That was not my point at all.

This board has as members experienced cruisers, weekend sailors who dream of cruising and non-sailors who would like to get into the sport. I don't want to discourage anyone from expanding their horizons on a boat. Far from it. The hours/days/years I've spent messing about in boats have been some of the most rewarding of my life. The images and sailing related experiences that fill my memory are priceless to me. I take every opportunity to encourage others to get out their too. However, it should be done with some thought and foresight. While the sea isn't out to get you, it can be coldly unforgiving of carelessness and mistakes. I stress that we don't yet know many details of this current tragedy and we may never know them. However, the little we do know seems to indicate that mistakes were made.

Lord knows, I've made more than my share of mistakes and have been lucky enough to not have to pay the terrible consequences that worst case outcomes could have resulted in. It may be just an age thing, but the more time I spend on the ocean, the more careful I've become. We know that they were in a small boat in an area known for rough conditions at a time when such conditions were forecast. I think that's a bad decision on the skipper's part. It has been reported that they had to resort to a cooler and a life ring wen the boat sank out from under them. If true, that represents a lack of preparation on the skipper's part.

My point in pointing this out is not to discourage others from pushing themselves beyond their current limits, but to encourage them to think carefully and plan ahead as they do so.

My compassion is with all of those who almost certainly lost their lives yesterday, but mostly for the children. They had neither the capacity nor the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether to participate in the voyage. It was up to the adults to look out for them.