BREAKING NEWS: Missing teen sailor Abby Sunderland is alive and well, say searchers

[Contrary1]

:applause: No link yet.

[Jamastiene]

1. w00t!

[pnwmom]

2. I hope her parents are smart enough to take her home now. n/t

[depakid]

16. They're a couple of fundies who think she's in Gods hands

Who knows what they'll do...

[jgraz]

18. Then I hope Child and Family Services steps in.

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Well, if she was in a storm with 20+' waves,......

it looks like god was trying to kill her and missed.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I hope so!

[Codeine]

4. She kicks ass.

I hope she'll be able to take another shot at her goal soonest.

[Bryn]

5. I'd love to know the whole story

That was scary when she went missing... her parents better take her home! :scared:

[Codeine]

6. She should press on and live her dream.

Not everyone can place safety before adventure and self-discovery -- it has ever been thus.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. when your adventure requires costly search and rescue operations...

uhh... no.

[Codeine]

10. I can't bring myself to make it a financial decision. nt

[depakid]

14. errr... no

The man who fitted out Jessica Watson's yacht says Sunderland's boat is not designed for a solo trip around the world.

Veteran yachtsman Marty Still sailed Watson's yacht for 17 years, notching up 30,000 nautical miles in that time.

He says Sunderland is sailing a type of boat known as an Open-40, which is made of carbon fibre and is designed to sail at its quickest downwind.

Mr Still says the boat is built for speed and it is difficult for it to be sailed by only one person.

"They're not really designed for general purpose sailing. I think there is a compromise for safety when they are sailed single-handed," he said.

Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan is also an experienced sailor and held the Australian record for solo circumnavigation of the world.

He says Sunderland's trip was badly planned.

"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's just, it's foolhardy," he said.

More: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/11/2925046.htm?section=justin

[HooptieWagon]

30. This.

Here were my thoughts, posted in another thread:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4421528&mesg_id=4422851

[pnwmom]

19. Her father asked her when she was going to do this. It was his idea, though

she was happy to take him up on it.

It's no accident that both the children of a sailor decided that they wanted to be the youngest children to sail the globe.

[pnwmom]

22. I hope she doesn't.

At least not until she's an adult and not under her father's thumb.

[Obamanaut]

26. But first the family should make monetary restitution for the rescue expense. nt

[Codeine]

28. I'm cool with that. nt

[Seneca]

7. Good

I was afraid of yet another long, drawn-out, media-driven obsession over a missing rich white girl.

My sympathies are with the missing and wounded children the world over, suffering due to hunger, disease, and war - through NO fault of their own.

Abby Sunderland is a child of privilege from a comfortable southern California city, who CHOSE to put herself in such danger. She and her parents deserve scorn and condemnation for indulging their selfish, egocentric whims.

[Petrushka]

13. Her brother Zac sailed solo around the world when he was 17. Sibling rivalry, perhaps?

:hi: <--- With a big "DITTO!" to your comments.

[pnwmom]

20. She chose to please her father, who was a sailor himself and had been pushing

his kids for years.

It's the parents I hold responsible for this, not the teen.

[Petrushka]

8. Links --->

http://twitter.com/abc7newsBayArea


http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=7490488#&cmp=twi-kgo-article-7490488

[maddezmom]

11. another

Teen sailor Abby Sunderland found alive
http://www.theage.com.au/world/teen-sailor-abby-sunderland-found-alive-20100611-y32i.html

[Jamastiene]

12. Link:

Abby is fine!
http://soloround.blogspot.com/2010/06/abby-is-fine.html

http://soloround.blogspot.com/

[Contrary1]

15. On MSNBC:

"Searchers have contacted a 16-year-old Southern California girl feared lost at sea and she is alive and well.

William Bennett with "Team Abby" said Thursday that searchers aboard an Airbus A330 spotted Abby Sunderland's boat in an upright position and made contact with her via radio. Bennett said Sunderland said she was doing fine and had plenty of food.

He said a fishing vessel is en route to pick her up..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37621453

[tuvor]

17. I wonder if there will be a movie.

[watrwefitinfor]

23. Oh, good. If they hadn't found her

we'd have to be watching another boring tv news cycle about that oil spill down in the gulf.

Wat

[malaise]

24. I saw this on BBC International

Great news.

[Kahuna]

25. Thank God!!

:applause:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. Thank goodness she's ok. It struck me as odd that she would be allowed to do this

at 16 and coming from California. I just figured it out and did a search. She's home schooled, so she wouldn't have been missed. Don't be surprised if CA CPS gets involved now. Do I want them to? I don't know. My Great Grandmother Sophie came to the US at 16 from Russia/Poland with her 10 year old sister.

[cbayer]

29. What a courageous and inspirational young woman. And thank goodness that

she is safe.

It grieves me that she and her family are being attacked here and elsewhere. They are neither rich nor entitled nor publicity seeking. This has been her dream since she was a very young child and no one, other than Jessica Watson, has been as well prepared physically, emotionally and technically for such a trip.
And for those that use the family's Christian faith as a weapon against them.... shame on you.

:toast: to you Abby, and I hope you get to try again very soon.