild Eyes to where she got and under the conditions that were there and, Abby Sunderland, I salute you.
So what to make of the controversy, the part about being 16 with hyper-encouraging parents who really, really want to see you fulfill the solo-round-the-word dream you've had since you were a kid?
Well, from the vantage of a mostly daysailor who recently and without asking got the Senior Discount at the frozen custard shop, while watching and reading the Sunderland family/sailor/lost/found/rescued-at-sea media coverage my mind kept clicking back to a comic from awhile back, one that I hadn't thought of in a couple decades. It was Doonesbury from the days when Duke was governor of a tropical island that had a burpy volcano which the islanders appeased with virgin sacrifices.
In one strip, as I remember, Duke was inquiring about this ritual on a veranda backdropped by the silhouetted volcano with two figures standing on its rim, the smaller figure saying to the larger one, "Daddy, stop pushing!" 