I wonder if it was this storm?
Posted on 06/10/2010 1:34:22 PM PDT by Jotmo
Rescuers searched Thursday for a 16-year-old Southern California girl feared missing while attempting a solo sail around the world.
Family spokesman Christian Pinkston said the search began for Abby Sunderland somewhere between Africa and Australia after emergency beacons were activated overnight and there was a loss of communication.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I've been reading her blog about her voyage since she left California.
I will be profoundly heartbroken if something has happened to her.
Please pray for this remarkable young lady.
pirates, child molesters on boats, drug traffickers, commies anything could happen to her.
If only she had had responsible parents...
Yes, and prayers are up...
Her Facebook page has a *ton of young people praying for her, including my son.
Im not complaining but search is your friend
That's a lot of ocean. I wonder how close help is to her last position?
That was helpful.
I’ve been watching her blog also. Her whole voyage hasn’t really gone well with her boat. Praying they find her.
Right now they are saying 40 hours away. A plane from Australia might be able to overfly her position in 10-12 hours.
http://soloround.blogspot.com/
Thanks for not complaining.
A Rough Few Days
The last few days have pretty busy out here. I’ve been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts. With that front passing, the conditions were lighter today. It was a nice day today with some lighter winds which gave me a chance to patch everything up. Wild Eyes was great through everything but after a day with over 50 knots at times, I had quite a bit of work to do.
For most of the day today I had about 20 knots. I had been hoping to get some lighter winds so I could patch up one of my sails. It was still a bit windy out but with more rough weather tomorrow I wasn’t sure when my next chance to fix it would be. I managed to take it down, take care of the tear and get it back up in a couple of hours. It wasn’t the most fun job I have done out here. With the seas still huge, Wild Eyes was rolling around like crazy. Of course not even half and hour after I got the sail back up the wind dropped from 20 to 10 knots!
My Thrane & Thrane (Internet) system is down again so I am not able to send in my blog. The problem seems a bit more serious than the last few times I have had trouble with it. There is something wrong with the terminal at the back. It is possible that water got inside of it because it has a rough ride back there the past few days with waves crashing right over it. Unfortunately, if that is the problem I probably won’t be able to fix it. At least I still have my Iridium phones so I can still call in to my mom and read her my bog for her to post.
The wind is beginning to pick up. It is back up to 20 knots and I am expecting that by midnight tonight I could have 35-50 knots with gusts to 60 so I am off to sleep before it really picks up.
Posted by Abby Sunderland at 9:49 AM
We 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
25 ft. waves.........more than enough of a challenge.
Your comments are ludicrous.
In defense of GeronL, many of us immediately wonder how parents could give permission for their child to sail solo in dangerous and piratey waters.
I don’t want prosecution of this family or anything if they young lady is done for. I am truly sorry if they are about to get terrible news. Wouldn’t have wished it on them. But lots and lots of people question why this isn’t child endangerment.
what parents? I wouldn’t call that parenting.
Prayers sent up for Abby and her family and friends.
Her EPIRB switched on so the boat is wrecked or sunk. The hope then is that she is in the covered and stocked life raft that surely was aboard.
She must be right in between Reunion and Australia. That’s a long way from anywhere. Hope she makes it.
“the search began for Abby Sunderland somewhere between Africa and Australia”
thats a huge area. Surely they know more specifically than that?
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