Pete Thomas Outdoors

Abby Sunderland talks about sailing ordeal with L.A. press

The storm had begun to abate and it was a rogue wave that ended Abby Sunderland's controversial attempt to sail around the world by herself.

Speaking to the L.A.-area media for the first time since her 40-foot sailboat was capsized and lost its mast in the Indian Ocean nearly three weeks ago, the rescued mariner clarified that the fierce storm she had endured had subsided and that she had been below after working on her engine when the super-sized wave struck her vessel broadside and flipped it over.

Darkness had just fallen and the motion was swift but violent, causing Sunderland to strike her head against an object and blackout momentarily. The vessel, however, seemed to right itself as swiftly as it was capsized.

When the 16-year-old assessed her situation, seeing there was no mast, no rigging, no satellite communications, a swamped engine and a broken boom, she activated two of three emergency beacons to signal an international rescue effort.

"I'm happy to be home but very sad that things didn't work out," she said. "But I'm proud of my achievement and what happened is definitely not going to stop me from sailing--not for a minute."

Sunderland, who was attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone, arrived at her home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., late Monday night. Speaking Tuesday morning at a Marina del Rey hotel, and sitting alongside her older brother Zac, she was poised and articulate. 

The high-school junior spoke of the daunting prospects of continuing her education and trying to get a driver's license so she can risk her life on busy freeways she maintains are far more dangerous than the open ocean. 

But mostly she discussed an ordeal that led to her being picked up, 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, by the crew of the French fishing boat, Ile De La Reunion. 

(Marianne Sunderland is due any day to give birth to her eighth child and he will be named Paul after the fishing boat's captain.)

The Sunderland parents, who were harshly criticized in the days during and after the rescue effort, did not attend the press conference. They issued a statement that began with the passage: 

"We have watched our daughter achieve something great. While she didn't quite complete what she set out to do, she traveled over 12,000 nautical miles solo and became the youngest person to sail solo around Cape Horn.

"Abby followed her dream and followed in the footsteps of so many other great Americans who loved life and adventure."

The statement also dismissed critics of the voyage as coming from people "who don't know Abby and the years she has spent on sailing boats." 

It has been quite an adventure for Zac Sunderland, too

Teen sailor Abby Sunderland has been on what must feel like a surreal adventure since her rescue at sea in the Indian Ocean nearly two weeks ago: a long voyage to Kerguelen Islands aboard the French fishing boat that came to her rescue, then a patrol boat voyage to Reunion Island, where her brother Zac will meet and accompany her via aircraft to Los Angeles and ultimately to their home in Thousand Oaks.

But these past two weeks have been an unforgettable adventure for Zac, too. Consider that he had Abby's plight on his mind as he went to his prom and high-school graduation. (Her 40-foot vessel was rolled in heavy seas and lost its mast and satellite communications equipment).

He also had to worry about his parents, who have been under attack by critics of their daughter's attempted solo-circumnavigation of the planet. Because Marianne Sunderland is due to give birth to her eighth child any day, Zac volunteered to go and meet his sister at French-controlled Reunion Island.

Zac, 18, apparently has been doing a lot of growing up since completing a 13-month solo-circumnavigation last July.

His blog post last Friday was under the title: "Prom, Graduation & a Shipwrecked Sister." In the post he stated: "Shortly before I left, I asked out this amazing girl who is now my girlfriend. Her name is Becky and she is a senior at Westlake High. So she brought me to her prom and we had an awesome evening."

When Zac returns home he wants to embark on a career as a professional adventurer, but might sample college life at Moorpark JC.

But first, some rest. His latest post from Reunion Island details a 26-hour flight and a six-hour layover in Paris. He was hungry when he arrived at Reunion but nobody at the restaurant he visited spoke English. "So I just pointed to something halfway down the menu and got some beefy thing," he wrote.

His reunion with Abby, who had been attempting to sail around the world alone, was imminent at the time of this posting.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Zac Sunderland with girlfriend Becky was pulled from Zac Sunderland's blog

Abby Sunderland didn't circle planet, but she's no failure

Abby Sunderland will return home this weekend and try -- despite all she has been through and must still go through -- to revert to being an ordinary 16-year-old in her middle-class Thousand Oaks, Calif., neighborhood.

It won't be easy. Like her older brother Zac, she has tasted adventure and is not content mingling with friends and simply hanging around.

She received a beating two weeks ago at sea. Her 40-foot boat rolled in heavy seas, losing its mast and rigging, forcing the mariner to abandon a quest to sail around the world and to activate two emergency beacons, signaling the beginning of a dramatic rescue effort that became a major news story.

That marked the end of a dream and the beginning of a nightmare for her worried parents. Now Sunderland, a high-school junior, will return home and be asked what went wrong rather than how great it felt to circle the planet. She'll fend off critics who seemed to have hatched like mosquitoes the day the Indian Ocean rescue effort began; critics who so far have restricted their attacks to Abby's mom and dad.

It's unfortunate that many will regard Sunderland's voyage as a failure because, although the timing of the voyage was not ideal, what happened to her could have happened to anyone attempting a Southern Ocean crossing at any time of the year. Age, sex might have had no bearing on her fate.

Had Sunderland not lost her mast and satellite communications, she'd still be sailing. Had she gone on to become the youngest person to have solo-circumnavigated the planet, instead of making it a little beyond halfway, she would have been regarded by the masses as an inspirational figure instead of a careless risk-taker.

For those wondering whether this is a valid assessment, consider the sagas of Sunderland's peers: brother Zac, England's Mike Perham and Australia's Jessica Watson. All embarked on similar quests recently at the age of 16.

Zac left Marina del Rey in a 36-foot sailboat in June of 2008, striving to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. People complained -- mostly on blog forums -- that his parents were irresponsible for letting a mere teenager attempt such a monumental task.

Reporter who sailed with Abby Sunderland shares perspective

I don't know Abby Sunderland as well as those close to her, but I think I know her better than other reporters and columnists know her.

I've interviewed the Thousand Oaks teenager several times, and before she set out to chase a dream and try to circle the planet on a 40-foot yacht, I sailed with her through the night aboard that yacht, Wild Eyes, which by now probably rests at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Same goes for Abby's older brother, Zac. While working for the Los Angeles Times, I followed his 13-month around-the-world odyssey from the beginning, providing frequent blog posts and newspaper updates.

And yes, I've met the parents, and the brothers and sisters. I never became close to the family; my interactions were all during story assignments. But I gained some insight that other reporters and columnists do not have as they digest and regurgitate information regarding Abby's recent rescue, after Wild Eyes was slammed in heavy seas between Africa and Australia.

Thus, because Abby and her family have become such a curiosity and so glaring a target, here are a few observations, quotes and anecdotes that might provide a better understanding of Abby, 16, and the sailing Sunderlands:

-- This might not have been reported but a representative from child protective services interviewed Abby for nearly two hours at her home before her Jan. 23 departure from Marina del Rey. Marianne Sunderland, Abby's mom, told me about this a few weeks after Abby's departure. The interview was to make sure the high school junior was not being coerced into making this voyage.

-- People have argued that Abby was too young to have tried to sail around the world by herself, and some have suggested her parents are guilty of child endangerment. This was a family decision and sailing around the world was Abby's dream before it was Zac's. Abby and her parents believed she was capable and she did sail more than halfway around the world before Mother Nature intervened. Abby is not the first global sailor to have been stopped by foul weather, nor will she be the last.

As for child endangerment, the same charges could be leveled at any parent placing their child in a midget racing car or on a motocross track or a bucking bronco, encouraging careers along those lines. Those are high-risk sports guaranteed to produce serious injuries and occasional deaths.

-- Sid Wing, a close family friend and fellow sailor, offered this assessment of Abby and her parents: "First, one must consider the principle by how the Sunderland children are raised. Laurence and Marianne guide their children to be achievers, setting their goals and pursuing their dreams, and at the same time learning that to achieve one must pay a price. The Sunderland family provides a success-seeking environment. It is basic to their everyday family life.

 "I personally applaud how they are preparing their children for success in this world of overabundant naysayers and failure-avoiders. They demonstrate that nothing is achieved without risk, and the greater the achievement there is, no doubt, the greatest risk. Did Abby and her parents know there was danger involved in her quest?  Yes, but they were consistent with their principles. She and the boat were definitely properly prepared. The Sunderlands did not carelessly endanger their daughter as many suggest."

-- People have argued that Abby was sailing too late in the season, increasing her chances of encountering strong Southern Ocean storms. I agree. She was supposed to start last November, but because of numerous delays caused by boat issues she didn't start till Jan. 23. An unplanned stop in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and another in Cape Town, South Africa, delayed her trip further. It might have been a blessing that Wild Eyes was rolled and lost its mast, because the storms Abby was sure to encounter as she sailed closer to Australia could have been deadly.

-- Comments beneath website stories are mixed but there seems to be more criticism than support. Here's my favorite from Brendan Candella, at the end of a story I had on the Yahoo home page Tuesday: "I wonder why the world is in the condition it is in. We sit in our homes and worry about other people trying to do extraordinary things, even though they may be dangerous or a little crazy. Well it's the crazy ones that will be remembered and be the ones to do great things that will have a great impact upon this world and human race.

Abby Sunderland sails to defense of trip, parents

Abby Sunderland has finally spoken.

As critics continue to take aim at her parents for letting their 16-year-old daughter try to sail around the world, and as the cost of her rescue has now been estimated -- by one publication -- to total more than $1 million, Sunderland has given her first in-depth interview since her dramatic rescue last week and she defended her voyage and her beleaguered parents.

"I think that a lot of people are judging me by the standards they have for their teens and other teens that they know... and thinking, 'She's exactly like them,' " Sunderland said in an Associated Press exclusive. "They don't understand that I've sailed my whole life and I do know what I'm doing out there."

As most of the world knows, Sunderland was walloped by a huge wave last Thursday in a remote part of the Indian Ocean. Her 40-foot boat rolled at least once and lost is mast, its rigging and satellite communications equipment.

The sailor activated two emergency beacons but was out of contact with anyone for 20 hours, leading to wild speculation regarding her fate as she drifted helplessly in rough seas more than 2,000 miles from Australia and more than a day's reach from the nearest boats.

A crew aboard a Quantas Airbus located her vessel, Wild Eyes, after 20 hours. A French fishing boat picked her up Saturday and delivered her to Kerguelen Islands north of Antarctica. Sunderland is now en route to French-controlled Reunion Island, from which she'll begin her trip home to Thousand Oaks, Calif.

"Storms and bad weather, it's the chance you take when you're sailing around the world," Sunderland said. "And I was up for it, and my parents knew I was."

She might not be aware of the extent of criticism her parents continue to face, regarding everything from her age, the timing of her Indian Ocean crossing (during the onset of the Southern Hemisphere winter), a reality show that had been planned but was canceled weeks after the Jan. 23 start of her voyage, and the cost of her rescue, originally estimated to total about $300,000.

The Daily Beast, however, reports the cost to be $1.1 million. It cites the usage of two aircraft -- a Quantas Airbus and a Global Express Jet -- and three maritime vessels, the Ile De La Reunion (which picked Abby up), the Osiris and the Skandi Bergen. The website claims to have factored in per-hour costs of the planes, using data from a private jet-for-hire company, and the cost of sidetracking the boats from their fishing grounds.

Abby Sunderland saga remains as stormy as ever

  As Abby Sunderland spends her last day aboard a French fishing boat whose crew rescued her from a disabled sailboat and is ferrying her to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, a different type of storm is strengthening on the home front.

The Sunderland parents are at its center, the focus of intense criticism that appears to have shifted from their daughter's age -- 16 -- and their responsibility as parents, to the high cost of her rescue and their involvement in a TV reality show.

Australia apparently will pick up the cost of the rescue, estimated to be about $300,000, and this remains a sore subject for those who believe the middle-class Sunderlands, who live in Thousand Oaks, Calif., ought to pay the bill.

The rescue was initiated from Australia last Thursday when Abby activated two emergency locating beacons after her 40-foot sailboat rolled in high seas and lost its mast and satellite communications equipment.

Australia sent a spotter plane and later -- as the fishing boat was arriving -- used two aircraft to monitor the remote rescue, 2,000 miles east of Madagascar and about the same distance from Australia.

Whom should pay for a rescue is an interesting topic but not a unique one. Rescues are carried out fairly frequently at sea and on snowy mountains, in rivers and on hiking trails. In some cases the rescue victim or his or her family is asked to cover at least some of the cost. But if an Australian teenage sailor were to require a rescue in, say, the mid-Pacific by the United States Coast Guard, the U.S. in all likelihood would pick up that tab.

As for a reality show involving Abby and her older brother Zac, who last July sailed home to a hero's welcome after completing a solo-circumnavigation of the planet at the age of 17, there isn't one.

But the fact that was supposed to have been one has caused some --mostly opinionated media types -- to accuse the Sunderland parents of exploiting their children for financial gain.

This, to me, is nonsense. The Sunderlands are a sailing family and Zac and Abby are teenage adventurers inspired by dreams, who sought to accomplish remarkable feats during an era in which children are becoming increasingly fat and lazy. This makes the family, and especially their oldest kids, special and interesting.

However, the plug was pulled on the reality show and documentary long before last week's incident, because of reasons that also are a source of controversy and dispute.

"The networks didn't want to touch it because of the very thing that happened," said Susan Hartman, owner of 23 South Productions, which owns the footage shot beginning last fall into part of Abby's journey. "They were afraid she was going to die."

Laurence Sunderland, Abby's father, said in a Los Angeles Times story posted today that the opposite is true. “They were assuming Abigail was going to die out there,” he said of the producers. “They were relying on her dying, and so we cut the ties.”

(Hartman had been working as an independent contractor on behalf of Magnetic Entertainment and said that company's representatives presented the Sunderland's with the idea for the reality show.)

Abby was attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and the dramatic episode played out beginning last Thursday, just weeks after another 16-year-old girl, Australia's Jessica Watson, had successfully completed a solo-circumnavigation.

Abby Sunderland rescued in dramatic Indian Ocean pickup

Abby Sunderland is safely in the hands of French fishermen, no longer exposed to the harsh conditions she had endured for the past several days.The 16-year-old sailor from Thousand Oaks, Calif., who had been the subject of a highly publicized search-and-rescue mission as her de-masted 40-foot vessel was a adrift in rough seas in the southern Indian Ocean, was picked up by a crew from the Ile De La Runion on Saturday afternoon, or early Saturday morning PDT.

Her vessel had, as many presumed, been rolled by a giant wave, and Sunderland was knocked unconscious for a short period before recovering to activate two emergency satellite beacons, which signaled her position to authorities.

This officially brings to an end Sunderland's bid to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. But on the bright side, soon after she gets home -- possibly beforehand -- her new baby brother will be brought into the world.

Marianne Sunderland, Abby's mom, is due to give birth to her eighth child on July 1. She had gone into false labor at least once during these trying past few days.

Marianne spoke with Abby shortly after the rescue and said she seemed like her old self, with not much to say. "She just said, 'I'm fine,' and then we talked for a bit and passed the phone around inside the house," Marianne said.

Abby wasted no time getting familiar with the boat. She got on its computer and updated her blog with this passage: "Sorry I haven't written in so long. As you probably already know I had a pretty rough couple of days. The long ad short of it is, well, one long wave, and one short mast (short meaning a two-inch stub). I'll write a more detailed blog later. I just wanted to let everyone know I am safe and sound on a great big fishing boat headed I am not exactly sure where."

The previous time Abby had talked to her mom and dad, via satellite phone, was early Thursday while she struggled in fierce winds and high seas. Abby had a day earlier been slammed by a supercharged storm and her vessel had been knocked side-to-side, its mast striking the water, in waves up to 50 feet.

About an hour after that call broke off, Abby activated two emergency satellite beacons, launching an international rescue effort. When her boat rolled she lost her mast and satellite communications.

A period of 20 hours had passed before Abby was located and contacted aboard her vessel, Wild Eyes, by the crew of an Australian spotter plane. She was alert when the spotter plane arrived and she spoke to a crewman via VHF radio.

During those 20 hours, headlines of a girl feared lost at sea, her boat possibly capsized, the sailor possibly trapped beneath the boat or -- worse -- in the water, topped newspaper and website stories.

There's something fishy about Abby Sunderland's rescue

Abby Sunderland, 16, the beleaguered teen sailor from Thousand Oaks, Calif., might go from being rescue victim to fisherperson.

 The French fishing vessel steaming to Sunderland's rescue in the Indian Ocean is coming from the orange roughy grounds and its crew might decide to return there to fill its hold before delivering the sailor ashore.

Laurence Sunderland, Abby's dad, said at this point he just doesn't know. But he hopes to learn more when the Ile De La Reunion reaches his daughter's position at about midnight PDT.

"There's a possibility they might fish a little longer but they might also take her to Amsterdam Island which is right in the same location, and I'm not sure exactly what their plans are," Laurence Sunderland said in a phone interview.

The fishing boat was the nearest to Abby's position in the southern Indian Ocean. She was located late Thursday night, 20 hours after losing contact with her family and activating her emergency beacons in heavy seas.

Her 40-foot vessel, Wild Eyes, which might have rolled, has lost its mast.

Unless the French crew agrees to tow the boat 200-plus miles to the nearest land, which is unlikely, it will have to be scuttled, or stripped of its valuables and pollutants, and sunk.

That'll be a painful sight for Abby, who loves Wild Eyes and has lived aboard the vessel since Jan. 23, when she set out to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.

That had been her dream and it remains unclear if she'll play a role in the scuttling, like a cowboy shooting a beloved wounded horse.

More will be known late tonight or over the weekend. The first order of business is to get Abby safely aboard the fishing boat and out of the extreme elements that have plagued her during the past several days.

-- Pete Thomas

 Photo of Abby Sunderland aboard Wild Eyes courtesy of ©2010 Lisa Gizara/GizaraArts.Com

Abby Sunderland believed to still be on her sailboat

Two emergency beacons activated by teen sailor Abby Sunderland were tracking together in the Indian Ocean as of 8 p.m. (PDT), the Sunderland family announced in an email prayer request sent to some of Abby's supporters.

They take this to mean that Abby--who manually activated one device on her survival suit or life vest, and another on her sailboat--is still aboard the 40-foot cruising sled.

"They are tracking together so that means that Abby is still on the boat," the Sunderland family announced.

The statement added: "Our fear is that the boat has capsized and that it is taking on water. It will be very difficult to rescue her if she is capsized. The boat is equipped with an escape hatch that she can exit from but it will be very difficult in the water she is experiencing."

The Sunderlands also stated that the Australian search-and-rescue airplane trying to reach her position was not expected to arrive until at least 10 p.m. (PDT).

The announcement--due to be posted on her blog--closed with this passage: "Thank you for praying and asking your friends to pray. We pray that Abby will feel God's spirit and even see His angels at work around her as she trusts in Him."

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Abby Sunderland courtesy of  ©2010 Lisa Gizara/GizaraArts.Com

Abby Sunderland rescue effort a long-distance affair

Teen sailor Abby Sunderland, the focus of an international rescue effort, is in a portion of the southern Indian Ocean that is so remote it could take at least a day and possibly two for a boat or ship to reach her position.

Sunderland, 16, had been a little past the halfway point in an attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone.

Helicopters reportedly do not have the fuel capacity to reach her but a crew aboard an airplane from Australia had expected to arrive at the position issued via her EPIRB satellite positioning device at daybreak local time (she's 11 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time). But the crew aboard the plane would be unable to do much other than keep track of the vessel and talk to Abby via marine radio, if it can get close enough and the radio is functional, and if Abby is able to operate the radio.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Carly Lusk said in an Associated Press story that three vessels were sent from the French territory of Reunion Island and that the aircraft left from Perth on what was supposed to be a four-hour flight to a position located 2,000-plus miles from Africa and Australia.