Abby Sunderland 16-Year-Old Sailing Around The World Lost At Sea
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Abby Sunderland 16-Year-Old Sailing Around The World Lost At Sea – A teen sailor named Abby Sunderland/Abby Sutherland who is a 16 year old from Thousand Oaks may have accidentally sailed into a storm in the Southern Indian Ocean while attempting a solo sail around the world. During the course of the events, she lost contact with her family who was never able to re-establish communication with her after the storm was over. She had signaled an emergency beacon after her satellite phone was no longer able to contact her family.
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She had left on a 40 foot, orange and yellow racing yacht named “Wild Eyes.” She had been out on the sea since January. She had found a lot of different criticisms on her journey from other sailors because her voyage was going to be taking her into the Indian Ocean at the onset of the winter storm session. It was dangerous, and she definitely knew that, but she was an experienced sailor who knew what she was doing on the ocean. She was in what was considered to be the most difficult part of her entire voyage, when she lost contact with her family during the storm.
In April, she had sailed around Cape Horn between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. She had been keeping a blog throughout her journey, and her last entry on her website said that she had hit rough weather and winds that had reached as high as 45 knots.
Her parents said in a number of news reports that they had urged Abby to go to a nearby port if dangerous weather conditions arose while she was in the Indian Ocean. Everything had seemed to be working out for her, before the latest incident. Her older brother, Zac, sailed around the world while making several stops over the course of the 13 month trip.
Photo credit: ©2010 Lisa Gizara/GizaraArts.Com
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I am sending best wishes and all my prayers out to both you and your daughter. I hope your daughter is found safely and brought home to you. Althought, sailing the world may be her dream it may not be gods dream for her. Hopefully , it is His dream for your daughther to be safe once again with you.
Best Wishes and Prayers
Christine Hastings
NJ
I am sick about this. I feel that this child has been failed by the people who are supposed to protect her. She cannot vote, she cannot drink, for God’s sake, she cannot even get into an R rated movie without a parent. But somehow she was allowed, encouraged to take a very dangerous journey, placing her in hazardous conditions at a bad time of year, alone. I cannot stomach the thought of how scared she must be in these conditions. Not to mention, the pirate infested oceans on the other side. I am all for encouraging your children to follow their dreams, but aren’t we supposed to arm them at least with maturity before we send them out there on that mission… We are bestowed the gift of parenting…it is fleeting and fragile…it is too precious to be so cavalier about. Abby…I admire you…and I am praying for you…stay strong.
congradulations Abby
when you make it everyone will be proud of you. don’t listen to negitive you are doind what you wanted to do. Men in viet nam lost thieir lives at 18, because they believed they wanted adventure. Most had no choice you do so dont worry about what other people think, if you are old enough to attemp a trip like this more power to you. I know in my heart “YOU WILL MAKE IT’
I have been praying for her and so glad you heard from her. Will pray that she will continue to be safe
Are her parents living in the real world???! Why is this not considered child endangerment or child neglect? Why have no authorities approached these parents to say “what are you thinking”. She is a 16 year old minor who is not allow to do most things without her parent’s written approval and parental supervision. I own a body piercing business that caters to a lot of young people from this age group. All minors must have a parents signature for body piercing until they become 18. We follow this law to the “T”. It is written for a reason. They put an age limit on things for a reason-18 for body piercing, 19 to purchase tobacco products, 21 to drink. Did her parents allow her to cross the street unattended when she was younger because she said it was her dream. Did they allow her to play outside after dark without sitting out there with her. How can a parent allow a child to pick some arbitrary dream they’ve had and say I want to do it, and the parents allow it. Have they never heard of the words NO, not by yourself or maybe, I’ll go with you. They are the PARENTS not their BEST FRIEND. My mother was my best friend too but she was always MY MOTHER. She always encouraged me to try and do new things. But not new things that might endanger my life. The sea is very unpredictable, and very unforgiving thing. Even I as an adult accompanied by another adult, who sailed for 20 years, we knew that we had to have total respect for our host. The sea is not kind.
Beautiful one moment, deadly the other. My father was in the Navy aboard the USS Ben Franklin, during WWII, that was bombed by a Japanese Kamikaze pilot. The Japanese plane crashed into the deck starting it on fire (it was wood). Sailors were jumping into the ocean to escape the flames, most were badly burned, some were melted into the decks. It was a horrible scene. What were they to do? What is Abby to do if some thing happened out at sea while her parents were at home being her “friends” instead of being there with her a being her “parents” and sailing with her. I am a very open minded person, an old hippie (in the nicest sense of the word). I treasure loving my husband, 2 two wonderful dogs, the beautiful place in which I live. Our life is pretty laid back, but stories about Abby and the other young man who wanted to climb the tallest peaks are still our children and should be treated as such. They should be able to say “I Want to go” maybe a few years, but not now. As mature as they seem to be they are still young. I see is all of the time. A mom brings her daughter in for a navel piercing. When it’s time to actually do the piercing, the daughter will always ask their Mom to hold their hand. I always say to the Mom they all become your little girl again when the get scared. How did Abby feel when all this happened. Her Mom wasn’t there to hold her hand??? Abby you are only young once. You’re a teen-ager for only 7 years (13-19) after about 20 the real world shows up, you have to get a “job”, the bills start coming (and they never stop until you die), your car breaks down, you name it, it happens. You have plenty of time to be grown up. Enjoy you youth (carefully). You can try almost everything in life again. Get remarried, have babies, changes jobs, move, etc, but growing older-you don’t get to practice, you can’t do it again, you can’t stop it. So again, I say, enjoy your youth, short thought it is. you’ll have plenty of time to do the things you’ve dreamed off with less danger. You have your whole life ahead of you, don’t waste it. Namaste! Laura
In my opinion, this is a classic case of child endangerment – parents trying to gain fame and recognition without any regard for their minor daughter’s safety and well-being.
It’s an outrage and the parents should be prosecuted.
You people are ridiculous! It would be no different if her parents would have waited until she was eighteen. She is not a child. If she were a boy would that make a difference?