LOS ANGELES — A 16-year-old Southern California girl attempting a solo sail around the world was feared in trouble Thursday thousands of miles from land in the frigid, heaving southern Indian Ocean after her emergency beacons began signaling and communication was lost.
However, a spokesman early this morning said searchers have contacted Abby Sunderland and she is alive and well.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Carly Lusk said three vessels were sent from the French territory of Reunion Island and an aircraft was to depart from Perth on a four-hour flight to Abby Sunderland’s location, more than 2,000 miles from both Africa and Australia.
It was not clear when the vessels left, but it would take a day for the nearest ship to reach the area. Reunion Island is off Madagascar, the very large island along the east coast of Africa.
“We’ve got to get a plane out there quick,” said family spokesman Christian Pinkston, adding that the teen’s family in Thousand Oaks was asking for prayers for her safety.
Her brother Zac, also a teen solo sailor, said she was prepared and mentally tough.
Abby last communicated with her family at 4 a.m. PDT Thursday and reported 30-foot swells but was not in distress, Pinkston said. An hour later, the family was notified that her emergency beacons had been activated, and there was no further communication.
Her brother said the boat was most likely not completely submerged because another beacon would be triggered at a depth of 15 feet.
A lifelong sailor whose father is a shipwright and has a yacht management company, Abby set sail from Los Angeles County’s Marina del Rey in her 40-foot boat, Wild Eyes, on Jan. 23.
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