On Sep 8, 8:22*pm, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
....
This idea of "he's too young" seems to be a modern misconception as
history shows may instances of young people doing things that they would
be considered "too young" to do in this modern age. ...

Just to be clear I am not arguing that Zac is too young. I don't
believe that competence and age are all that closely correlated. I
don't know the person in question so I'm not able to judge his
abilities. My beef isn't that they sent him off anyway. The problem
is that they let him go but are demanding that he check in all the
time. Either he's competent or he isn't. He can be supported but he
can't be sailed around the world over the sat phone. I'm quite
familiar with Iridium and HF comms and I can assure you that they will
go wrong from time to time. There will be days when Zac will not be
able to call home and his folks either need to accept that or they
shouldn't let him go at all. Calling the coast guard because he
missed one position report is just not right. To quote that great
telegram from _Swallows and Amazons_ "better drowned than duffers, if
not duffers won't drown." Zac's folks have to decide if they think
he's a duffer or not and then live with that decision.

-- Tom.