Weather Aids Rescue of Teenage Sailor
Jun 12, 2010; 8:52 AM ET
In a, Jan 23, 2010 file photo, Abby Sunderland, 16, looks out from her sailboat, Wild Eyes, as she leaves for her world record attempting journey at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, Calif. Sunderland who was feared lost at sea while sailing solo around the world has been found alive and well, adrift in the southern Indian Ocean with rescue boats headed toward her, officials said. (AP Photo/Richard Hartog/file)
A teenager, attempting to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo and feared missing Thursday in the Indian Ocean, has been found safe. A French fishing vessel reached her ship, which was badly damaged by rough seas, Saturday morning.
Abby Sunderland, 16, manually activated two distress signals on her sailboat, Wild Eyes, early on Thursday, according to ABC News.
Her last contact with her crew had been around 6 a.m. Thursday, PDT, until around 11:30 p.m. PDT, when a search team spotted her boat in an upright position and contacted her. She is alive and well.
A French fishing vessel had been sent to bring the teen back to land and was approximately 24 hours from her current location late Thursday evening. It finally reached her Saturday morning.
Her location in the remote areas of the southern Indian Ocean had been making it difficult for rescue ships to get to her right away.
It has not been confirmed if she will continue to sail after making repairs, or cancel her efforts.
Calm weather is expected over the southern Indian Ocean this weekend as a high pressure system moves east from the tip of South Africa. Mostly to partly sunny weather is anticipated, with waves between 5 and 10 feet.
A low pressure system was near her path Wednesday and Thursday. Sunderland was sailing through some rough 20- to 30-foot waves, with wind speeds between 40 and 65 mph. Sea surface temperature in that location is in the mid-50s.
"It looked like a strong winter storm passed south of her, and she got caught in some high waves and strong winds," said AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.
Sunderland wrote in her blog on June 9 that she was experiencing rough weather and strong winds over the past several days.
"Wild Eyes was great through everything but after a day with over 50 knots [57 mph] at times, I had quite a bit of work to do," she wrote.
Sunderland also wrote that the winds had calmed, but she was anticipating the winds to kick up again overnight.
Sunderland left to circumnavigate the globe from Marina del Ray, Calif. on January 23, 2010. Her brother, Zac Sunderland, became the youngest person to sail solo around the world in 2009.
(content contributed by Carly Porter, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer, Heather Buchman, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist, and Alex Sosnowki, AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist)
By Gina Cherundolo, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
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