Solo Circumnavigation

[circumnavigator]

WHAT AN INTERESTING EXCHANGE OF IDEAS! This is a lot of months late to agree with someone, but this father's arrogance in the face of his daughter's adventure is criminal.

[circumnavigator]

Has anyone investigated whether this whole solo-sailor thing was a well-crafted scam? I visited the website and found that she rather quickly abandonned her dream and her boat is for sale. She also accepted money from donors to supprt her trip. "Beans and rice" money she calls it. I hope a lot of people weren't duped by this seemingly innocent website.

[stationr]

If you read the website, it's clear this was no scam...Heather and her father spent a lot of time and money working on her Flicka, and I would be very surprised if they ever had any hope of turning a profit of any sort on the deal.

No, the real story (one that I'm afraid Heather may never tell, although she's a good writer) is how she got hooked on that classic "sail away and leave it all behind" dream and then only made 100 miles before turning around and ultimately giving it all up. In all honesty, I think she made the right decision in turning around: she simply was not ready to sail across the Gulf of Mexico alone, much less around the world. Others with no experience have certainly done it, but they always seem to be 20 year surfers who think they can survive anything.

A good sailor is likely a dreamer, but dreams aren't enough to get you safely across an ocean.