Anyway, I'm all for letting her do the trip. She is going to be 14, and I think I would have been capable of doing that when I was 14. I STILL think so, even in hindsight.

If she freaks out early in the voyage, she will still be close to shore and can turn around and come home. Just like kids who run away from home and suddenly realize, "This isn't fun."

I would feel a lot better about her safety, though, if she were doing the voyage on a Wharram catamaran than on a monohull that can sink.

P.S. It is not like she is going to be alone at sea for two years. People who spend that kind of time (two years) circumnavigating are spending more time ashore than they are on the water. Sounds like a GREAT education.