Abby Sunderland: High Waves, Long Voyage -- Minimizing Risk at Sea / Young Girl Chooses Safer Alternative

Abby Sunderland is 16 years of age. And she likes to sail.

Most recently, she tried to make it around the world. Alone.

She did reasonably well. At first.

After a January 2010 departure from Marina del Rey, California, she made good time around South America, and even across the Atlantic Ocean.

But in the Indian Ocean she ran into some problems. On 10 June 2010, nine meter waves smashed the mast on her boat, and the fun was over.

And then communications were lost.

This is all really bad. Alone in the middle of the ocean. Storms. And just drifting.

Cause for panic?

Not at all.

Around the world, there are Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres. Like the one in Ostend pictured at left.

These centers monitor vessel traffic. And when there are problems, they manage the search and rescue efforts at sea.

When Sunderland's emergency beacons started signaling, the search and rescue operations started right away, and a plane set out from Australia to locate her boat. On 12 June 2010, a fishing boat picked her up.

And she was safe.

Over the centuries, so many boats have gone down. And there have been so many tragic deaths at sea.

But now mariners are well-looked after.

There's still some risk, but thanks to the coordinated efforts of search and rescue units around the world, the risk is minimized.

As Abby Sunderland puts it: "You can't eliminate risk, you can do a lot to minimize it but it's always there". (Abby Sunderland cited in Masha Macpherson, US teen sailor reunited with brother after ordeal, AP, 26 Jun 2010)

Sailors can still fall overboard and get eaten by sharks. Nasty storms can still strike. But the risk has been minimized. And yet another sailor has been rescued.

The ocean can be a wild and dangerous place. Lots of waves. Heat and cold.

And Abby Sunderland experienced some of all this. But after the rescue, she could say these problems "ended my trip but it didn't end my dream". (Abby Sunderland cited in Masha Macpherson, US teen sailor reunited with brother after ordeal, AP, 26 Jun 2010)

What a beautiful story!

BUT SO MANY GIRLS GET IN TROUBLE, AND NEVER GET RESCUED

Unfortunately, the MRCC network just handles rescue at sea. There are many more young girls who end up in trouble. Really bad trouble. The sort of thing where there is no rescue. No monitoring. Just the endless drudgery of -- SLAVERY. "A sobering new report from the State Department finds that more than 12 million people worldwide are victims of "trafficking in persons" — trapped in forced labor, bonded labor or forced prostitution". (Liz Goodwin, More than 12 million are modern slaves, U.S. says, Yahoo News, 14 Jun 2010) Most people know about "forced labor" and prostitution. But they may not understand just what "bonded labor" is.

EVIL SLAVE TRADER TREATS "BONDED LABOR" AS PROPERTY TO BE BOUGHT AND SOLD

We turn to the pages of the Holy Bible. Abraham was one of the first Jews. He "had his bond servants, whose condition was similar to, or worse than, that of our slaves. He considered them as his property, to be bought and sold as any other property which he owned." (DeBow’s Review 9 (September 1850), pp 281–286)

CRUEL MUTILATION OF SLAVES

And when this wicked slave trader wasn't buying and selling human flesh, he dealt with his slaves in a cruel and perverse manner, mutilating their sexual organs. (Genesis 17, Holy Bible) A theme which Jewish film director Lars von Trier depicted in his grotesque film Antichrist (see here for full dimensions of this perversion). Medieval Jewish slave traders engaged in the same activities. Finally, the reader will enjoy a full-blown case study of a huge slave capture operation in 1212.

RAPE / SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF BONDED SERVANT

Abraham had married a nice Jewish girl. Her name was Sarai. And he made love to her on many occasions. But she just never could give him a child. (Genesis 16:1, Holy Bible) The wealthy slave trader Abraham had tons of money, but no offspring to take over the family business. His wife thought about this, and told him one day, Look, Abraham, I can't give you a baby, but I have this slave here. You can have sex with her, and get a baby that way. (Genesis 16:2, Holy Bible) The slave, Hagar, got pregnant by her owner Abraham.

And you'll probably be thinking: What crass exploitation. This trader doesn't just buy and sell slaves -- he also rapes them.

BITCHING AND BEATING

Well, that's all really bad stuff. But the story only gets worse. Sarai, the brutal Jewish wife of this Jewish slave trader, horribly abused the pregnant slave. (Genesis 16:6, Holy Bible)

That all happened a long time ago. Surely with modern technology things are getting better.

After all, if the MRCC network can track vessels around the globe, around the clock, surely they can do the same thing for girls?

NOT MUCH "VESSEL TRACKING" GOING ON IN THIS BUSINESS

"The State Department estimates that only 0.4 percent of all modern slavery victims were identified last year.

BECAUSE THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH MONEY ON THE TABLE

Human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar business — and will probably grow so long as global governments fail to crack down on it more forcefully." (Liz Goodwin, More than 12 million are modern slaves, U.S. says, Yahoo News, 14 Jun 2010)

A ROLE MODEL

Abraham was the Jewish pioneer in this business, and in Jewish religious circles, he has always been popular. And so

POPULAR CAREER

"many Jews sooner or later gravitated to human trafficking." And not just in Europe. Some Jews went from Portugal to Africa. "Such peoples, variously called degradados (degraded ones) or lancados (castoffs), found themselves in Africa without capital but not always without skills in commerce. Slave trading thus provided them with an opportunity to start life anew". (Richard Hull, Jews and Judaism in African History, Markus Wiener Publishers, 2009, p 93)

After selling Natalee Holloway into slavery on Aruba, Jewish slave trader Joran van der Sloot found life in the islands uncomfortable. And so he "gravitated to human trafficking" (Hull, supra) in Netherlands, Asia, and even South America. He found himself in new countries. Often without capital, but never without the age-old Jewish "skills in commerce" (Hull, supra). And he used his skills "to start life anew" (Hull, supra). (full details here)

And now you know what a smart girl Abby Sunderland is. "You can't eliminate risk, you can do a lot to minimize it but it's always there". (Abby Sunderland cited in Masha Macpherson, US teen sailor reunited with brother after ordeal, AP, 26 Jun 2010)

She sailed alone into storms with 9-meter waves. Life was risky out there, but she minimized risk by avoiding casinos. And today, she's alive to tell the story.

Stephany Flores went to a casino. And talked with Jewish slave trader Joran van der Sloot. And went home with him.

When she finally wised up, and tried to escape, it was too late. The Jewish slave trader killed her.

High winds, huge waves, all alone out in the boat? That's risky.

But much less so than visiting a casino or nightclub and talking to Jewish slave trader Joran van der Sloot.

So dream on, Abby Sunderland!!