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.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 togoto 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.
William Bennett said late Thursday night that searchers aboard an Airbus A330 spotted Abby Sunderland's boat in an upright position and made contact with her via radio.
Speaking outside the family's Thousand Oaks home, Bennett said Sunderland said she was inside the boat and doing fine with a space heater and at least two weeks worth of food.
Bennett said the mast had broken off the disabled boat.
He said a fishing vessel was en route to pick her up. The vessel is expected to reach her in about 40 hours.
