allotted 15 minutes of fame and money.

Think of the book deals, the movie deals --it's the perfect opportunity for her and her family to make money off the gullible, er, I mean entertainment-hungry public! What's not to love? It's Hollywood.

High stakes, drama (never mind that the high stakes and drama are the result of extremely bad decisions) --as they say, "sex sells". It was the obvious next step after reality TV.

Diving with hungry hammerhead sharks --and getting eaten alive. Boring!

Teenage winter climbing in the Himalaya --that'll sell, but mountains are boring to most people. Fucking cold --no one's interested in that.

Setting off to cross the ocean in the winter --knockdown, international rescue and media attention. Yup, that'll sell

So, I say good on the Sunderlands for recognizing a marketing opportunity and going for the bucks and 15 minutes of fame. It's the good ol' fashioned American way, and something to be proud of.

(By the way, I'm planning a solo sail across Drake Passage to Antarctica next winter --working on the blog link as we speak. Any backers out there? No one's done such a crossing in winter before...don't know why not! Tons of publicity opportunities in it... )