You're free to go, but put down the candy bar

So, Jessica has sailed off from Sydney on her circumnavigation attempt. I can imagine the clutch of fear her parents felt watching her go, and I give them props for letting her go anyway. But it's hard to reconcile that feat of courageous parenting with this note from Jessica's blog:

"For a while again this afternoon we were completely becalmed... It's been so long since I've had any time just to take it easy for a while and the freedom was amazing, no deadlines, nothing to rush off to, I can eat whatever I like whenever I like, no one to send me off to bed!"
(emphasis mine)

I can't imagine trusting my kid enough to SAIL AROUND THE WORLD without assistance but not trusting her enough to choose her own food and bedtime. Oy.