http://www.theage.com.au/national/wh...0611-y3oh.html
Why the fearlessness of 'baby' sailors works to their advantage
FRANK ROBSON
June 12, 2010
Their own expertise and mental discipline is their salvation, writes Frank Robson.
THE worst thing about sailing alone is that there is no one to share the fear.
No one to argue with, reassure, scream at, or cling to. Just you.
If something goes horribly wrong, and you can't decide what to do about it - if panic shuts down your ability to function - you'll probably die.
Forget what silly landlubbers say about solo sailors like Jessica Watson and Abby Sunderland needing only to call up their shore-based experts for advice.
When you're alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, facing the fury of 60-knot winds and 15-metre seas (as Sunderland was before losing satellite phone contact with her support group in California),
the only salvation lies in your own expertise and mental discipline.
Which raises the question: how much of these lifesaving qualities can a 16-year-old kid possess? A hell of a lot, if Jessica Watson is any guide. It may well be that the fearlessness of "baby" sailors works to their advantage, because
the older yachties get, the more wary they become of the ocean's penchant for turning on them when they least expect it.
For example, if Abby Sunderland's father was right in his supposition that her yacht had been
flipped upside down, and that she huddled in an air pocket within the hull (unaware whether potential rescuers even knew of her whereabouts), then her youthful optimism might have been the best thing going for her. Staying positive and not thinking yourself into a state of panic enhances the chances of survival. Which is easy for dilettantes like me to say.
If I were upside down in icy darkness I'm pretty sure I'd be howling like a baby. And I'm a grizzled salt of 58, which suggests there is no ideal age to sail solo around the world … only those who have what it takes, and those who don't.
Personally, I can't imagine anything worse. I'm not opposed to teenagers doing it (or octogenarians or amputees or anyone else), because -
unlike those drones who want to save us all from ourselves - I believe overcoming challenges enhances life.
But one sailor's challenge is another's ordeal.
For me, the pleasure of sailing is in exploration, idyllic anchorages, and freedom from predictability. I don't mind a good scare, but only if there's somebody around to share it with.
Frank Robson, his partner and fellow journalist Leisa Scott and their dog Lucky have just returned from a three-year cruise of the Queensland coast in their 38-foot trimaran, Tradewind.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/wh...0611-y3oh.html