In some great news, Abby Sunderland was found alive in the Indian Ocean and should be rescued by a boat within the next few hours. Australian searchers found Abby and were able to communicate with her. Her boat is out of commission, but she is not taking on water and was safe and has two weeks worth of food to get her through. Was she just two weeks away from making it? She was off the coast of Africa and started in California. Could she make it the rest of the way in two weeks? Do people drop her supplies as she needs them?
Although I am glad beyond belief she is safe, her parents and her brother never really seemed like they were crazy with concern yesterday when all of this news broke. Her family was on Good Morning America this morning and said they knew she would be ok.
This is very welcome news but I hope it causes re-examination of her parents allowing such a high risk endeavor by an inexperienced child.
ReplyDeletehappy she's ok, still pissed that her "parents" would allow this trip for either child
ReplyDeleteThey should be charged for the cost of the rescue.
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely happy she's okay! That's great news!
ReplyDelete"she is fully equipped,she has everything she needs." said the Mom.
ReplyDeleteya, except a second set of f-cking hands should she need it,or someone to pluck her out of the water should she get tossed over.
Balloon Boy parents 2.0.
ps and if you cant fix an engine on your own,you have no business,no matter what age,being on a boat alone for that long.
ReplyDeleteWow her dad is really defensive!
ReplyDeleteThey're just a different type of family.
ReplyDeleteDid they take out a life insurance policy on her? Is dear ole dad's boat making business suffering in this economy? They really appear to be thrilled that's she's been found and is ok.
ReplyDeleteShe may have been able to fix an engine - it was my understanding that the mast broke off in the storms.
ReplyDeleteI'm relieved she's okay and hope they don't decide to try again. Dangerous trip even with a full crew - that's a lot of water out there.
I'm tellin' ya, this trip was rushed into to try to beat Jessica Walton to the "world's youngest" record; poor planning, poor training, poor parenting, probably poor seamanship, and she's lucky to be alive--thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this teenage girl spending months away from home, sailing around the world on her own? Shouldn't she be at school instead? A trip like this plus the rescue costs a heck of a lot of money! If she's doing all the hard work and not going to school by sailing around the world, is she really gonna be the one who'll benefit from this trip? Methinks Gary Coleman isn't the only victim of child exploitation...
ReplyDeletesyko, even so...a sailboat is not a one person operation in bad weather and she was heading into storm season.
ReplyDeleteher family are morons.
who called it? Bionic Bunny? Didn't you say it might have been that her mast broke. Man, that sucks. I hope she and her family learns a lesson, but I doubt it.
ReplyDeletei could never do that. couldn't imagine getting that phone call. but then again, i'm not in that family. maybe it's some austrailian coming of age thing.
ReplyDeletei've read somewhere that her brother did it when he was 17.
by "austrailian thing", i guess i mean maybe it's their custom to treat 16 year olds as adults. i meant no offense. :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what the new baby is "first" at! Why are these people still allowed to spawn?!?!?!?!
ReplyDeletemom: they are from california I believe.
ReplyDeleteshe has her own blog which is very interesting to read...apparently she had 6 months dehydrated food. She is also on some sort of accelerated school program and does her studies on the boat. She is hoping to finish up with school this next year.
ReplyDeletehere's her blog:
http://soloround.blogspot.com/
I'm with Syd. If anyone OTHER than her family is paying for this rescue operation, it's utter bullshit and all such future voyages should be illegal.
ReplyDeleteCNN writes that she was hoping to finish by October 2 weeks or so from her 17th birthday. Wanna take bets she tries again after this?
ReplyDeleteI stand by my statement yesterday, these people are twits to allow this. If this girl wants to see what an overdose is like are they going to let her because she's successfully taken aspirin and Midol before?
Jax, I could not agree more. I always thought a sailboat was a multi-person operation even on a good day. It's winter down there in the southern hemisphere, with bad weather and high seas, it seems to me it would be better to do this in summer, or take a different route if possible. It was just a dangerous thing to do, and I'm glad the little girl is alive and well, but hope she doesn't try to do this again.
ReplyDeleteI still think her parents need a visit from CPS. 16 years old on a boat in the Indian Ocean, alone. Insane.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she's ok but is it really worth it? she's alone in the fricking ocean!
ReplyDeletepablo says "They're just a different type of family."
ReplyDeleteyeah, a crazy, shitty one.
I don't really get the point of this? Yeah let's risk our daughter's life for something that has absolutely no point or bearing on anyone's life whatsoever?
ReplyDeleteDad says the critics just don't know Abigail and they don't know how she's grown up doing this. So fucking what? There are kids who have grown up driving riding lawn mowers, tractors, ATVs and the like but the fact is you cannot get a driver's license until you're 16. Period. Try going in to the DMV and telling them how your precious, gifted, advanced Abigail should be driving at 13 rather than wait with the rest of the great unwashed. Dad's argument doesn't hold water. "I agonized over the decision" How about you try teaching your daughter what NO means? That is one lesson she obviously has not grown up around and it certainly will help her out in the long run.
Fuck these people and fuck their sense of entitlement. I hope they're footing the bill for this search & rescue operation. Because obviously Precious Abigail *wasn't* able to handle the trip.
I am happy she is alive and well, but this is yet another case of Missing White Girl Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Mitrice Richardson, an African American woman who has been missing for months, yet very little media coverage about her.
Hi Mom,
ReplyDeleteJessica Watson is the Australian sailor who successfully completed the round the world trip. The young lady who lost her mast is American.
In Australia we take people as they are. In other words, some 16 year olds are mature enough to be given a great deal of responsibility, and some 40 year olds are incapable of boiling water. I imagine it is the same pretty much everywhere.
Finally, the Australian government is picking up the tab for the rescue, however, it is a French ship that will be taking her off her stricken yacht. The Australian government found her. Because she lost her mast she lost her satellite communication, so a search and rescue plane had to locate her in order to obtain radio contact and co-ordinate her pick-up.
Still stand by my comments yesterday, good on anyone for following their dreams.
these parents really need to be investigated. what vile people to allow this young girl to do this.
ReplyDeleteso glad she's alive!
Good news, but I found this story really disturbing. Here's hoping she's extra honest in the book she's already slated to publish, I guess?
ReplyDeletei stand by everything i said yesterday. she actually sailed out of newport, here in CA. a real sailing community, not to be confused with marina del hosehead or any of the other snotty marinas that line the coast.
ReplyDeletethere was no way they could foresee that mast breaking, it's practically unheard of.
wouldn't you be defensive, too? as for fixing the engine, shit, people, she was SAILING around the world, and did a damn fine job up to this point. she handled herself exactly as she should have, and i believe the parent's supposed "overly calm" reaction is because they felt, just as we did, that she would be found safe.
and it's not storm season in all parts of the world.
i'm sorry, i'm just not getting all the hate here.
maybe it's because i understand the lifestyle. at least she was trained and not some middle aged booze cruise idiot who thought it would be a lark to sail off with his buddies. THOSE are the ones who cause the problems.
also, that boat was fully rigged for one person to handle. she was more in danger of going nuts than anything else. was it the right decision? i can't make that call, maybe it was for her. i know i'd love to sail a boat like that-- even makes me rethink the retirement thing. but you can't ever go out on open water even with a full crew, on a boat that can't be sailed by a single person.
now i'm gonna try to shut up about this.
i heart everybody here, and i'm very, very happy she was found, safe and sound.
whatever. she's a 16 year old child. she's not an adult and her parents bear responsibility for her until she is.
ReplyDeleteshe could have 'lived her dream' when she became an adult.
what if she DID die on this 'dream' trip? what do you say? 'oh, our daughter was pretty and smart and she wanted to sail around the world so we let her. but her boat sunk and she drowned. we feel real bad about it.'
dumb story, dumb thing to do, dumb parents.
That's an angry, defensive looking family in the still above...
ReplyDeleteI am sure they're very experienced and all, but it did sound like wanted to compete for a world record against the Aussie girl...despite the criticisms of experts that her timing set her to be in the Indian Ocean at the winter/worst/stormiest time of year. Those critics didn't find this situation hard to predict all those months ago. They called the plan foolhardy, and they were right. This family was foolhardy and beyond Abby's obvious skill and capability - extremely lucky.
ReplyDeleteokay, my mine gripe up to this point has been everybody yelling "CALL CPS!", etc.
ReplyDeletethe rest of my comments, though they may have been mis-read, have been mostly directed at sharing some knowledge. i think some people have seen that. i hope.
as i say, i wasn't really following her (been there, done that) until her distress call went up.
let me point out a couple of quick things:
daddy did NOT design, build, or otherwise rig the boat. he shopped for it. so, let's shoot that one down. they couldn't even BUY the boat until they lined up sponsors.
also, i was wrong. she DID come out of marina del hosehead (marina del rey, a nice place to visit, but...)
and because i'm going through some things, i thought i'd do a little bit of research before i responded this time, because i know the flamage is going to start soon.
i finally went to her blog. i'm no longer defending her parents. i'm supporting her parents, her, her team, and i'm not even up to where she's left for the trip yet. this is an incredible young lady. with an incredible, over-the-top boat. from her own blog (not daddy's) she and her family did everything right. this hasn't been a race to be the youngest.
at what age would y'all be more comfortable with?
where is the line drawn? she could walk out her door (it IS MDR, after all) and be hit by a car. a formula one, even. driven by a movie star. oh, sorry, is that long beach?
these boats are designed for exactly what she attempted. i'm so impressed, the parents don't even enter into it.
now, this is a matter of opinion. she had the skills (oh, yeah, she DID get the engine started again), the determination, mommy and daddy didn't have her do it, it was originally her idea, and brother zac stole her thunder. she was perfectly willing (impatient, yes, but willing) to wait another year if the boat wasn't ready.
please, go read her blog, but start at the beginning.
please? much like robin and the dove, i'm finding her story inspiring and quite reasonable. i wish either of my kids had had a dream and been able to follow it.
i know you guys don't agree with me, and that's okay. because we are all family here and we can agree to disagree.
They should force these 'thrill seekers' to have a kitty set up in advance to pay for the inevitable SAR costs when they go missing at sea or get their sorry butts lost on Mt. Hood.
ReplyDeleteParents? EPIC FAIL. EPIC.
@bionic bunny, I understand where you're coming from and really understand the passion behind Abby's dream. I'm just cautious because of her age. In my mind (of course I am not a sailor) 21 would be a better age to sail alone or worse case scenario 18. I know it's been done at 17 but I just don't agree with teenager's going solo.
ReplyDeleteI also admire her courage, intelligence and probably maturity. Just don't think it should be tested at 16.
@ bionic bunny, I also am a sailor and understand the passion for blue water sailing. However, I just think 16 is too young to take on such an enormous challenge. I would never let my child do it. Would you? (I would be more afraid of pirates than storms.)
ReplyDelete@bionicbunny - Your comments are idiotic as usual.
ReplyDeleteSo this young girl goes on a sail trip around the world, she's so inspirational, we're glad she's safe,blah blah blah.
Her family are a bunch of selfish idiots. If anything happens to her (as it did) another country has to foot the bill to save her.
It's all fine if you want to send your daughter out on a sail trip around the world, if you've got the money to fund it yourself. Just don't force other people to pay for your stupidity.
Laura, is it really necessary to insult bionic bunny personally? Get a grip.
ReplyDeleteJust as it is necessary for her to insult a long-time reader in the past for raising questions about Enty asking for donations.
ReplyDelete