Babysitters' Island Adventure, Super Special #4

Shockingly, I somehow never read this one as a kid, even though I know I read every other of the first ten Super Specials. Just bizarre that I never read this one. By the way, notice the kid with the yellow and green outfit on the cover, I have a childhood picture of me in that exact outfit (almost): yellow sleeveless shirt, lime green shorts, yellow socks, and white Keds. And I believe my hair was in a Claudia-esque side ponytail, too. Too bad that photo is several states away at my parents' house. If I ever find it, I will try to retroactively add it to this post, just for kicks.

So, Claudia and Dawn decide to take sailing lessons from the Stoneybrook Community Center (for some reason I have never pictured Stoneybrook as being right on the water, this kind of threw me a bit). Apparently, Dawn sails in California with her dad and Jeff all the time, and Claudia sails on her family's vacation every summer (what the...? When has a BSC member ever gone on a family vacation that didn't somehow include the rest of the club? I'm calling you on these mystery vacations, AMM). Anyway, the class lasts two months, and Claudia and Dawn decide to race when they have their end of class certification runs. Dawn beats Claudia out to Greenpoint Island, the halfway point (Claudia seemed to be inhibited by her attire), but Claudia manages to catch up on the second leg, which ends in a tie (of course) back at the Community Center. So, naturally, a rematch is planned. Plus, the girls find out that they have now been certified to sail without supervision. Now, I didn't grow up on the coast, so I'm not sure how feasible this is - I mean, 13 year olds sailing in the ocean/bay/whatever without supervision of some kind? I could understand sailing on a lake, maybe, but not the ocean. Just...not believable. 

Anyway, SMS has a 3 day weekend approaching, and they decide to have the rematch then. Dawn's brother, Jeff, is in town for the long weekend, so he will go sailing with Dawn. Claudia asks Mallory to go with her, but she has other plans. Jessi convinces Claud to take her sister, Becca, instead. Becca is 8. Then, somehow, they get the bright idea to invite Haley Braddock (age 9), as well as Jamie Newton (age 4). What the...? As a parent, there is no way I would let my 8 year old, my 9 year old, and hell to the no on my 4 year old, to go sailing with 13 year old girls who are not related to me (well, not even if they were related, actually. 16 year olds? I would need a lot of convincing, but possibly. 13 year olds? Again, hell to the no). This just boggles my mind. I mean, yes, the BSC girls are always held up as "super responsible" for their age, but seriously, AMM? No parent will let their young child sail out on the ocean with 13 year old girls who have just been certified to sail alone. Pffft. In AMM's crazy, jacked up alternate universe, the parents are all delighted by the invitations and enthusiastically agree. Plus, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey will actually be out of town for the weekend, but still agree to let Becca go sailing with Dawn and Claudia. That last sentence made me mad just typing it. You're killing me, Smalls!!

Anyway, Dawn and Claudia decide to pack lunches so that they can all have a picnic on Greenpoint Island before returning the Community Center. However, while they are sailing out to the island, a wicked squall (said in a Boston accent, because, why not?) blows in, and the girls soon lose their bearings. Dawn's ship starts to break up, the rudder snaps, and she realizes that they (Dawn, Jeff, and Haley) will have to bail out and swim to Claudia's boat. Claud's boat is too small to hold the additional people, so they just hang onto the side until she finds an island on which to land. Claudia immediately recognizes that this is not Greenpoint Island, and realizes that they are, indeed...

Back in Stoneybrook, everyone gets concerned when the boats don't return before the storm, and then after the storm passes and night hits, alarms are raised, and crisis hits the 'Brook.

Stoneybrook Adventures:

Kristy  - calls an emergency meeting (naturally) which is held at Mallory's house, cancels Krushers' practice to help with the search efforts, plus even cancels the upcoming game with the Bashers. Bart gets super pissed, calls her "irresponsible" for cancelling and claims that she is using the search as an excuse to cancel because she is scared of losing to his team. Kristy, of course, gives him a verbal b!tch-slap, and he eventually apologizes for being a jerk.

Mary Anne - she and Dawn had a huge fight right before the race, because Dawn forgot to give her a message from Logan about cancelling a library date. MA tells Dawn even tells Dawn that "she never wants to see her again" (that was way harsh, Tai). Mary Anne is devastated when she realizes that Dawn is missing and the last thing they did was fight. She spends the whole weekend at the community center, the hub of the search, and on separate occasions, when reporters ask both she and Sharon how they are feeling, they each snap, "How do you think I feel?" MA and Logan are also fighting through this, due to the missed date, but they eventually make up as well.

Stacey - is in NYC visiting her dad this weekend, and as soon as Kristy calls her with the news, she wants to come home and help with the search. Mr. McGill refuses, saying that the girls will probably be found within a few hours, and gets increasingly frustrated the more Stacey asks about leaving early. After another major fight, Stacey calls a cab to the train station and leaves Monday morning. She eventually writes her dad a letter about how upset he made her, and he apologizes. Stacey goes out with the Pike family on Monday to help with the search, and she locates some of the wreckage from Dawn's boat, which causes despair throughout the town.

Mallory - she and her family have a boat (of course they do, and of course it has never been mentioned before, and is never mentioned after...), and they spend the whole day Sunday and most of Monday out searching for the castaways. And that's about it.

Jessi - is in charge of watching her sister and brother while her parents are gone (because this is so believable, if her parents won't let her babysit at night for other families, why do they think she is responsible enough to watch her brother and sister for a whole weekend while they are out of town? I'm calling BS, AMM), and once she realizes that Claudia's boat with Becca did not return, she reluctantly calls her Aunt Cecilia, who lives in a neighboring town. Aunt C blames Jessi for the whole ordeal, even though Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey gave Becca permission to sail, and spends the whole time berating Jessi for being irresponsible (oh, and at one point, the book spelled her name "Jesse," and it bugged the crap out of me. What happened to proof-reading?). Even after the Ramseys return to town, Aunt Cecelia remains to "supervise," which is AMM's way of leading up to Auntie C moving in with the Ramseys in the near future.

On the island:

Dawn - Miss Independent basically falls apart on the island (although, for a 13 year old girl, she still did much better than to be expected), she is unable to contribute any ideas to the food/water/rescue situation. The picnic food that was able to be saved during the storm runs out by Sunday afternoon. Jeff manages to fashion a fishing pole and catch some fish for food. Dawn freaks out when she realizes that her watch has stopped working, but Jeff's watch is waterproof, and both times she asks him what time it is, both on Saturday night and on Sunday morning, he answers "9 o'clock," which becomes the unofficial name of the island. Jamie Newton gets really sick, is running a pretty major fever, and Dawn spends most of the time in the little cave they found on the island with him. She falls into a deeper funk when Sunday rolls into Monday and they still haven't been rescued.

Claudia - and Claudia is now the babysitter that I want with me in any emergency situation. Claudia manages to find the cave they use for shelter and gets the kids to gather wood for a fire. After she realizes that she forgot to properly beach her boat, which drifts away overnight, Claudia keeps a level head and takes immediate charge of the situation. Claudia has the idea to use the tarp that was originally on her boat to fashion a rain-catcher so that they can have drinkable water. She realizes that the survival kit included with the boat doesn't have any medicine, so she tells Dawn that will need to save as much of the water for Jamie to keep his fever down. Becca and Haley have the idea to write "HELP" on the sand with seashells, but since all of the shells are about the same color as the beach, Claudia tries to find alternate ways to signal for rescue. She finds a large piece of a broken mirror, and when they hear a plane flying near on Monday afternoon, she runs out on the beach and flashes the mirror. The plane sees them, and uses a bullhorn to ask if they need a doctor, and Claudia signals that the do. A Coast Guard ship soon arrives with all of the parents on board, and they are rescued.

All of the castaways are taken to the hospital to be checked out, and except for some mild dehydration and sunburn, everyone except Jamie is fine. Jeff does have a cut on his foot that is slightly infected, but he is released that night. Jamie, however, has strep throat and an ear infection, and has to stay in the hospital overnight. Dawn confesses to her mom about how she fell apart, and Sharon tells her that she can't always be the strong one, and that Claudia was able to learn that she could be strong, too, which was a pretty good response, I might have to steal that for my future kids. Jeff flies back to California on Tuesday afternoon, and on Wednesday the BSC cancels the meeting because there is a huge press conference at the community center.  Claudia teasingly challenges Dawn to a rematch, and Dawn's response is "no way."

BSC Life Lessons Learned:

Claudia - She never realized that she was smart until she was on the island.

Kristy - Standing up for what is right is important

Stacey - realizes the 'Brook is now definitely her home

Jessi - learns that adults in her family, especially Aunt Cecilia, don't trust her as much as she thought

Mallory - helping search made her feel in control during the crisis

Mary Anne - how much she loves Dawn

Dawn - "There's no place like home."


Island Fashion!!!

What Claudia Wore (first race): "So she'd put on a tank top and baggy drawstring pants. Over the top, she was wearing a button down shirt of her father's. The sleeves were rolled up, but none of the buttons were buttoned. She was also wearing big earrings that she had made herself."

Ok, so not a true version of Claudia's outfit (although Kerri Green's outfit is pretty close), but hey, this is one of the greatest movie sailing races of all time, people.


What Claudia Wore (second race): "That morning I'd dressed sensibly for our rematch. No jewelry at all (I was not about to lose on account of earrings), and a long sleeved jersey that I could tuck into my jeans. I even pulled my hair back and braided it so it wouldn't blow in my face."