# Rebel Heart- Keeping positive



## Mimsy

Firstly, Charlotte of Rebel Heart is my friend so not only has the huge criticism thrown at them and all cruising families by the public riled me up as a sailing mom but it's hurt me right where it counts- in my heart.

In an attempt to show the masses that sailing with kids- even crossing oceans- is not something only ONE person has ever attempted I, with the aid and photos of a couple of hundred of sailing moms put together this video in support of Rebel Heart and to promote sailing with your kids in a positive way.

This is about showering some compassion and support on a family who has literally just gone through hell and faces a fairly painful bit of mobs with pitchforks when they dock. More importantly, we want to let the world know that we who choose to sail with children are not irresponsible gadabouts, we are loving families who want to share the beauty of the world with our kids.
Hope you like it. Feel free to share as you like- I and the contributors think the positive message needs to be louder than those from people who do not know what it is to love the sea.
Peace,


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## christian.hess

good for you!

I applaud this...too much negativity nowadays


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## MikeOReilly

Beautiful. Thank you Mimsy. I too have been saddened by the attacks levels at Eric and Charlotte. I never cease to be amazed at the arrogance and the _"I know best"_ attitude of some people, although it is especially sad when it comes from fellow cruisers.

The crew of Rebel Heart has been through hell. They need support and understanding. They need time and space to recover. This is a great way of letting them know there is a community that cares.


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## Minnewaska

I wish them nothing but the best. I hope they get back out on the water, if they wish to.

edit: Love the vid!!


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## bobgerman

The general public might not understand why people choose that lifestyle, but I would think at least some of the folks here might.


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## 06HarleyUltra

I can't imagine what their going through. I have nothing but respect for them. I'm glad their child is recovering, and wish them well in the future.


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## Faster

With no disrespect to what the family is going through now (and thankfully help arrived), that video put a huge smile on my face. Loved it!


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## PaulinVictoria

Lucky kids, cute vid


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## chall03

Absolutely fantastic.


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## christian.hess

damn that vid hits a spot..grew up on boats myself....in spain..from a mixed family....I just want to show my kid THIS world and not whats on cnn and crap

peace guys


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## MarioG

I hope everything works out for them. 
Its a shame the media was clueless and didn't seem to care about getting ant of the facts straight.


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## chall03

When she finally stops crying, my wife will share this on our blog, facebooky twittering things etc.


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## MarkofSeaLife

MikeOReilly said:


> I too have been saddened by the attacks levels at Eric and Charlotte. I never cease to be amazed at the arrogance and the _"I know best"_ attitude of some people, although it is especially sad when it comes from fellow cruisers.


I'm not saddened at all.

Sure some of the blog comments are exceedingly low but its good we read them and learn what other people think.

To put our heads in the sand is just putting our heads....

Sometimes we cruisers do live in some vaccume where we we dismiss our families consternation with some brush off remark: Arrr, I have to be out there living the dream!

We can go out there and live the dream but being more cognisant of others feelings.

I don't have kids, never had them, don't even know what having a partner is (because they all escape), so I cant tell whats "right" or "wrong" bit I do know that when I am doing an appreciation, or a risk benifit analysis, that I can't do it properly if I only listen to one side of the opinions expressed.

If we are too gutless to listen to the adverse opinions how can we really have the courage in our own decisions?

Mark


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## Mimsy

I think there is a time and a place to discuss seamanship and what could have been done differently, and that is certainly helpful in learning. But its not right now and its certainly not helpful to scream at Charlotte on her blog that she is an unfit mother and that her children should be taken away. Its also not helpful to have every news article spewing venom and hatred from people who most likely could not tell you what a winch is and what its for.


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## Ajax_MD

The blogs gave me the facts in their own words, not the media.
Since I've got nothing good to say, I'll withhold any further comment.


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## SVAuspicious

Enjoyed the vid. I was anchored next to the couple at 2:05 for a while last summer. What a happy family.


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## caberg

If you publicize your family's entire life on the internet--complete with some very intimate details I might add--be prepared for the consequences. This story would have garnered far less interest had this family not had the blog and the following that they encouraged.

In the end, I am sure these folks will capitalize off this. They are writers and their family appears to be their subject, and the story just got a whole lot more interesting.


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## mad_machine

All the more reason to get "out there" and away from the people who have nothing else to do than complain and judge. I am fairly certain most of it stems from envy.. I am sure most of the mom's out there who levied the biggest scorn on them are the ones who gave up -all- their dreams to have kids


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## TomMaine

Great idea to put this together. It's a nice video of something that's been going on for a long, long time. Non-sailors don't know this experience exists. Learning a sailing life and taking your kids(babies) with you across bays or oceans is one of the best things you can do as parents. I know it was for us.



caberg said:


> If you publicize your family's entire life on the internet--complete with some very intimate details I might add--be prepared for the consequences. This story would have garnered far less interest had this family not had the blog and the following that they encouraged.


I sure agree with that. What you write on social media can be as personal as you want. But if something happens and you're put into a media-focus, media may treat casual lines as states evidence.

Some media have taken a line or two of this mothers blog and used it as the lede in article on a sensational parenting article.

We all know as sailors, life on the water has high, highs, and low, lows. Everybody vents the extreme emotional side(some on the internet).

It's not fair for responsible media to take those personal snippets, and create an article around it. It's certainly not journalism.


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## Minnewaska

We've always had cultural norms that kept things secret, that were never really secrets. We must be clothed in public, but we all know what's under there.  These family blogs are only revealing what has always taken place in nearly every family, from time to time. It's just hard to take it in context, because we used to only hear about it when it boiled over.

I do predict that the self-exploitation of facebook and personal blogs is going to eliminate the sense of privacy for future generations. May or may not be a bad thing.


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## TomMaine

Minnewaska said:


> It's just hard to take it in context, because we used to only hear about it when it boiled over.
> 
> I do predict that the self-exploitation of facebook and personal blogs is going to eliminate the sense of privacy for future generations. May or may not be a bad thing.


We had an imaginary button on our last boats bulkhead. "If you want to get off the boat and go home, PUSH" The gelcoat was worn off around it. Then something would change, and nobody would want to push it..until the next time.

I could be wrong, but having grown up in and around a whole village of kids, now, just becoming adults, I've witnessed a sort of fire-wall social media culture. They know how to use it because they've learned how it can bite them.

On the other hand, I'm still amazed at how many- their parents age- 'post' on the internet, as if they're talking to a small group on an island.


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## caberg

TomMaine said:


> I'm still amazed at how many- their parents age- 'post' on the internet, as if they're talking to a small group on an island.


After reading some of the two blogs this morning at Rebel Heart - The Saga of the Rebel Heart I am fairly certain that these parents understood they were posting to the world, and it was their full intention to do so.

Makes me wonder whether they set off across the Pacific to have an adventure, or to have an adventure to write about. In other words, if they did not have the ability to blog along the way, would they still have set out. I am not so sure.


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## Maine Sail

TomMaine said:


> It's not fair for *responsible media* to take those personal snippets, and create an article around it. It's certainly not journalism.


Tom,

I hate to break it to you but Cuba, North Korea, China and Iran have more "_responsible media_" than we do here in the US.....

"_Responsible media_" is like saying "good smelling poop", does not exist.

BTW I was the youngest commercial lobsterman in the history of the state of NH (long story) and I was fishing alone at the age of 11. Everyone who knew my parents thought they were smoking crack because they were not "boaty" types... This sort of idiotic judgemental behavior has been going on forever. The masses or _"If you do something differently than I do, you are crazy"_ crowd is only getting larger and will continue to do so... Sadly it seems if you don't fit into the "Urban soccer mom / Suburban/Escalade driving" mode of parenting then you are simply doing it wrong...

Our daughter is the happiest kid I know, and she loves the boat...! She has been asking all winter when we get to start sailing again..

Sticking with the theme of Mimsy's post........

This was within 5 minutes of her trying a paddle board. We had friends on board who had a 9 year old son who was petrified of the ocean, yet our 6 year old was paddling around to the other boats and chatting them up like a politician on the stump.... Our friends were wetting their pants the entire time she was in the water.... Non boaties....






When my wife told some friends at a book club get together that we had bought our daughter a kayak one of them nearly dropped a wine glass; *"But she's only 4 that's not safe."*....





Boat kids are FUN kids..

Horse Rides On the Boom:









Island Exploration:









She LOVES the pram's...









While all the kids of the Soccer mom's were at home playing video games Zozo was on a remote island enjoying a lobster bake..









Oh and we know _judgmental_ idiots. You should have seen the flak we took for this photo, which graced the cover of a local sailing rag..









Ignore the judgmental......









To all the non-boaty types out there who _think_ they have parenting all figured out, but no one else does, I give a big one fingered salute / FU !


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## TerryBradley

YEAH! What Mainsail said!!!!!!:laugher


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## caberg

Main Sail's pictures are awesome! And way, way different than a 30-40 day passage across the Pacific. There's no comparison whatsoever, so I don't know why Maine Sail is so offended with the big FU at the end (who is he FU'ing?). He is showing healthy, active kids... running, jumping, sailing dinghys, kayaking, eating corn on a beach. Who the heck takes issue what that??


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## Ajax_MD

caberg said:


> Main Sail's pictures are awesome! And way, way different than a 30-40 day passage across the Pacific. There's no comparison whatsoever, so I don't know why Maine Sail is so offended with the big FU at the end (who is he FU'ing?). He is showing healthy, active kids... running, jumping, sailing dinghys, kayaking, eating corn on a beach. Who the heck takes issue what that??


Did you read his post, or did you just look at the pretty pictures?

There are people who feel that young children engaging in even the simplest water sports, even closely supervised with chase boats, is the height of irresponsibility. Our society is getting to be quite demanding that we all "homogenize", and do the same thing.

That's who the "FU" was directed at.


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## capta

I raised a child circumnavigating (she was 3 months old when we took off) and she turned out to be a great person.
That someone would presume to say that raising a child on a sailboat is in anyway wrong, especially dangerous for the child or akin to abuse, angers me beyond words.
How many of you criticizing the Kaufmans right now, are actually even raising your own children, or are both parents working and you are expecting day care, after school care and the school system to do it for you? How many of you are so caught up in chasing the almighty dollar that you just don't spend the time you would like to with your kids?
I was with my daughter 24/7/365 until she was at an age when her education became a necessity, and she went off to a Swiss boarding school. Which would you think was actually a better and safer way to raise a child, boat or not?
I think there is the very real possibility, because of the huge publicity this case is getting, that our meddlesome government may stick it's nose into the business of those wishing to sail offshore with their kids, and that should be of immense concern to all of us.
BOAT KIDS ROCK, and most grow up to be incredibly interesting people, if not a bit Bohemian.


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## christian.hess

THATS the issue...some countries HAVE taken that route...

lets be happy we still have the option


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## zeehag

sailing and cruising is not what downed this family. 

the problems they encountered were not normal cruising problems.

i find it most interesting that while crying out for help, they refuse assistance from specified individuals. that tells me they need no help. 

enjoy.

may their troubles be of their own hands and creation, as i have, thruout this misadventure only wished them success. 
however, their future IS in their own hands. may they bring it around well without foundering.


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## TomMaine

Maine Sail said:


> Tom,
> 
> Oh and we know _judgmental_ idiots. You should have seen the flak we took for this photo, which graced the cover of a local sailing rag..


I can't see what's wrong with that photo. Maybe they aren't used to kids like ours, that spend a lot of time, on the water?


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## scubadoo

Awesome job Mimsy (and helpers) !!


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## T37Chef

nothing other than thanks for sharing. nice video


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## Faster

I guess we've all got 'em.. 

Look out Tom.. prepare to be vilified for allowing that youngster on/in the water without a PFD


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## caberg

BubbleheadMd said:


> Did you read his post, or did you just look at the pretty pictures?
> 
> There are people who feel that young children engaging in even the simplest water sports, even closely supervised with chase boats, is the height of irresponsibility. Our society is getting to be quite demanding that we all "homogenize", and do the same thing.
> 
> That's who the "FU" was directed at.


Yea, I did, it just seemed misplaced given the current controversy and debate surrounding Rebel Heart. That seems like a _very_ different scenario from the "boating" kids that many of us here have, myself included. Here is my son having a blast on a beautiful summer day (as all the other kids in the pictures above). I can guarantee that he would not have fun being confined to our boat for 30-40 days even in the best of conditions, let alone when things get nasty and you can hardly stand up for days on end.


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## smackdaddy

mad_machine said:


> All the more reason to get "out there" and away from the people who have nothing else to do than complain and judge.


As one who keeps a blog of sorts about sailing with my kids - just like many others - this is a very squishy concept. As most sailors hold - "getting out there and away from the people..." is a great and noble thing...even with kids. But that's not quite what you're doing with a blog is it?

You can't really have it both ways.


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## Maine Sail

caberg said:


> Yea, I did, it just seemed misplaced given the current controversy and debate surrounding Rebel Heart. That seems like a _very_ different scenario from the "boating" kids that many of us here have, myself included. Here is my son having a blast on a beautiful summer day (as all the other kids in the pictures above). *I can guarantee that he would not have fun being confined to our boat for 30-40 days even in the best of conditions, let alone when things get nasty and you can hardly stand up for days on end.*


So, don't take him, you're the parent. What is sad is that it seems YOU know what is best for other peoples kids, not just your own...?. Castro, Hitler and Stalin also knew what was best for _everyone_ too.... Sing along "little boxes, on the hill side, little boxes made of.......

I have many friends who grew up as cruising kids, crossed ponds, went around the world etc. etc. etc. Many are now cruising couples, with kids, crossing ponds and sailing around the world.. Kids on world cruising boats are NOT new. Where were you guys two weeks, two years ago or 30 years ago when this same exact thing, cruising with kids, was happening. Oh yeah there was no media driven, hysterical band wagon to jump on before Eric & Charlotte....

Remember there are people out there that think what you did off the back of your boat is irresponsible too. You judge, yet there are those who would judge you just as poorly.

It is a SAD, SAD, SAD day in the boating community when we judge our own negatively because we know better how to raise their kids than they do...:hothead

Just yesterday a 33 year old mother passed out behind the wheel of her car, luckily she had pulled over. The cops found her car with the kids in the back seat saying _*"mommy won't wake up"*_.. This happened a few miles from our house. I think Eric & Charlote's kids are FAR BETTER OFF at sea than with a parents like we see far too many of.....

$hit happens on the mainland at far greater percentages than at sea, yet some sailors want to sit behind a keyboard and get all catty wumpus on those sailors who make different decisions than they do about how they and their family "cruise"..... Sheesh...

I think we'd all do better criticizing the families who refused to vaccinate, and have now caused another measles outbreak, rather than attacking our own........ Where is the outrage on that?

I suppose we could just mandate that all outpost villages in Alaska, Newdfoundland, Iceland etc. all get shut down due to the lack of proximity to medical care??? Heck close down half the islands in the So Pacific too as they are often weeks away from adequate medical care too... Any parent that chooses to raise kids in any of those villages or islands is just _crazy_... Tongue FIRMLY in cheek....

Sorry but I have been on the receiving end of this sort of BS since I was a kid, and it is RIDICULOUS.


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## smackdaddy

Maine Sail said:


> Glad YOU know what is best for other peoples kids. Castro, Hitler and Stalin also knew what was best for _everyone_ too.... Sing along "little boxes, on the hill side, little boxes made of.......


Good grief Maine - lighten up. His post was talking about HIS kid. Talk about a hysterical bandwagon. And it ain't "the media".


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## caberg

Maine Sail said:


> Glad YOU know what is best for other peoples kids.


Uh, actually, I wrote about what is best for _my kid._ "I can guarantee that he would not have fun being confined to our boat for 30-40 days even in the best of conditions..."

And heck, I was right on the same page with your post above with the pictures of your beautiful kids. That looks like any given day of summer for us too!


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## Minnewaska

I think the ire is justified. Many are saying Erik and Charolete shouldn't have cruised across an ocean with their kids, as opposed to claiming they personally never would. Very different points.

Everyone is entitled to make their own decision here.


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## TomMaine

I love all these photos of kids on boats.

Everyone will have a different experience, but for us, when they were the youngest aboard, they would have been well suited for long distance on a sailboat.

As babies and toddlers, the boat was a whole world to them. Sea berths were easily fashioned(they sleep a lot at this age), safe play areas with lee cloths in several berths, the cockpit well with a little water in it formed a perfect swimming pool for toddlers(in calm conditions). Best of all, when we were sailing, we spent every minute together.

But we(parents) were not up for crossing oceans or long term cruising. Yet during a few short cruises, one like this to the Bahamas from New England, they were perfectly suited having just turned 2 and 3.

From this age on though, their world was a beach. We sailed from beach, to beach, to beach,...


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## JonEisberg

caberg said:


> If you publicize your family's entire life on the internet--complete with some very intimate details I might add--be prepared for the consequences. This story would have garnered far less interest had this family not had the blog and the following that they encouraged.
> 
> In the end, I am sure these folks will capitalize off this. They are writers and their family appears to be their subject, and the story just got a whole lot more interesting.


Yup, 'Live by the sword, die by the sword'... Charlie Doane learned that lesson recently, having to contend with some of us less sympathetic "baying dogs of the internet"... 

I was only vaguely familiar with these folks before this occurrence, but after delving into their blog, the first thought that came to mind was _'they're specifically targeting the Bumfuzzles' legions of adoring fans...'_ They've even gone the extra mile with their companion blogs, and spicing it up with such titillating tidbits as sharing with all of us the time of their most recent conjugal coupling...

Reading their respective blogs is pretty illuminating, if one didn't know any better, it would be easy to be under the impression they were not even on the same boat. Eric's postings seem to be blissfully unaware of the difficulty Charlotte is having - who appears to spend all of her waking hours either dealing with the kids, or whining on her blog what a PITA passagemaking with an infant is  It's amazing to me, given the general discomfort aboard and the non-stop rigors of taking care of the children, she still found the time to compose such lengthy postings, and seems indicative that maintaining the blog is a _MAJOR_ component of their cruising... However, when she asks Eric 3 days out "How long would it take you to sail around the world by yourself, without me and the girls?", or a few days later confesses "This is the stupidest thing we've ever done", I'd suggest it's pretty naive to think such words might not come back to haunt them...

NTTAWWT, I suppose...  It's the way people are sailing these days, even a guy with no rain gear aboard a San Juan 24 is posting his way across the Pacific on Facebook...

As one who has done his share - and perhaps a bit more - of second-guessing maritime misadventures on various sailing forums over the years, I fully expect to get plenty of negative blowback when my own screw-up occurs... It's just a matter of time, no doubt...


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## smackdaddy

I honestly think everything is going to depend on how they handle the media attention when they get back. I hope and pray they focus on the right things.


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## SVAuspicious

There is an interesting article in _The Atlantic_ that posits we are grossly overprotecting children to the detriment of children as individuals and society at large.

For myself I envy boat kids experiences I did not have.


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## Maine Sail

caberg said:


> Uh, actually, I wrote about what is best for _my kid._ "I can guarantee that he would not have fun being confined to our boat for 30-40 days even in the best of conditions..."
> 
> And heck, I was right on the same page with your post above with the pictures of your beautiful kids. That looks like any given day of summer for us too!


I did see that but was also responding to this, which I had meant to, but, failed to quote:



caberg said:


> Main Sail's pictures are awesome! A*nd way, way different than a 30-40 day passage across the Pacific. There's no comparison whatsoever*, so I don't know why Maine Sail is so offended with the big FU at the end (who is he FU'ing?). He is showing healthy, active kids... running, jumping, sailing dinghys, kayaking, eating corn on a beach. Who the heck takes issue what that??


Perhaps I mistook what you meant but I read it as you are one of the many who think what Eric and Charlotte did was unacceptable and a poor way to raise their kids? If you did not intend that, I officially apologize for misreading what you meant.

My point in the picture posts is that we've not even crossed oceans and been harshly judged by non-boaties. That is just as unfathomable to me as "boaties" judging Eric & Charlotte's decision on how they should raise their kids.

I still want to keep alive the gist of what I said to those who are verbally chastising them for how they choose to raise their kids. Differnt? Sure.. Wrong? Absolutely not... It is none of anyone's business how we raise our daughter and none of mine how you raise yours or Eric & Charlotte choose to raise theirs.

Just by being boat owners we are all stereotyped and judged, let's not do the same to our own. That is my basic point.

Again sorry if I misread what you meant, and misdirected my post at you, rather than the "everyone" who is on the bandwagon against Eric & Charlotte.


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## btrayfors

Me, too, Smack...

Problem is, many of those who are loudest in their criticism are neither ocean sailors nor, in some cases, even parents.

I got on the Stephanie Miller show day before yesterday and tried to inject some realism. Maybe a bit of it got thru, but those making fun of and yelling about Rebel Heart were not sailors at all nor were they parents! One even said and repeated over and over that you should never take a young child away from a pediatrician!

A colleague and very experienced cruiser/professional sailor also posted on Facebook trying to make at least a few readers more realistic in their judgment.

I still haven't heard an authoritative account of why the boat "lost steering" and "had no propulsion" or "was disabled"....these charges are being repeated all over the media, including the network news on all channels. The USCG video showed the boat with some sail up. I dunno.

But, as I said on the radio, even if the boat were fully operational it was 6-7 days from land in the best of circumstances and with the child very sick Eric did exactly the right thing. And, he had the good sense and communications capability to call for help.

Anyway, glad they're safe and hope they don't get discouraged by all the brainless and clueless land dwellers with overdeveloped thumbs and big mouths 

Bill


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## Shockwave

Good for Rebal Heart raising their kids the way they want and trying to give them a rich life filled with adventure. Sorry this trip did not work out but if you spend enough time on a sailboat you know not all time aboard is not fair winds and following breezes. If I felt my kid needed help and the cost was my boat it would be a no brainer. The kid would rule and the loss of a boat would be a non sequitur.


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## Sal Paradise

They seem like competent caring parents. I support them and I wish them well and I feel a lot of sympathy for them. They do not deserve what is being thrown at them now. I hope the sick girl is 100% better. That's the important thing and they know it.


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## Chas H

I dream of the day I can take my grandbabies sailing... if my kids ever have any.
-CH


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## Bob142

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C. S. Lewis


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## chall03

They are back in San Diego, Eric has checked in at CF, praising the rescue effort and unsurprisingly has hinted that perhaps the 'facts' as we have heard them from the media, were not entirely accurate.

Glad to hear they are safely back on land.


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## Ajax_MD

chall03 said:


> They are back in San Diego, Eric has checked in at CF, praising the rescue effort and unsurprisingly has hinted that perhaps the 'facts' as we have heard them from the media, were not entirely accurate.
> 
> Glad to hear they are safely back on land.


I'm sure the media reports are inaccurate.
The blogs however, are their own words.


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## chall03

BubbleheadMd said:


> I'm sure the media reports are inaccurate.
> The blogs however, are their own words.


Sure.

But they stop several days before the distress call and the subsequent rescue.

I know some have enjoyed finding bits and pieces in their blog and then drawing a fairly long bow between past blog posts and the rescue, for my part i'm happy to just wait and see what Eric/Charlotte have to say when their ready.


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## chall03

I find she can steer a better compass course than me.


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## zeehag

i would imagine it would be difficult to wriute a blog when way out at sea away from signals and with seasick mommy changing sick baby poo didies. ye think????
they werenot in trade winds but dailing prefrontals he pushed them hard for whatever reasonb.

it is not unsafe to raise kids on a boat or cruising with kids..it is all the family dynamics and choices made when at sea..

there was also another baby rescue at sea that didnt make much splash in news..... heeere it is.....


> Seleccionar idioma ▼
> Two separate remote baby rescues sure to raise questions
> 
> 'Babies on board - it's the Southern Ocean on Anasazi' .
> 
> It was already a week of rescues. Now the rescue of two babies from sailing boats, one because of illness in the Pacific and one because of a dismasting near Cape Horn, will raise questions - about the foolhardiness of taking small children sailing in remote locations and the expense of their rescues - by all but the most inveterate of cruising sailors.
> 
> In the Southern Ocean, two boats which Sail-World Cruising had previously featured were both dismasted in the same storm in Cape Horn waters.
> 
> Andrew Halcrow was on his second attempt to circumnavigate the world solo (see Sail-World story) when he was dismasted and James Burwick and his wife Somiro Sao with their three young children (see Sail-World story) on their Open 50(swapped for their previous Open 40) Anasazi Girl were dismasted in the same storm, but in a location too remote for a helicopter rescue. They were rescued by a Chilean Navy ship.
> 
> While these rescues have good conclusions as far as the safety of life is concerned, back in the Pacific, the rescue is still going on of a very sick baby, one of the children on board Rebel Heart, a 36ft yacht being sailed by Californian couple Eric and Charlotte Kauffman with their two children.
> 
> The Kauffmans, experienced sailors with a long-time ambition to sail around the world, departed last month, like many others before them, with their small children on board, to achieve their dreams of a circumnavigation. They were sailing to the Marquesas, the nearest port of call in French Polynesia.
> 
> Eric and Charlotte Kauffman with their two children - .. .
> 
> These dreams were smashed when 13-month-old Lyra developed a severe rash, a high fever and vomiting 900 miles off the coast of Mexico. They radioed a distress call to the U.S. Coast Guard. An MC-130P Combat Shadow was sent to the scene and four parachuting medics leapt into the ocean and clambered aboard the 36-foot sailing boat.
> 
> If necessary, a helicopter rescue of the infant was planned and a complicated fuel supply procedure was put in place for airborne refuelling of the helicopter to reach the remote sailing boat. However, the medics on board have since reported that, after the administration of antibiotics, the health of the baby had improved, and the sailing boat, which had previously been disabled, was now heading for a meeting with a U.S. Navy frigate, which will bring the family back to shore. The parachuting medics will remain with the family.
> 
> Children are frequently found on circumnavigating yachts, and the incidence of dramas such as described above has been almost non-existent. The children on board these many long-range cruising boats are always reported as thriving under the personal supervision of the school-work and the healthy inspiring environment of life in many different lands and cultures. Two rescues of babies in a short period of time, however, is bound to cause consternation among the sailing fraternity and criticism among others.
> 
> Positive supportive letter from Reader:
> 
> Sender: B Grant
> 
> Message: We, as experienced off shore sailors APPLAUD these two families for their lifestyle and determination! One error though, James Burwick and Somira Sao have THREE small children aboard, a 5 yr old, a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old. Their boat, a fast racing machine, was dismasted in a storm but was towed into Puerto Williams, Chile where they are waiting for a replacement mast so they can continue their journey. Both of these boats with rescued families with babies were well equipped, the parents well organized and experienced and we wish them well in their continued adventures!!
> 
> by Lee Mylchreest


and dont forget a few years ago a family with a small baby abandoned a bavaria at sea......

it isnt the sailing and cruising that is the problem we as sailors and cruisers face..it is the inner family dynamic and choices made by the dominant parent that can be a problem ... i have seen manhy succesfful cruising families out here..seems th ebest tool in the toolbox in these cases is TEAM WORK. which sems to be mising in some dynamics i have witnessed.

brings to mind bumfuzzle and third day and other successful cruising families who dont live in drama and spotlights.


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