Abby Sunderland

I've hammered all week on business and political issues, time for a break! Today we need to celebrate American exceptionalism, and to do that I'm calling attention to Abby Sutherland. Abby is a sixteen year old adventurer who set sail from California with the "big hairy audacious goal" to circumnavigate the world non-stop. You might have heard she ran afoul and was cut short by thirty foot waves breaking her mast, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. She and her parents have many critics, but I'm here to point out her accomplishments. How different would this world be if every sixteen year old shared her pluck?

Abby is home schooled, a tribute to the process. As a Ships Master I can appreciate the math, geography, and survival skills she had to learn to be equipped to take on this adventure. How many teens can say they've experienced geography first hand like this young woman? She had to have a grasp of meteorology, celestial navigation, and ocean currents. Her skills had to include electronics, use and repair, plumbing, and electrical systems. She had to conserve her resources to last the months this trip was planned to take. That's quite a level of maturity and knowledge.

Unfortunately I know very little about this young lady, but I'm sure of this....The one thing she has hasn't learned is the definition of the word, can't. I think one of the saddest things known to mankind is to set your goals low and achieve them, she'll never suffer from that affliction. While other kids her age are sitting on the couch, texting, and absorbed in Play Station 3, awaiting you to serve their next meal, she is dreaming of adventure. Setting goals and learning the skills necessary to achieve them.

Critics have leveled charges of child abuse toward her parents. Let's address that nonsense right now. Sixteen year olds have been called upon to fight in both the revolutionary and civil wars, have led countries as both kings and queens, represent their nations in the Olympics, and in colonial times been married, given birth and raised a family. Her vessel was equipped for emergency or she wouldn't have survived the adversity she faced, and it's also a testament to her seamanship that she's alive today. She financed, equipped, and executed her dream. That is American exceptionalism! She's cut from a different cloth, and her parents are mandated to point her toward greatness. How dare anyone suggest they hold her back. Man would never have learned to fly or walked on the moon with that attitude.

By definition to be exceptional you have to be different. While someone else's child may not exude the maturity and the knowledge to take on this adventure, that is not a standard to judge others. Was everything perfect in her quest, hardly. She would have made it if it was! But failure is a part of learning, and next time she'll likely succeed, and there will be a next time!

God Bless!
Capt. Bill