Let's Go Sailing; I Hear the Arabian Sea is Beautiful This Time of Year!!

There are just some places retired Americans looking for adventure should not visit. After all that has gone on in recent years I would fire the navigator who plotted a course putting my vessel anywhere near the coast of Somalia...even if it was my life partner. I am dumbfounded as to why this latest hijacking had to happen. It just does not make sense that someone smart enough to earn a medical degree puts himself and others in harms way, even for evangelical purposes, at a time when savages rule a lawless body of water.

Jean and Scott Adam had been pursuing a dream of sailing around the world and distributing the Good Book aboard their sloop christened Quest. According to the couple's website, their initial journeys started in 2002. Originally from Marina Del Ray, the retired dentist, his wife and 2 others succumbed to acts of piracy while on a mission to satisfy their own urges and callings. For dedicated believers, distributing material that promotes Christianity can be hard to ignore. However, there are times when common sense should overtake conviction. Granted, if everyone in a difficult position gave in to common sense we might not have as many significant advances in science, technology, and the human condition as we do today. However, in 2011 the coast of Somalia appears to be as good an "off-limits zone" as there could be.

Government agencies are quick to advise travelers to avoid traveling to dangerous places. According to the New York Times warnings were sent out to maritime travelers by the Navy to stay in the shipping lanes when navigating around the Arabian Sea. Traveling in groups was also advised. The Adams chose to ignore these warnings and left a group of other boats to go off on their own adventure. With such a breech of safety protocol should our tax dollars be involved in this situation at all?

I have not read of any planned rescue attempts, but articles state that American military officials are aware of the situation. In the past ransoms have been paid to secure safe releases of those captured by Somali pirates. The Adams appear to be a family of some means. I hope funds are raised from private sources and all aboard the Quest are released unharmed and before the next high tide. There is just too big difference between a merchant marine and a pleasure boater and who deserves government assistance when it comes to dangerous conditions on the high seas. With so much going on in our world people have to be held responsible for their own actions. This ranks right up there with hiking anywhere near the border of Iran after the year in a decade of powder-keg tensions.

The website for the sailing vessel Quest (http://www.svquest.com/) is amazing and quite impressive. This couple has a bigger sense of adventure than I could even fathom. I have been nervous sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. As brought to light by the hijacking of the Quest, there are limitations that should not be ignored unless one is willing to accept the consequences of their actions. As evangelists, the Adams were probably well aware of the situation they were putting themselves in and most likely willing to take what came. Now we can only hope and pray for their safety and well being and also the success of their mission. If they convert one Somali pirate to Christianity who knows what good might ensue in a ravaged territory. The speculation is limitless.

My own thoughts fluctuate so much when I think about the Adam's situation. Of course I hope and pray for their safety but then I get a little perturbed about their decision to sail into the Gulf of Aden. There are places people should just steer clear of - and that goes for all races and creeds. Unfortunately, no one is immune to the harmful intentions of others in the modern day. I am reminded of the line from Casablanca when Rick warns Major Strasser that there are some places in the Bronx where the German army might want to stay out of. Now I'll just keep shaking my head and pondering the situation some more...