Pete Thomas Outdoors

Sailboat abandoned by Abby Sunderland after Indian Ocean rescue found off Australia

By Pete Thomas

A sailboat abandoned more than eight years ago in the Indian Ocean, after the dramatic rescue of its 16-year-old U.S. captain, has been discovered adrift off South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.

The 40-foot Wild Eyes, its hull encrusted with barnacles, was last piloted by Abby Sunderland as she attempted to become the youngest person to solo-sail around the world.

But on June 10, 2010, while struggling in a ferocious storm hundreds of miles from land, Sunderland activated two emergency beaconsafter a giant wave rolled her vessel, destroying its mast and communications equipment.

Wild Eyes was spotted 20 hours later by the crew of an Australian patrol aircraft. Sunderland, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., was rescued two days later by the crew of a French fishing vessel. The location was so remote that Wild Eyes was abandoned.

Abby’s attempt to sail around the world began after her brother Zac had completed a successful solo-circumnavigation at the age of 17.

In a book, titled, “Unsinkable: A Young Woman’s Courageous Battle on the High Seas,” Abby described what it was like when the enormous wave rolled Wild Eyes, causing her to temporarily lose consciousness:

“Seconds later, I woke up lying on the roof with things falling on top of me. The engine box cover, the floorboard, the teakettle, my toolbag, loose tools that I had just been using –- all hitting me in the chest, legs, face. The sea had turned Wild Eyes upside down.”

–Top image courtesy of ©Lisa Gizara/Gizara Arts; bottom image via ©Pete Thomas

Paraglider soars amid Aurora Borealis' dazzling beauty

Witnessing the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, belongs on the bucket list of anyone who appreciates breathtaking natural wonders.

But few have witnessed this ethereal light show as intimately as Horacio Llorens, who recently soared beneath a radiant aurora in the sky above Tromso, Norway while piloting a paraglider.

 
The Red Bull athlete donned a wetsuit because most of his flight was over water, and wore heated gloves to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures.

Special lights were placed in his motorized aircraft to light the wing against the changing colors of the sky.

The footage was captured at multiple angles using light-sensitive cameras, to further enhance the viewer experience.

Red Bull describes the video as “one of the most breathtaking displays of flight we’ve ever seen.”

As for Llorens, he feels the urge “to meet the sky” wherever he goes, and said this was especially true when he saw the brilliant colors dancing in the Tromso heavens.

“I’ve been flying all over the world in all the elements,” the pilot said. “But flying here is different. It’s dark. It’s cold… and the sky’s on fire.”

Body of missing UCLA grad student found beneath avalanche near Mt. Whitney

The body of UCLA graduate student Michael David Meyers, who had been missing since November 5, was discovered Saturday buried in snow in California’s John Muir Wilderness.

The Los Angeles Times reports that search-and-rescue crews used sonar equipment to detect Meyers' body in an avalanche zone near Mt. Whitney.

Speaking about the many significant injuries Meyers had suffered, Inyo County Sheriff William Lutze said, “It's like being in a head-on accident at 100 mph.”

The 25-year-old's last contact with anyone was a November 5 text message informing a friend that he was hiking to Mt. Russell in the Inyo National Forest. 

Wintry weather, including powerful winds, slammed the region at about the same time.

A multi-agency rescue effort began on November 18 after a car determined to have belonged to Meyers was found on a service road.

A helmet and beanie were found Friday in the avalanche zone, and the body was found Saturday by crews using sonar equipment.

Meyers was known to be an experienced hiker who often adventured alone, and who did not mind severe weather.

–Image showing Michael David Meyers is via Facebook

Wingsuit fliers Vince Reffet, Fred Fugen jump from world's tallest building

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which spans skyward a dizzying 2,716.5 feet, is the world’s tallest building. Just standing on the observation deck is enough to take one’s breath away.

So imagine the exhilaration shared by Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet this week when they leaped from the tower's pinnacle, wearing wingsuits that enabled them to soar and parachutes that ultimately allowed them to float to earth and reflect on their world-record feat.

“We don’t like to scare ourselves. That’s not our goal,” Fugen maintains in the accompanying video, which was uploaded Tuesday by Skydive Dubai. “People think you base jump because you’re crazy, you like to get scared. We like to fly, you know, we like to have fun. So if you’re scared up there, there is no fun.”

The footage was captured from various angles, from cameras worn by Fugen and Reffet and from another jumper, and from a camera-mounted helicopter. The result, enhanced by the bright-yellow wingsuits and orange smoke, is a spectacular production that resembles a scene from an action movie.

It looks exciting and fun, but it also looks scary. Definitely a stunt for experts only, and one that required lots of support, including from the royal family.

Stated Fugen and Reffet on the Soul Flyers Facebook page: “Huge thanks to H.H. Fazza3 Sheikh Hamdan prince of Dubai for believing in our dream and making it come true… We had an amazing time :)))))) INSANE!!!”

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv

–Image is a video screen grab

Kayaker Aleksander Doba paddles 5,400 miles across Atlantic

Aleksander Doba, a Polish adventurer who set out six months ago to cross the Atlantic in a 21-foot kayak, pulled into Port Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night, looking like a castaway.

His skin was bronzed and weathered, his beard long and tangled, but the 67-year-old’s mood was upbeat as he raised his arms in triumph after a remarkable crossing that spanned 5,400 miles.

However, Doba did not step out of his vessel; instead he vowed to continue another 60 miles south to New Smyrna Beach, his planned destination, a journey that should end Saturday or Sunday.

In December, he refused a rescue attempt by members of a commercial tanker after issuing an SOS signal, about midway across the Atlantic. He told the crew that his satellite navigation equipment wasn’t working properly, but that he was proceeding anyway.

On February 13, he lost a rudder in the Bermuda Triangle, 800 miles from the Florida coast. He also experienced equipment issues and was unable to send messages for 47 days. But he reached Bermuda, where he spent a month while repairs were made.

(His paddle from Portugal to Bermuda is believed to be the longest open-water kayak crossing in history. Previously, Doba had paddled 3,345 miles from Senegal, Africa, to Brazil, over a span of 99 days, completing that expedition in 2011.)

On March 23, Doba hitched a ride with a tall sailing ship back to a strategic location that he had strayed hundreds of miles from while fending off storms. That put him back in position to make Florida.

According to Canoe & Kayak magazine, even the last few days of fighting the Gulf Stream proved extremely challenging.

“For five months we worried about crossing the Gulf Stream,” Piotr Chmielinski, who has helped manage Doba’s expedition and served as translator, told Canoe & Kayak. “If he got northerly winds, the current and winds fight each other and you get choppy, breaking son-of-a-gun waves.

“And what happened [Thursday]? He got northerly winds. The conditions kept the fishing boats on shore. It was so rough, no one could believe a kayak could come from out there.”

Canoe & Kayak reports that Doba started paddling at the age of 40 and, according to his son, lived by this motto: “It’s better to live one day as a lion than a thousand years as a lamb.”

At Port Canaveral, he was greeted by members of the Polish-American Association of Sarasota, who chanted, “Go Olek!”

“This is a big deal,” Arthur Okula, president of the association, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “He needs to see that somebody is waiting for him.”

At New Smyrna, friends and another welcoming party will greet the retired engineer-turned-adventurer, who no doubt will be walking on wobbly legs.

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

–Images of Aleksander Doba arriving at Port Canaveral and being greeted by a Coast Guard official are courtesy of Piotr Chmielinski

Tiger Beach sharks featured in stunning 'bite anatomy' photos

Photojournalist Daniel Botelho has a talent for making his subjects appear larger than life—a viral Mola mola image he captured a few years ago is just one example—and the tiger sharks of the Bahamas are no exception.

During a recent expedition to Tiger Beach, a dive destination famous for close encounters with tiger sharks and reef sharks, Botelho focused on capturing a "shark bite anatomy" series involving some of Tiger Beach's most frequent visitors—notably a large shark affectionately named Emma (pictured in most images).

The accompanying images, which are protected by copyright laws, were sent by Botelho to GrindTv for single-use only. They were captured during a feeding event. These involve local dive masters who lure the sharks in and sometimes hand feed them with with whole fish.

This longstanding practice is for the benefit of scuba-diving tourists, and Emma is the most prominent and perhaps the most beloved Tiger Beach visitor. (The Bahamas two years ago banned commercial fishing for sharks, which are deemed far more important as a tourism resource.)

"I was using the fisheye lens, and it made me be very close to the action while the feeding was happening," Botelho said. "It took us only five minutes to perform all these 'shark bite anatomy' shots, as we got in the water before the guests to calm down Emma and check how safe it was to dive with all the sharks."

Pictured with the sharks is Tiger Beach veteran Vincent Canabal.

Botelho, who specializes in underwater photography and has swum alongside great white sharks, crocodiles, and swimming elephants, described this as one of his most rewarding experiences.

"I love tiger sharks and sharks in general, so being in the water and performing such open-mouth composition blew my mind away, raced my heart, and was an experience of a lifetime," the Portuguese photographer said.

"Despite the name, Tiger Beach is a place with no land in sight: a wild place that is now protected. We were diving with five tiger sharks and dozens of lemon sharks and reef sharks all at the same time, and we all made it safely back home.

"This shows the world that sharks are predators for sure, but they are not half as dangerous as lions, crocs, and hippos. Just try to hand feed a lion and see what happens."

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv

–Images are courtesy of @Daniel Botelho and protected by copyright laws

Speedy car adventure: N.Y. to L.A. in less than 29 hours

Imagine driving from New York to Los Angeles and not encountering any significant traffic, construction delays, weather issues, or speed traps.

Ed Bolian, 28, doesn't have to imagine it, because that's how smoothly his recent cross-country drive turned out to be.

It went so smoothly, that the Atlanta man and two companions were able to shatter the unofficial record for fastest drive from New York City to Los Angeles, with a time of 28 hours and 50 minutes.

They accomplished this modern-era "Cannonball run" with an average speed of 98 mph and a top speed of 158 mph, making extensive use of GPS directional units, police scanners, radar detectors, and a switch to turn off the break lights.

The excursion, earlier this month, is said to beat the previous record, set in 2006 in a 2000 BMW M5 by Alex Roy, by more than two hours.

With Bolian, a Lamborghini sales manager and Sunday school teacher, were co-driver Dave Black and support passenger Dan Huang.

Their odyssey, in a 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG, began on October 19 in New York City at 9:55 p.m. The 2,813-mile journey was complete when the trio pulled into the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Redondo Beach on October 20 at 11:46 p.m.

"I've thought about doing this for the last 10 years" Bolian, who this week began sharing details of the expedition, told FoxNews.com. "This was always to me sort of the holy grail of American automotive car culture."

The three men stopped only three times for refueling and restroom breaks, because the car was outfitted with two extra 22-gallon gas tanks. Bolian did not divulge specifics of the route, but said that much of it was along the east-west U.S. Route 40, which traverses 12 states.

Interestingly, these sporadic high-speed cross-country record pursuits began way back in 1933, when Edwin "Cannonball" Baker drove from New York to Los Angeles in 53 hours and 30 minutes.

"No one knows Baker's motivation for the run, but his 50 mph average was high impressive, considering the interstate system was not yet built," states the website Jalopnik.

The record got whittled over the years as more Cannonball runs were attempted, and Roy's mark seemed as though it was safe until Bolian came along.

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv

–Top photo: Ed Bolian (center) poses with co-driver Dave Black (right) and support passenger Dan Huang at the conclusion of their 2,813-mile odyssey from New York to Los Angeles. Courtesy of Ed Bolian. Second photo shows average and top speed

Yosemite closed, but are climbers still drawn to El Cap?

While national parks remain closed as a result of the partial government shutdown, it seems that not everyone is staying out of U.S. wilderness parks.

The accompanying image, posted on Reddit by a user named LiquidColor a day after the Oct. 1 shutdown, shows small flecks of light on the 2,900-foot face of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park.

The lights are used by climbers on an iconic granite monolith that typical requires about three days to attain the summit. Climbers sleep on El Cap's sheer face on porta-ledges that they fix to the granite at the end of each day.

The image, also posted on Imgur, includes  this description: "Day 2 of government shutdown: Climbers on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park don't give a [expletive]."

Outside Magazine published a story under the headline: “Climbers on El Cap Ignore Shutdown.”

Mother Nature Network’s headline: “Big Wall Climbers on Yosemite’s El Cap say, ‘What government shutdown?’ ”

However, park spokesman Scott Gediman on  Tuesday explained that although the park was officially closed on October 1 (last Tuesday), visitors were given until Thursday to leave.

Some climbers did not begin their El Cap ascents until Wednesday. They were not ordered down, but were expected to leave the park after their climbs.

That said, Gediman could not say for sure whether climbers were not still attempting to scale El Cap.

The park staff has been reduced from 820 to 160, and rangers who remain on duty–whether manning entry stations or performing security patrols–are not actively looking for people to kick out.

“I can’t say authoritatively that there aren’t still climbers up there,” Gediman said. “But there shouldn’t be.”

–Hat tip to Mother Nature Network

Photographer enjoys rare close encounter with narwhals

Daniel Botelho recently embarked on a mission to locate and photograph the legendary "unicorn of the sea": the narwhal.

It was a North Pole adventure even he realized was likely to end in failure, because narwhals are famously shy around boats and people, and very few underwater photographs of the strange-looking mammals exist.

But Botelho, who was working on a project for Disney and gathering material for an upcoming book, did more than photograph narwhals. One of them, a female, became curious of the photographer and followed him as he swam through the frozen waters of the high Arctic.

"I always knew it would be very tough to get close to a narwhal whale," Botelho said. "It is notoriously hard to get close to one. But while all the staff could only stand a half-hour in the water, I took advantage of my cold resistance and stayed for three hours, and suddenly something happened that no one would ever consider: a narwhal whale made friendship with a man."

It was a magical encounter, to be sure, and while the photographer thought he might have ruined one of his images by inadvertently sticking his swim fin into the frame (immediately above), he later discovered that this gives the image perspective by showing the proximity of the diver to the mammal—"and that it was following me!"

(Note: This is a reprint from a Pete Thomas post on GrindTv Outdoor.)

Narwhals, which can measure to about 20 feet and weigh 3,500 pounds, are amazing for many reasons. But they're most famous for their single long tusks, which look as though they're protruding from the mammals' foreheads. The spiraling ivory tusks, which are evident only on males, are actually a single tooth that sprouts through a narwhal's upper lip.

The unicorn-like tusks can measure to about nine feet and are sometimes used during jousts with other narwhals.

Scientists are not sure why male narwhals grow these tusks, but speculate that they're used to impress female narwhals and, possibly, to wage battle with rival males during the mating season.

Narwhals, which are related to beluga whales, feed on cod and other fishes, as well as shrimp and squid. One of their primary challenges is the constantly changing ice; it sometimes closes around them and they often have to swim long distances beneath the ice to find another patch of open water.

Botelho's group camped on the ice and dove in 28-degree water. They wore dry suits with warm clothing beneath, but the water still seemed brutally cold.

"In order to get the whales relaxed, I spent three hours in a row in this water," Botelho said. "But my face was uncovered and I had ice-burn blisters. After three hours the expedition leader called me back because we needed to get back to camp, and when I started to move a female narwhal came straight to me, bumped my leg, and started to follow me.

"She followed me until the time I left the water, and people around me were amazed, including the [native] Inuits. They are very mystic with narwhals and they know how shy they are, so having a narwhal touching me was like magical to them … I cried."

Incredibly, before Botelho climbed onto the ice with his face and hands burning in pain, he reached out with his camera and captured a self-portrait with the narwhal just a few feet away (bottom image).

It just might be the only photo of its kind.

--Photos are by Daniel Botelho and protected by copyright laws.

--To view more photos, visit Daniel Botelho's Facebook page

--Find Pete Thomas on Facebook and Twitter

Grizzly bear decides video camera looks too good to pass up

If you ever wondered what it would look like to be mouthed by a grizzly bear, here's proof that it would not be a pleasant experience.

Brad Josephs, a wildlife biologist and expedition leader for Natural Habitat Adventures, got the footage while in Alaska filming "Great Bear Stakeout" which was shown on BBC One and Discovery Channel.

Josephs said that the above video was "filmed with a GoPro camera that I strapped to a rock with a rubber band! The first bear to appear is an older mother, and the second is her 3-year-old cub. The bear only gently mouthed the camera, and didn't even put a dent in it!"

Josephs also shares some other behind-the-scenes footage on his website that was obtained during the making of the documentary.

-- Kelly Burgess