The story seems to have faded from the public view. The PJs who actually did the rescue held a press conference. It is available on-line at Video: Guardian Angels from the Rebel Heart Search. It has recieved surprisingly little attention. Probably because it does not reinforce the "call CPS" meme.

It is interesting to listen to the whole thing. The PJs, flight crew and consulting physician are overall quite complimentary regarding the family and their preps for the voyage. The press often seem to be asking leading questions, looking for some dirt. They don't get any. Perhaps that is why press conference has not been more publicized, and the whole story has faded?

The rescue crew also make the point that they use these missions as training for their real role, which is combat SAR. One makes the point that they would spend the same budget if they were doing training missions in Monteray Bay. They also note that this is not the furthest out to sea that they have rescued people. But the other cases have been mostly foreign sailors off of large ships. One comments that "it is nice to rescue an American".

Meanwhile, over on Cruiser's Forum (a hangout for serious sailors) they've started a tongue in cheek thread on Reasons to Ban Children From Cruising. It is well worth a look. Other threads on Cruisers Forum have been largely (though not entirely) supportive, though being serious sailors they've already started to analyze in minute detail every aspect of the voyage.

Eric and Charlotte have promised to tell the whole story, once they've had a chance to rest a bit. They've made a couple of comments on their blog. The recent entry on Charlottes Blog shows an example of the kind of disgusting comments that some people have chosen to send them.