PHOENIX—A Northern Arizona family that was lost at sea for weeks in an ill-fated attempt to leave the U.S. over what they consider government interference in religion will fly back home Sunday.
Hannah Gastonguay, 26, said Saturday that she and her husband “decided to take a leap of faith and see where God led us” when they took their two small children and her father-in-law and set sail from San Diego for the tiny island nation of Kiribati in May.
But just weeks into their journey, the Gastonguays hit a series of storms that damaged their small boat, leaving them adrift for weeks, unable to make progress. They were eventually picked up by a Venezuelan fishing vessel, transferred to a Japanese cargo ship and taken to Chile where they are resting in a hotel in the port city of San Antonio.
Their flights home were arranged by U.S. Embassy officials, Gastonguay said. The U.S. State Department was not immediately available for comment.
I know Arizona has lakes, but off hand, I don’t think a family in that land locked state would have much of a chance. And I read this entire article with the song “Oceanfront Property in Arizona” going through my head.
They set sail for an island chain, Kiribati, which is just off the equator and the international date line about halfway between Hawaii and Australia with a three year old and 8 month old baby??
Two lines from the story that struck me:
"Hannah Gastonguay said her family was fed up with government control in the U.S."
and
"Their flights home were arranged by U.S. Embassy officials, Gastonguay said".
I also liked the line about how they didn't want their taxes to pay for abortions that they didn't agree with. I guess now they can rest assured that every dollar they have ever paid or ever will pay in taxes will be insufficient to cover the bill for their rescue and return to the US, so they haven't funded any abortions.