I wonder if she will now update her by-line to read:

failed at solo attempt
set out at wrong time of year
cost rescue/search services a lot of money
now have to suffer taunts from brother
offers sailing lessons...

On a different tack,

anyone in here been allowed to do something pretty dangerous by parents?

Hmm. I don't think the website was written by her. And I don't mean to undermine your chronological seniority, but I think it is a matter of attitude towards people like Abby (which is what I was trying to say in an earlier post). If you think any kid can train for years and attempt to sail around the world, that's not true. There is clearly some talent there, if not a lot of it, and when someone does sailing full time, I suppose it's appropriate to call them a professional sailor.

I was allowed to go on a Himalayan trek once (a couple years back). I got lost, fell sick (diarrhea, literally had to take a sh*t in the woods every 5 minutes) lived in a shack with some natives for a couple days, and made my way back home about 7,000 km away.

I don't know if you'd call that 'dangerous'. But it turned dangerous.

@all - I'm sorry. The last two posts were from me, not Zaza. I'm sitting his account for the weekend, and accidentally typed from there. Sincere apologies.

I strongly disagree. The term professional requires a lot of respect for the person's abilities beyond mere promise. If she had done the deal, perhaps forwards and backwards, organised further exploits of serious comparison, written at length and made contributions to the sport that were widely appreciated by her peers, then she starts to get the label professional. Otherwise, she needs to find someone to pay her to do it as a job, not a hobby.

If you read the Wiki entry, it is very cheap.

How about:

Flashman,

known to be researching the world's first complete cure for Cancer...

has extensive experience cycling on garden path and near to home,
soon to be oldest man to try cycling through Afghanistan wearing an UK flag on a round the world solo trip...

Ah, the trots ava!

I had a similar experience in the Himalaya region. I was hospitalised in an isolation ward on arrival back at Heathrow. I believe I was deemed a danger to the nation. It turned out to be an intestinal parasite. I went from about 150 pounds to 110 in a couple of weeks. Amazing experience, pewking, tears running, bum at full blast and peeing all at the same time. I thought that was not possible.

I was, however, 21 and therefore culpable for my own folly.

Brilliant trip though otherwise. Shame I have no time to discuss now...

yeah, the difference between 16 and 21 is huge, the difference between 17 and 364 days and 18 is also some arbitrary dividing line for legal reasons. (because working out how each person should be treated on an individual basis would be to time-consuming... having the law be blind is much more efficient)

Also 16 year olds shouldn't try doing things which might be beyond their abilities, a 32 year old on the other hand should have the right to risk their life at sea whenever they want, screw the cost to life-saving services, that's what we pay them for, right?</irony>

@orathaic : a -30 from you is a badge of honor to me.

On a lighter note, KaiserWilly and I have aggreed to disagree and bury the hatchet off-line. Thanks, kaiser.

To the rest of you that insist on the occassional bout of name calling....<yawn...> growing old. It's hilarious when I get criticized for saying your point of view (opinion) is wrong, and yet if I criticize someone's opinion I'm wrong, don't understand your argument, etc. lol It's pretty amusing and illuminating. I point out faults in arguments, discussion points that I have made and were ignored in the rebuttal...but I'm typing "drivel".

Wow...I sure hope I'm as perfect as some of you some day!

In the end - no hard feelings towards any of you. I've enjoyed the sparring!

sparring? it doesn't count as sparring if you ignore any points which you can't refute, that's just you getting trashed.

but enjoy what you please

maybe i can rephrase your statement - "It's hilarious when i get criticized when everyone else disagrees with my opinion, and yet i disagree with everyone else's opinion." yes, Hilarious, that is the perfect word for the sentence!

orathaic, really, it's just not worth it. I've tried and it's just not worth it.

I see where you're coming from and I've tried. Let my mistakes be your guide. It's easier to just ignore it and walk away.

Actually I know precisely how to solve this problem. Krellin, I challenge you to another Live Anon Gunboat. The loser of the challenge is the one who gets eliminated first. The winner of the challenge is the winner of the game. Anything in between is a tie.

I would be keen on this...