Abby Sunderland Feared Lost at Sea

abcnews.com ^ | June 10, 2010 | ROBERT RUDMAN, MARC DORIAN and TOM McCARTHY

[Free ThinkerNY]

Abby Sunderland, 16, who is attempting to become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe, was feared lost at sea today after her crew lost contact with her boat.

Jeff Casher, an engineer on Sunderland's support team, said two emergency beacons on her boat are now signaling she is in trouble.

Abby's mother, MaryAnne Sunderland, told ABC News that Abby manually activated two beacons around 6 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday.

A beacon designed to automatically go off when it contacts water had not been activated, she said.

Abby was in 20-25 foot waves at the time of last contact, with 35-knot winds, said MaryAnne Sunderland, who is due to give birth at the end of the month. She was shaken but focused on trying to get a rescue effort together.

The closest land to Abby's boat was Reunion Island, which is east of Madagascar. The nearest ship was 400 miles away. Rescuers were trying to contact the ship.

Casher told ABC News that he last spoke with the 16-year-old sailor around 6 a.m. PDT after she had been knocked down twice during the night because of strong winds -- meaning that her sail had touched the water.

One of those knock-downs, Casher said, ripped the radar off the boat. She had been speaking with Casher on a satellite telephone earlier because of engine problems and was in the process of fixing those problems when she told Casher she'd call right back.

She has not been heard from since, except for the distress signals.

[tongue-tied]

Head palm

I have no idea where you got that, never said it in any of my posts. I responded to someone up thread claiming the same thing, that somehow I wanted a law, but said no such thing.

I said it was STUPID for the parents to allow their 16 year old daughter to go solo circumnavigating the globe, in the Western Pacific, during the stormy season.

Again, no law! Good grief.

[Tallguy]

Got my son certified when he was 11 but only because the instructor was a close friend and I trusted him. Plus he was mature enough and followed the rules. I dove beside him on every dive and he did quite well.

My regular dive partner got his son certified at 12. The general rule when he dove with his Dad was to NEVER go deeper than his father or the dive is over. The dive tables are a little iffy for younger or older divers.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Would you all re-read your comments?

Sacajawea was 16 and pregnant when she joined Lewis and Clark on their expedition. Should she have stayed home where it was “safe?”

Our 18 year olds sign up for a tour of duty in the Military and end up in the Middle East . . . they make these decisions when they’re 16 and 17 and they’re still “children” at 18, so should the age of enlistment be raised to 21 or 26?

Abby was as ready as she could be for her journey. Personally, I’d have liked to have seen her brother go with her. However, would I want to have two of my children die on the sea?

When you look at the number of kids on drugs or not motivated by life or in gangs or killing animals/people or being involved in any other criminal activity and compare them to Abby, Let The Kid Live Her Dream.

If she were my grandchild, I’d be worried, but proud.

God protect her and if He’s got her with Him, may He comfort her family and friends.

[Dayman]

This is tragic and very easilly predictable/preventable.

[Theophilus]

[driftdiver]

“The general rule when he dove with his Dad was to NEVER go deeper than his father or the dive is over. “

That was our rule as well with the limit being 45 feet (PADI recommendation).

Its fairly easy to make an emergency ascent from 45 feet but more importantly there are ‘micro-bubbles’ that form during diving. They don’t know how these impact growing children. Micro-bubbles start to form below 45 feet.

Kids are better off with properly managed adventures.

[tongue-tied]

Semper Fidelis from an old Sailor!

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the correction...those parents were crazier than I remembered.

[Little Pig]

http://www.revbluejeans.com/media/mormon_tabernacle_choir_-navy_hymn—eternal_father.mp3

[ilovesarah2012]

Well said!

[jimt]

Putting them into needlessly perilous situation with a greater then small expectation of death to make them “independent” is psychotic.

Hmmm, lemmee see. Was my mother there to keep me safe when I was travelling down I-5 at 135 in a 440 Charger ?

How about the time I put my finger in a lightsocket repeatedly on a bet ?

The time I nearly froze to death going up Big Chair when it was 26 below ?

How about when I was racing motorcycles on San Juan Island on public roads with a gallon of Spanada in my leather jacket?

I won't mention a dozen or two others, but I'd say in all those cases above I'd have been better off on a well-prepared solo sailing trip with my parents' assistance, backing and guidance - than on my own doing stupid stuff as I did.

Do you REALLY think you can put your sixteen year old in a cocoon ?

[FReepaholic]

...she'd be alive today to pursue her dreams...

Sailing around the world was her dream.

[Sacajaweau]

Sacajawea went with her husband. He was hired as their guide.

Safe at home?? This was circa 1800. You came in from the field, had a baby and went back.

Me thinks probably safer with Lewis and Clark who had been briefed on all kinds of medicines.

[Justa]

"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."

To me that sounds as if she has a following sea. A 40' sailboat simply cannot navigate down 25' waves and 50Kt winds. It would roll and get pushed in again, again and again. It's pure suicidal. The only option is running the engine and head upwind to maintain control but apparently the engine was out. Was there no one advising her?

It's very sad but to me what she wrote in her blog is unsurvivable. A veritable notification of death.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I bought a couple of use Canons on craiglist for use with CHDK, the Canon Hackers Development Kit.

So far I have just used them for time-lapse, but it unleashes features found only in higher-end cameras.

I am trying to figure out a way to couple one with a prepaid cellular phone with GPS so I can send it into the stratosphere with a weather balloon and locate it with the GPS after it returns to earth.

[tongue-tied]

Well then, she lived it. She didn’t make it, but she did pursue it. God bless her.

[outofstyle]

I was solo sailing the California Coast at 16 on a 44’-CSY for up to a week at a time.

So was I, on the East coast ( OK maybe not for a week at a time and maybe only on a Cape Dory 25' ). But you obviously know how very different a single handed circumnavigation is. This sixteen y/o was not off the coast of the U.S. within short range of rescue boats and a ten minute Coast Guard chopper flight away from help. She was in middle of The Indian Ocean facing sixty foot seas by herself. I don't think this would happen with your child, because you would not create the situation. This child was led down this path by her parents. I understand your point about kids. But people who end up doing this should nurture the obsession for years and pay the dues required to make the attempt and I don't mean simply sea hours. That way, if as adults, they do succeed against the odds, they will appreciate it.

[jimbo123]

Update from Abby’s Parents

http://soloround.blogspot.com/

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

[ilovesarah2012]

Who is going to pay for it?

[rednesss]