Victoria Cavaliere
12:19 p.m. CDT, April 7, 2014
Tribune
The parents of a sick baby who had to be rescued hundreds of miles off the Mexico coast Sunday are defending themselves against criticism that taking two small children on a year-long sailing trip around the world was not smart parenting.
Eric and Charlotte Kaufman issued an email statement while aboard the Navy frigate Vandegrift, which took the parents, their ailing 1-year-old daughter and their 3-year-old daughter onboard at daybreak Sunday after their sailboat became disabled about 1,000 miles from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
“We understand there are those who question our decision to sail with our family,” the Kaufmans said in the statement. “But please know that this is how our family has lived for seven years. And when we departed on this journey more than a year ago, we were then and remain today confident that we prepared as well as any sailing crew could.
“The ocean is one of the greatest forces of nature and it always has the potential to overcome those who live on or near it.”