Posted on 06/10/2010 10:19:33 AM PDT by ml/nj
A rescue effort has been launched in hope of finding Abby Sunderland, 16, who set off her emergency beacon locating devices from the southern Indian Ocean early this morning.
Sunderland, who had been attempting to sail around the world alone, endured multiple knockdowns in 60-knot winds yesterday (Thursday local time) before conditions briefly abated.
However, her parents lost satellite phone contact early this morning and an hour later were notified by the Coast Guard at French-controlled Reunion Islands that both of Sunderland's EPIRB satellite devices had been activated.
One apparently is attached to a survival suit and meant to be used when a person is in the water or a life raft.
Abby's father struggled with emotions and said he didn't know if his daughter was in a life raft or aboard the boat, or whether the boat was upside down.
"Everything seemed to be under control," Laurence Sunderland said. "But then our call dropped and a hour later the Coast Guard called."
Abby is hundreds of miles from land. The rescue effort is being coordinated by the Reunion Islands and Australia. Sunderland had been sailing in 50- to 60-foot seas and it was dark when the EPIRB devices were activated.
The Sunderlands are asking people to pray for their daughter, a high-school junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Abby was for several months one of two 16-year-olds attempting to sail around the world alone. Australia's Jessica Watson completed her journey last month, just days before turning 17.
Abby's brother Zac, who graduated from high school, completed a solo-circumnavigation last summer at 17.
The timing of Abby's trip was criticized by some because it was placing her in the middle of the Indian Ocean when the stormy Southern Hemisphere winter was at hand.
Update on AbbyWe spoke with Abby early this morning and learned that she had had a very rough day with winds up to 60 knots and seas 20-25 feet. She had been knocked down several times but was handling things well. The wind had subsided to around 35 knots which she and Wild Eyes are quite comfortable with.
We were helping her troubleshoot her engine that she was trying to start to charge her systems. Satellite phone reception was patchy. She was able to get the water out of the engine and start her up. We were waiting to hear back from her when American Search & Rescue authorities called to report having received a signal from her emergency beacon (EPIRB). We initially thought that the signal was sent automatically from her water-activated EPIRB and that it had been activated during one of her knockdowns. As we pulled the paperwork from her EPIRB registration, we learned that the signal had come from her manually activated EPIRB.
We were referred to Australian Search & Rescue and while we were on the phone with them another signal came in from her handheld PLB (Personal Locator Beacon). Her water-activated EPIRB has not been activated so we are hopeful that the boat is still upright.
We are working closely with American, French and Australian Search & Rescue authorities to coordinate several ships in the area to divert to her location. There are several ships in her area, the earliest possible contact is 40 hours. We are actively seeking out some sort of air rescue but this is difficult due to the remoteness of her location. Australian Search & Rescue have arranged to have a Quantas Airbus fly over her location at first light (she is 11 hours later). They will not be able to help her other than to talk via marine radio if they are able to get close enough. Hopefully, they will be able to assess her situation and report back to us.
Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis situation like this. She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies. If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible. Wild Eyes is designed for travel in the Southern Ocean and is equipped with 5 air-tight bulkheads to keep her buoyant in the event of major hull damage. It is built to Category 0 standards and is designed to self-right in the event of capsize.
Thank you for all of your kind emails and calls. We appreciate your prayers and support.
We will update as soon as there is some news.
Laurence, Marianne and Team Abby
Aim small, miss small.
My bad - He was composing minuets. I think I was watching Top Cat cartoons and putting my pants on backward going to kindergarten.
Wishing her a safe return.
I respect those who follow their dreams.
“I spent some time on a Honduran patrol boat in 1987” I bet that was fun
I will remember never grab your licker by the antlers bad manners
The point Bridge was a great boat not real fast but could pull darn near anything and boy was it a roller
Made me laugh!
Good think women don’t have horns, right?
Ok but I meant for me no way would I do that especially onto a heaving deck
You never met my wife
So I guess you are sporting several stab wounds to the leg?
It’s a wonder you can still walk. Maybe that’s why pirates legs are wooden.
ML/NJ
three very different things. although they all may be negatives, they are not particularly connected to one another nor are they =
George Washington became official surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia when he was 17 years old. Three years later he became district adjutant of the militia, with the rank of major.
Or more directly relevant: David Farragut, who became the U.S. Navy’s first Admiral at age 65, was given command of his first ship at age 12.
Teens can do amazing things if we give them a chance and hold high expectations from them.
The calm is on the water,
and part of us would linger by the shore.
Ships are safe in harbor
but that’s not what ships are for.
Boats are a hole in the water in which one pours money
I really wonder about all you folks. I was on my own in strange cities (Chicago, and other mid-west cities) when I was 11 years old. I got dropped off by a tour bus one time at the wrong address and managed to figure out what to do myself. My daughter (first child) was flying by herself when she was seven years old. She would visit my parents in Florida. In fact she visited them down there before I did; and when we all went as a family some months later she directed me from the airport to their building. She traveled to Europe to visit an aunt by herself when she was 11. She told us she could do these things and we knew she could. I feel sorry for people who treat their kids as if they were idiots.
ML/NJ
It's not about her abilities as a sailor. It's about her ability to evaluate risks, the possible outcomes regarding some of those risks and make a sound judgment regarding them. The best sailor in the world is unlikely to do that if they are 16. That's what parents are for.
"I want to sail around the world mommy!" "Really, Oh OK dear, I'm certainly not the kind of parent to stand in the way of a child's dream! Here's our sail boat honey. Keep your cell charged"
This is one of the reasons children have parents! To freaking protect them from themselves! "Hey Mommy, I want to go up into the outer atmosphere with a rocket on my back! Can I please? It's my dream!"
Adults plan their whole freaking lives for this kind of journey! And there is a reason for that! It's called maturity and experience! Yes, maturity and experience seem to be a dirty word to a kid! But that is what separates a child from an adult! Sending off a 16 year old to sail alone around the world "Just cause she wants to" (why? So she can post it on her facebook??) is the epitome of adult neglect!
Interestingly enough (assuming we are talking commercial carrier), my kids were doing the same thing back and forth across the country. I never thought that was putting there life at risk and is not the same thing we are talking about on this thread.
It’s part of being a sailor, at any age. I’m telling you that with 50 foot seas, having the parents on board wouldn’t have mattered.
You can’t outrun weather in a sailboat. She was in contact an hour before the EPIRB was detected. That’s a killer datum point. Any SAR effort would be lucky to have such a good datum. To me, that’s all the proof I need that she was as prepared as she could be.
She was doing a bang up job before the 50 foot seas hit.
Spend a month at the Cape Disappointment small boat station and get a flavor for some of the ‘experienced mariners’ the CG ends up having to pluck off the bar. Guys with 20 years experience going out when the entrance is closed.
I simply love the geniuses that short cut the buoys and rip the keel off their yacht. “So THAT’s what ‘Red right returning’ means!!”
Nope. You can’t convince me that age makes you any better at evaluating, AND THEN ACTING ON, the risks at sea.
Respect for the sea trumps experience in most cases. Sometimes respect isn’t enough. You can be doing everything right and still die at sea.
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